Unclear About What's Not Working

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Anonymous

10/31/20 at 4:47PM UTC

Career

Unclear About What's Not Working

Three years ago I was laid off from a company where I'd worked for nine years and earned promotions. I've had three short-term jobs since then but I'm not getting any traction on the roles I really want: customer success, customer support supervision, customer experience... I've done lots of things "right" - networking, hired a great job coach, revised my resumé several times, wrote carefully considered cover letters, customized my resumé for each position, reached out to people in the companies where I want to work. I have not even gotten an interview. I am a well-qualified candidate, particularly in terms of soft skills for the client-facing roles I'm after. The people I'm networking with are very encouraging, but have not pointed me to a specific company or person. What is going on here? 1. Something's wrong with me and I don't know it yet (let's rule this out for the moment, based on feedback I'm getting and what I know about myself) 2. I'm too old. I'm 60. I don't look it and don't point it out, but employees can find out if they really want to, and age bias is alive and well. 3. I'm looking for work in a software company - I've done software support for years, but I don't have the tech skills that younger people offer or that employers want, even if they're not on the job description. 4. The 2 1/2 year gap in my resumé 5. Something I don't know about, which is why I'm writing to the community today. I know this isn't much to go on, but if anything comes to mind, I'd be grateful for any thoughts.

9 Comments

Charlotte Booth Organization and Leadership Development Consultant and Executive Coach

Igniting the evolution of people and teams

10/31/20 at 5:32PM UTC

I am sorry to hear of your experience - I know how frustrating that can be! Let's turn this around and start talking about what you are doing right. You are taking all the right steps and it may be that you just haven't found the right match for you. What I did when I found myself in a job transition was to work for the passion of it. I did pro-bono work, mentored others, and volunteered in areas that needed parttime help. What this accomplished was showing others my talent, enthusiasm, experience, and skills. This led to referrals and paying job opportunities. What have you defined for yourself as the right opportunity? Is it narrow and can it be broadened? For example, could you work in tech support role for a different type of company? Sometimes re-examining our parameters might lead to a discovery of the need to be more open to employment opportunities. Finally, gratitude is the grease for more good. Reviewing what you are grateful for every day can open up your thought to find new ways to employ your talents, qualities, and skills everyday.

Norma

Realtor, podcaster & telecom auditor in Tampa

11/01/20 at 1:08PM UTC

In regards to the potential age bias, my suggestion is to only show the last 10-20 years of employment history. I know when I helped my mom with hers she had every single job she ever had going back to the 80s. I had her just leave anything after 2000. You can also remove dates from your education so the math can't be done.

Kathleen Fava

I'm here to make work better.

11/04/20 at 11:53AM UTC

Thank you both for your responses. They're very helpful. I will continue to work the process and see what happens. Regarding my resumé, yes, I only show a limited amount of career time. That's a good idea!

Jessica Virtuoso, MBA, SHRM-CP

Process, People, & Culture

11/04/20 at 10:07PM UTC

I would make sure to brush up on your tech skills. While we can always discuss age bias, it's a MUCH bigger deal when consider tech and people over a certain age. To be fair, with a software company you'd run into that bias even if you were 15-20 years younger. Maybe you can take some certificate courses to boost your resume on major ones and that can help in the search.

Maree Frakes

Program Management Professional in NYC

11/04/20 at 10:19PM UTC

Hi there - sorry to hear you're having a frustrating time. Without a referral, the job market is particularly tough right now. One idea that I experiment from time to time when applying for jobs without a referral is to create different versions of my resume - perhaps one that focuses on role/responsibility and another that focuses on the impact you've had (i.e. metrics, revenue etc). Continue to apply for jobs and see if one performs better than the other, or continue to tweak.

Nora Kased

146

Manufacturer in San Diego

11/04/20 at 11:20PM UTC

I think your age and experience should be considered an asset when is comes to customer service and customer relations. You said nothing about your actual job performance. You earned promotions in your first position, but this doesn’t really speak to your performance when you are talking about 9 years at a company. Perhaps reach out to your managers at the past three shortterm positions and ask for feedback about your performance. You need to be proactive and show a willingness to adapt to the changing employment landscape.

Sarah Downs

JD/Property Acquisition/Utilities

11/05/20 at 12:50AM UTC

You’ve done an excellent job of making a list of items that may be causing employers to be biased. While I wouldn’t jump to conclusions I think because you have identified them you can take the opportunity to address them in your cover letter. Not the age because that’s not relevant to an interview or cover letter. You can explain the 2.5 year gap in one or two sentences, address your software support skills and hilight your ability to learn new software. Addressing these items in your cover letter may generate some more traction. Also, nothing is wrong with you. In general, the job market is difficult right now. I’ve had friends who had to take jobs with longer commutes or in a different field. Keep looking for the job you want you have the skill and perseverance to get it. Your post here attests to that.

MARIAN SKUPSKI

Analyst and Agile Coach

11/06/20 at 10:45AM UTC

One suggestion that I've seen others make is to volunteer at something that you want to do. Any volunteering you do will add skills to your skillset, increase your ability to network, and b something you can highlight on your resume. Even if what you do as a volunteer isn't directly related to what you want to do for work, the experience and connections can help a lot.

Kathleen Fava

I'm here to make work better.

11/09/20 at 7:30PM UTC

Thank you everyone. I'm grateful for, and understand your advice and will take it to heart. Your encouragement and willingness to share your ideas is much appreciated!