Things I've Learned During Life Without Income Part Tres - The Job Search
March
Historically, I’ve never really had to search for a job. I always fell into them. Grew up in metro Detroit, factories everywhere, if wanted to work there you simply stated so and got the job. When you’re a kid, a factory job is fun, kinda.
I work hard because I like to work hard. I think most people like it. As a general rule, we throw ourselves into work that means something to us. It’s our nature. This shows in everything I say and do. Therefore, when I began my tech career, I threw myself into it and worked from the ground up to Director. I earned my Architect certification and threw myself into what I was doing. I fell in love with a CRM - CustomerRelationshipManagement app named Salesforce - SFDC. The CEO is turd, apparently so is the BOD. The product is a wonderful sales/marketing/service app. I also earned 9 certifications in a different CRM named HubSpot, again, the product is a wonderful marketing app. I became a SFDC user group leader and loved helping others grow their skills.
Enter the beginning of the C19 scamdemic. A few months after I was promoted to Director of Salesforce, my company sent out an email stating that all employees were mandated to log into a third party app called Sterling to enter their personal identifications (SS#, DOB, Name(s), Address(es) and connect it to our vaccination status. Obviously, the only need for this with a fully remote employee was as a tool for discrimination. The company refused to put anything in writing other than the initial email from them and Sterling. I refused to do anything verbally regarding this. They ended up firing me December 2021 for insubordination, which precluded me from getting any kind of unemployment. I also have to answer that question when it appears on an application. Most ATS will kick out anyone who has been fired.
I went from being highly respected for my knowledge, leadership and skills to being the one of the unwashed, the conservatives, the Christians, the un-vaxxed. As of that point our politics, spirituality, and our private health information became both illegal and unconstitutional workplace fodder.
I began interviewing immediately. I went through a month long interview process with a bank and the excited recruiter said that she had my offer in hand and would get it to me within a few hours, then poof, the offer evaporated. The recruiter was stunned and did not know what to say. It made sense a few days later when the bank was all over the news for the SBF scandal. Well crap. That would set the tone for my next few years.
I did get a gig for a bit over 4 months from April 2022 through about August, loved those guys, still do. They didn’t get the contract that they hired me for so that ended.
The following month I began Carijen CRM. This was always going to be my retirement gig, a quiet Salesforce recruiting consultancy. It would have been perfect, as it was envisioned in my head. The reality of it was a couple of pro bono light projects and a bigger C2C project that I only got partially paid for. Carijen CRM died on the vine. The economy is what it is, some industries are flourishing, most are not.
I keep searching for:
Salesforce Administrator - Told I’m overqualified every single time.
Salesforce Architect - Higher level tech positions are being phased out. Companies are cutting corners everywhere. Salesforce the company laid off 1,000s of Certified Technical Architects -CTA (the highest possible Salesforce certification). In fact Salesforce themselves employed over 80% off all of the CTAs. I’m now competing with them for the positions out there.
Salesforce Director - most of the standing companies that actually need a director of salesforce also are at enterprise level. They don’t seem to want critical thinking in their upper management. They love my certs, my experience, my references, but they pass on me. Being the insecure thing that I am on occasion, the following month I look up on linkedIn to see who got that position.
Every. Single. Time. It has been someone with fewer certifications, and little to no experience. Makes me think that the majority of those positions are given to folks as favors of some kind.
Anything local that I apply for - As soon as you put my name in any search my LinkedIn profile comes up on the first page. Aldi/Ingles/Lowes want locals who will stay in those positions and appreciate them. Because I have worked in tech at Dir level, in their opinion, I wouldn’t like their jobs. Are they friggin serious?!?!?!?! I don’t have any income, I would love their job.
I’m not alone, there are 100s of 1,000s of us in this boat.
Once or twice a month I go through the entire interview process with a few companies that absolutely love me and tell the recruiter/HR as much. Usually the contract that they were hiring me for doesn’t materialize, or their budget dries up. Those are the most common. The real gut punches are when I really WANT the position because 1) I’m perfectly and oddly qualified for it and 2) it is in service to American vets. I was raised in a military family. Our vets hold a special place in my heart.
I went through the whole process with a company that helps vets get their benefits (using both Salesforce and HubSpot) my last interview the guy told me I all but had the job, that he had one more obligatory interview that he didn’t even want to do. He said that I would be hearing from them the next day. I heard from the recruiter the next day. They hired the new CEO’s friend. The new CEO was ex IDF (like what the actual fuck there?!?!) and the person that they hired had literally zero SFDC or HubSpot experience (I’m an architect in both of those). That one hurt, bad.
Most of the interviews that I’m having now are for much higher quality positions. However, almost two years of rejection has me thinking that God is definitely at play here. I have no idea what I am supposed to do with that thought. I pray, I meditate, I keep learning in my craft, I am open to whatever comes my way. My faith is deeper than it has ever been. When folks say “oh, it will happen for you” I fight the urge to react violently.
I walk outside and ponder my life. I’m not feeling drawn to anything else. I can’t think of a job that made me happier than what I was doing, unless of course I could get paid for baking and gardening.
I don’t get emotional at all for interviews anymore. I can’t take the rug pull on a great position after almost two years of no income. Hubby and I have recently had to war game how we are going to handle getting the electricity turned off. The emotional death blossom of getting rug pulled after going through a great interview process on a great job with that external stress is too much for us right now. The only way that I can engage with this is to not give it my hope. That’s where I’m at.
I know that 2025 will be like a great work switch getting turned on. Here’s hoping we all make it to that point. It would be nice to get some work before that though.
Till next time,
Kelly