Job searching: you either get picked, picked on, or picked over.

Anonymous

July 6,2022 at 7:47PM UTC

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Job searching: you either get picked, picked on, or picked over. I spent 20 years with one company. I am the first to admit I am not good at selling myself.

Each time I apply to a company I am told I have a great skill set I'm perfect for the job, but it's been given to someone with 21 years of experience. OR I need to edit my resume, because it's too long, too short, too detailed, not detailed enough, too wordy, too sparse.

I was initially excited for all the feedback, until the feedback became inconsistent. Six months looking for a job, I'm doing something wrong.

Thank you for reading. I'm now off to edit my resume again. And add 'spins straw to gold' to my skillset.

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AnonymousJuly 6,2022 at 9:20PM UTC
Depending your your targetted search and industry it might just take some time.
You could be doing everything right and it’s just timing and continue to apply aggressively. If you don’t mind sharing your industry and targeted job search maybe we can give you some tips.
For example maybe it would help to broaden the scope of your search. Ensuring your resume and cover letter hit critical key words tied to the specific job function and linking it back to your experience is more important than the detail or length. Also consider applying to USA jobs.gov
AnonymousJuly 6,2022 at 11:23PM UTC
Keep resume at 2 pages. Do not list each duty. List in bullet format overall duty with quantifying numbers. And key words in their post that match your experience. Do not dress it up or add some weird columns on your resume. Or put it in color paper.
AnonymousJuly 7,2022 at 12:23AM UTC
I've been applying for jobs for 5 years, and the successful candidates usually have much less experience than I do.
In the end, they hire for "fit," and sometimes you just can't do anything about it.
Lesa Edwards, Career Coach & Master Resume WriterJuly 7,2022 at 4:25PM UTC
This is the perfect situation for a career coach. Yes - you'll get conflicting advice/feedback/information from employers, who understandably have their own preferences and quirks. You need someone who sees the job search from a much higher vantage point, rather than being in the day-to-day of hiring for one company.