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What's the biggest hurdle?
Hey aspiring career changers! So glad you're a part of this community. I'm curious...: when you think about the challenges to making your career pivot, what's the biggest hurdle you see?
The biggest issue I'm facing is just getting hiring managers to look at my resume.
Hi Laura - that can definitely be a huge source of frustration. Why do you think that is?
I'm fairly certain I'm not hitting the keywords in my resume that hiring managers are filtering for. My fear is stuffing my resume, having it come up in their search, and then they realize I'm definitely not qualified. So, I have to figure out how to get the keywords they want into my resume naturally. It seems complicated.
Ageism, sexism, low pay...its' killin' me.
I think recruiters have 'blinders' on. They don't see how many skills are transferrable between professions.
Can you share a bit more? What's been happening that you're attributing to ageism and sexism, and what does the "low pay" part mean for you?
Of course - didn't mean to be vague. I work in the creative industry. I have been self-employed for more than a decade, and up until a few years ago, enjoyed a six-figure salary. Today's jobs require multiple skills (i.e., in addition to concepting/writing/editing, I'm supposed to be a designer, project manager and developer as well) with fewer years of experience and noticeably lower salaries. Recruiters regularly "ghost" us senior-level freelancers, saying we're "overqualified", "out of scope" and "need more financial flexibility". Today's typical senior-level salaries via LI hover around $65K. They should be $125K+. I get it - agency and corporate clients want more work for less pay to protect their bottom line. I simply can't afford to take a $50/hr job. I pay all of my expenses and taxes, which also continue to climb. Clients and trade publications also like to think AI can replace us. Any "self-improvement" courses (UX, strategy, etc.) come out of our pockets. I try not to let it get to me, but with each rejection, it gets more difficult to wonder how I'll make ends meet. I'm open to any/all insights.
At the level of seniority you're at in your career, you may need to be employing different personal branding strategies to show how you're well worth a 6+ figure salary (and picking different companies to apply at that put a high value on impactful creative). Are you wanting to be changing out of a creative career and/or re-entering a full-time employed job? And if so, what's the biggest city close to you?
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