The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

As 2009 draws to a close, I have been reflecting on all I have learned this year about work, about the lack of work, and about finding myself again.

It has certainly been challenging....financially, emotionally, mentally...but, in an odd way, I feel like this...losing a job and looking for ways to make money...has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

There are a whole list of reasons that are important to me. But it has been the support of my family and my friends that has made me realize that a job, any job, is just to make money to buy things.

To those few who read this blog from time to time, I wish you the very best in 2010.

As for me, I will start the New Year on two different ventures simultaneously, working with an HR professional to promote a consulting business, and managing accounts at a search firm and learning the business of search. It will be a very interesting year....

....I will certainly keep you posted!

The Left Hand Turn

Throughout history, the Left Hand has signified evil. Being left-handed branded you as a servant of the Devil during the Middle Ages. The reason I know that little piece of trivia is that I am left-handed. It was quite a shock to find out history does not reward you for being left-handed....along with Sister Mary Silvester, my Fifth grade teacher who gave me a "C" in penmanship.

Connotations aside however, I've always liked making left hand turns. Going against the traffic, the stress of backing up the traffic behind you. Doing something that goes against the flow.

Right now, I am circling around a left hand turn in employment. Could I actually work for myself and make a living of it? How do you start? How do you know when you are doing it right? How do you cover expenses when you're out of work and don't qualify for a small business loan?

Is it the right thing to do....or maybe the "left" thing to do....

Resume Redux

Today, I was contacted for the third time about a temporary consulting assignment. I find this interesting for two reasons:

1) If three different search firms felt I was worth looking at, why didn't the client?

2) Each time I am contacted about this job, the hourly compensation has been less than prior inquiries, yet the need to fill this opportunity becomes more urgent.

A company's attitude about its employees is often demonstrated in the little things. Hmmmm...

Follow the Signs

I admit I am superstitious. It's probably the Irish heritage, or the Scottish. Whatever the reason, I am a big believer in reading the signs.

Today's Wall Street Journal talks about companies starting to implement pay increases in 2010. Of course, that doesn't mean anything for those of us still out of work. Never the less, it's a sign.

Whenever there is a recession and people are laid off, the survivors are pushed to the limit. There's more work, more pressure from management to make numbers, and the overall dread of feeling that if you don't produce in double-time, you will be the next one to go.

Companies do not love giving raises, especially in a flat economy. So I think it's a sign that companies are talking about it...at least enough to generate a newspaper article.

2010 is going to be the year when many companies lose good employees, when the economy will recover just enough for the "A" employees to jump to new opportunities. When companies, yet again, are going to wonder why their employees don't appreciate them for saving their jobs. When companies wonder if they should yet again think about that retention strategy they never implemented.

Companies are not intuitive....they never read the signs.

Rambling in the RV

Did you know that there are currently middle-class people who have decided, after losing their jobs, that middle class America is just not worth the stress? They have sold their houses, arranged to home school their children, and have taken to the road in their RVs.

It would certainly be cheaper to live, after the RV investment. No mortgage, no Con Ed bill. The freedom of the open road. I could go live on a beach in CA and take one of those internet jobs which don't really pay much but it wouldn't really matter if my car was also my apartment.

That's my escapist fantasy today.

Interviewing is to Dating as...

...HR Recruiters are to blind dates??? Probably not the best analogy, but I've never been all that good at analogies. Honestly, when have analogies been that useful since passing high school SATs? Which is the point of today's post.

I recently applied for a senior position at an organization, was funneled through to the web application form, and required to state my SAT scores....one of those "you cannot move forward until you answer this" questions.

Seriously???? For a position with 15+ years of experience?? Was I supposed to remember those scores forever? I know they were good. They got me into college but was I really supposed to remember? Should they be in my wallet next to my blood type and my emergency numbers???

Companies spend thousands and thousands of dollars on ATS systems which offer lots and lots of options and solve the problem of time management in staffing. But one of challenges HR Departments face is keeping the candidate's happiness in mind. No, I'm not kidding--I'm actually serious about this.

Like dating, finding the right employee for your company is like finding an individual with that unique set of qualities that make them right for the organization's culture. Any current CEO will tell you that employee satisfaction and productivity are a cornerstone of the company's success plan. And, believe me, SAT scores have very little to do with anything in the world of work.

Charlie Rose's Brain

Last night I watched the beginning program in a series on Charlie Rose on the brain. It was fascinating. A round table discussion of microbiologists, physiobiologists and, of course, Charlie, discussing the most cutting edge challenges of why we think how we think, what happens when we get a disease, how we process learning, information, emotion...it was so interesting and intelligent. I recommend it if you can catch it.

Ok, ok. I know there's at least one person out there who is saying, " What the ---- does this have to do with Mary finding work???

Well, first of all, I now get to stay up as late as I want, so a program that starts at 11pm on my local PBS station is now doable. But what really struck me is that the average age of the scientists....leaders in the field...around this discussion table was probably 70. Which suggests that experience, at least in the study of the brain, counts.

Dear readers, I have spent the last week dealing with the fact that I am TOO experienced...and dare I say it...too old...for all of the available jobs in all the industries for which I qualify to work.

When did it become a bad thing to be experienced? And how experienced is too experienced??

Maybe Charlie knows.