I passed the six-months' stage of unemployment yesterday, and to mark it, I went to a Monsterboard Meet-Up. I might as well have saved myself the bother (as well as the 20 euros return ticket to Amsterdam), as none of the speakers told me anything I didn't know already. "Make sure there are no grammatical or spelling errors in your cv", was the first speaker's advice to a roomful of 200 job seekers. "Never leave more than one button unbuttoned if you don't want to wear a tie to your interview", said the next. "Think about your profile picture on Facebook: do you really want to introduce yourself to the world and his wife holding a beer in your hand?" was the subject of the personal branding coach's talk. I can't believe I wasted an entire evening listening to this sort of drivel, when I could have been at home watching EastEnders!
My former manager has offered to endorse me on LinkedIn. I will have to write the recommendation myself though, then send it to her for publication. She's Polish, and embarrassed about the fact that she has difficulty writing in Dutch (and that after several years of twice-weekly lessons, English is still a mystery to her). I've written plenty of recommendations and evaluations for other people in the past, but I must admit, I find it difficult to blow my own horn. It feels so phoney...Plus I'm wondering why I'm even doing this, as no recruiter's going to read it, anyway...but it will make Gosia feel better, thinking she's still helping me in any way she can. She's still fuming about the way I was let go, but in her current position as Business Controller is unable to re-hire me. She's tried, but was overruled by HR.
So a new month has begun, and realistically, I don't think I'll be back in work before the year is out. Let's hope that 2011 when it arrives will be a better year than 2010 has so far proved to be.
My former manager has offered to endorse me on LinkedIn. I will have to write the recommendation myself though, then send it to her for publication. She's Polish, and embarrassed about the fact that she has difficulty writing in Dutch (and that after several years of twice-weekly lessons, English is still a mystery to her). I've written plenty of recommendations and evaluations for other people in the past, but I must admit, I find it difficult to blow my own horn. It feels so phoney...Plus I'm wondering why I'm even doing this, as no recruiter's going to read it, anyway...but it will make Gosia feel better, thinking she's still helping me in any way she can. She's still fuming about the way I was let go, but in her current position as Business Controller is unable to re-hire me. She's tried, but was overruled by HR.
So a new month has begun, and realistically, I don't think I'll be back in work before the year is out. Let's hope that 2011 when it arrives will be a better year than 2010 has so far proved to be.
- Current Mood:
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Comments
Funnily enough, that observation has been made by several people in recent months (I've managed to help 2 others find employment; unfortunately not in areas where they might be able to do the same for me). I've explored the possibility, but have come up against the barrier of not having the right qualifications for the job...
Not before one has been unemployed for more than a year, and even then it's minimal and dependent on several criteria (such as age and education level; they're much more likely to retrain a young person with little or no qualifications to begin with so they can be deployed as binmen or streetwardens than an older person with a university degree) and the whim of one's individual 'work coach'.