What happens when you wake up one day and realize your career is in shambles, your nearly 40 with a wife, kids, a mortgage and a boat load of credit card debt?
Two years ago I moved to a new city to take a new job with a home builder. Three months later the industry collapsed and so did that job (just before the holidays).
Next I took a job with a start-up company which lasted a year before serious cash flow problems resulted in another layoff.
A few weeks later I accepted another position with a financial institution only to find out that my boss was a complete and total nightmare. She terrorized the department with her hostile and unprofessional behavior. I tried unsuccessfully to resolve the issue. First directly with her, then with our department head and then eventually HR. Our entire department was so focused on dealing with her hostility that we spent large chunks of time talking about it, coping with it and trying to find ways to support each other. It dominated our time, our thoughts and our performance. Eventually it started to affect me emotionally and physically. After only 4 months on the job I resigned my position.
The next job I took was working for a company in California as a telecommuter. During the job interview the CTO and VP of Sales specifically told me the owner of the company was impossible to work and that they were looking for new jobs. I figured after my last boss there was no way I couldn’t handle this guy, besides I would be working from home most of the time and it was making substantially more than I had ever made. Three weeks later the CTO resigned and the VP of Sales was so consumed with his hate for the boss that he couldn’t think or talk of anything else. At the five week mark my boss told me he needed this position to be full-time at his location. When I refused to move, he fired me.
Now it’s been just shy of two years, I’ve had four jobs, three in the last six months, and after a month of looking I’m taking a contract to hire position because it’s the best I can do with that many jobs on my resume.
Answers (9)
Les D.
Software Quality Assurance Lead
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If your still waking up, and still finding jobs, things are not that bad.
Jennifer A.
Nationally Published Resume Expert & Career Strategist
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I have had numerous clients (at least half of my customers and maybe up to two-thirds) come to me in similar situations over the last two to three years so you are not alone!
I don't know if that actually makes you feel better or worse. Hopefully better because it's not necessarily you that is flawed...it's the volatile economy that is creating so many problems (especially for people involved in real estate, lending, finance, and construction).
What I try to do for people in your situation is create a resume that is a strong marketing piece to help build your confidence back up. Nothing makes me happier than when a client gets their resume and tells me that they never realized how qualified they were. :)
Freshen up your resume, brush up on your interview skills, and think POSITIVE.
Todd,
Les and Jennifer are right; you are still employable, based on your question, and that is a very positive thing in the current economy. If you see all these past jobs as opportunities that you grabbed and succeeded in obtaining, you will gain greater confidence in your abilities. It may be that the many jobs you've held in the past two years are all necessary learning events preparing you for that one job you REALLY need to push your career forward.
I know it's difficult to maintain a positive outlook under your current conditions, but, try always looking at the bright side of things and don't allow the negative things to control your thoughts.
Good luck to you.
Start rowing like mad in the other direction. You see if you were in a boat out on the river fishing and you realised that you had drifted away and were approching a 40 foot fall, you would just hold on to the adge of your boat and hope to survive the fall. Would you ? See here is what I believe: I choose to share with you because i think it will help.
1. What you think about you bring about
2. The decisions you make determine the results you get.
3. Succees in any area of your life is your own DAMN fault.
If you are willing to accept point 3, ask yourself
1. What decisions have you made that have got you to this point?
2. What thoughts, ideas, consepts would you have to believe in that drive you to make this decisions?
3. How do this thoughts support you in getting the results that you get.
4. What would you have to think about, talk about and believe in to turn things around.
Write the answers to this questions down as you work through them. It will give you more clarity.
Good Luck
Elena P.
Global Marketing Executive
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I agree with all of the above answers, and at the same time, sometimes after a long 'dark' period in your life you ask yourself 'what have I dont to deserve this' and 'when is it going to end'...well, this dark spell will be over and something great will happen to you. It always does, I am sure you have experienced this situation in some shape of form, before. IT WILL GET BETTER.
