Dear Liz,
I had a very successful career as a marketer and marketing manager for 18 years, before getting laid off from my big-tech employer 18 months ago. I looked for a job diligently for a year and then was forced to take a retail job where I’m languishing now.
My self-esteem has taken a huge hit, as the respect for employees in this place is non-existent and the supervision is horrendous. I am afraid that no one will hire me for a “career” job now and I’m wondering if I need to start looking at a career change.
Have I destroyed my resume by taking this job and staying in it for a year? Is there any way to get back into marketing without starting at the bottom?
Thanks, Roger
Dear Roger,
I am sorry that you’ve had so much frustration for the past couple of years — both on the job search and at your retail job. It’s completely understandable that you’d be disheartened after pushing a job-search rock up a hill for so long, and then working a year at a job that doesn’t satisfy you intellectually, emotionally or financially.
Anyone would be thrown off their game by those experiences! But look, Roger — your career hasn’t dropped off a cliff. You can use that retail job as a launching pad for getting your next great, career-type marketing job.
There’s no need to mention the retail job on your resume. Isn’t it the American dream to do so well professionally that we get to take some time off after years on the job? Perhaps that’s your new job-search frame.
You won’t explicitly say in your resume or in a cover letter, “I made a bunch of money and took a year off.” You’ll say “I had a great run at XYZ Systems, and when our division closed, I took some time for myself.” Aren’t you entitled to that, after 18 years of hard work?
In my experience, Roger, employers are much more interested in your ability to solve their biggest problems than any other aspect of your job-search pitch. You’re going to zero in on employers whose pain you can solve, and reach out to them with a message about that topic.
Take the retail job off your resume and let the last 18 months of your history represent a recharging and re-focusing event in your wonderful career. Lots of people have been thrown for a loop by this economic downturn, Roger. The powerful ones — like you — are remembering what they’ve got and what they bring to employers, and articulating that in a Human-Voiced Resume that brings their power across on the page.
As for the retail job, you’ll keep that until you find something better, and remember that you’re still you, regardless of what’s on your business card or the badge on your chest.
If the management style is abysmal or the respect level is low, keep in mind that living well is the best revenge — and that by the beginning of your next chapter, those sad supervisor-amoebas will be all but gone from your memory.
Best, Liz
Read more:Liz Ryan: Career fell off a cliff? – Boulder Daily Camerahttp://www.dailycamera.com/ci_16407180#ixzz1Io356Wnk
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