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Job Hunting 11-19-2008

I’d rather gnaw off a limb than go job-hunting.  And yet, that’s exactly what I find myself doing these days.  I’ve never been a savvy networker, so reaching out to all two of them didn’t take as much time as I thought.  A lot of my freelancing work lately has been writing resumes, so I feel pretty comfortable in that area.  And I just got a haircut, so I’m ready for that Go-Getter-Middle-Aged-Female interview.

(I am now officially nauseous). 

I signed up on the job boards and found the Usual Suspects in terms of working in the tech field in Denver.  I was surprised to see so many jobs, given the news we are all reading about cuts here, slashes there, layoffs everywhere.  Perhaps these are job postings that will never get filled – I’ve certainly seen that happen before.  But that doesn’t keep me from hitting “Apply Now” button and sending off my Only Slightly Exaggerated Resume to about a dozen employers.

When I left the corporate world, I thought there was about a 50% chance I would never go back.  I’d blame the current economic crisis, but that really hasn’t been a big factor.  The truth is that I was good at what I did, and despite a burning desire to work for myself, I’m not good at marketing my own skills.  There’s another part to this that I’ll talk more about some other day – I had also hoped that I would be able to find something I was really passionate about once I eliminated the stress and noise of a corporate job.

That didn’t happen.  And I really, really worked on it.  I went to workshops, read books, meditated, kept a journal, drank lots of wine and even did some yoga.  I can say that my stress level is so low that sometimes I have to eat a piece of candy just to be sure I’m still alive.  But the passion thing – it just didn’t happen for me.

So, any job-hunting advice out there? 

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