That said, when so many things go wrong, it may be time to ask yourself a question; is God telling me to change something? Believe me, I am not qualified to talk about God, but it just came to mind as I was reading your story that someone is telling you: enough bad bosses and crappy jobs, work for yourself.
Just a thought, hope it helps and please do believe it: it will get better.
Ian R M.
Recruiter and Professional CV Writer
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This is very common career path Todd - even in good economic times.
People make good choices, but things just don't work out - often because a successful business also depends on a business plan being both realistic and executed: so what did the first two have to do with you? I am a bit surprised by the last job choice - they actually warn you how bad the boss is, and you still took the job: and yet I am not because people after two/three short term job moves that don't work out do make rather short term "get a job" choices over better career management options.
So, here's the good points - you are asking questions, and seem to be staying positive: you are hence very employable. The bad points are - even in a down turn, there are still opportunities. Its just that you have to fight your way through the crowd that is now around, and having made a few moves you'll know how the market works so that gives you an advantage.
You need to sit down with a blank piece of paper, and ask yourself what you want to REALLY be doing in ten years time. Figure out how it rewards you emotionally, physically, and financially. Then, pick someone who's doing that job, and find out how they got there - experience, qualifications, or most likely a mix of both and a few job advancements. Now, write yourself a new career plan based on what you want to do using how they did it as a reference- sure, a few things may have changed, but that can be built in. Then ask three great friends - including at least own woman - to review and critic your plan. Sure, at this point you could go an get a career coach, and the best place to start for one is with your old colleges or if you have military experience your Forces Liaison point - but friends can be as good before those steps.
Now you have a plan, which you can turn into a job search, and write the right resume for - you will need some help there, its a presentational issue you'll have which is easy to overcome. The trick is employers like people who know what they want and what excites them - it doesn't matter what the economy looks like, someone will always give a focused employee a job!
Good Luck - you are asking the right questions, stay positive, and if I can help further: please just ask!
Donald D.
Manager
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Hi Todd,
I have a wife, 3 kids, mortgage and some credit – at over 50 I could consider my life a shambles, but I don’t. This does not mean to say it is not sometimes :-)
Usually part of the answer is "persistence beats resistance", having read your brief story I can sense you know this already.
I am not sure from your words what your goals are or what your direction is. I have been in a similar situation for over 10 years and have comes to terms that it is the way of the world and gone are the days of longevity of employment with any one firm.
I get through each year by ensuring I continue to update my “toolkit”, my range of skills and competencies are developed with the future in mind, not the past. Given that the internet allows many things to be learnt at low/no cost, I would recommend you continue to up-skill and / or re-skill as the world continually evolves. One thing is for sure, it will not get any easier.
Best regards
Donald
Open networker & Group owner
“The Enlightenment”: http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/127966/35EF5A36269D
Friends of Edinburgh: http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/137801/4B741019A9F0
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Annie P.
Vice President, Research Standards at Research Now
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Don't seek help here. Find yourself a psychologist who has the time to learn about you personally and help you move to the next stage. Even if it's just 3 or 4 sessions, you probably won't regret it.
Susan S.
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., financial marketing writer.
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You've had a run of very bad luck, and I have no doubts but that you are gun-shy. But you have your family, you have your earning power, and what sounds like an ability to find jobs fast.
Perhaps too fast? Perhaps before finding out that things are a good fit or what your walk-away point is? Before you do work-related counseling, it might be smart to see a psychologist or MSW, as Annie suggested. Or a "shrink" who does work-related counseling. You're walking into Situations. Granted, the economy is bad; there are a lot of situations to walk into that are exacerbated by the bad economy; but there seems to be a pattern.
Without blaming yourself, I think this is something that would be smart to research.
Once you get yourself settled in this new position, if you have more credit card debt than you like (so many of us do!), insure the cards to provide a bit of peace of mind while you're still feeling job-insecure.
