To whom it may concern
Good Thursday morning to all.
Today I begin a new job, after a long, long, LONG period of exploration, research, application, interviewing, etc., etc., etc. Very glad to return to full-time activity, and with a quality company as well!
But before I leave the realm of the job-seekers, I'd just like to share some thoughts with those with whom I came into contact during this journey:
To all of the prospective employers who made commitments of varying degrees without upholding any of them: thank you for keeping me motivated. The more this happened (and it seemed to have happened a lot over these past months), the more determined I became not to take anything except at face value. To be fair, some of you wanted to hire me for your critical opening, but were overruled by your boss, or someone else in the organization who had a friend who also needed a job, and so on. But after a few instances of hearing that "the job is pretty much yours" and equally promising statements, I kept my head down and kept pushing forward with my search.
To all of the employers who had an available job for which I was or am grossly overqualified, and in which you still didn't take my interest seriously: it's a real shame that we didn't have the chance to work together. Mature people with useful experience are plentiful in today's economy, yet the common thinking is to pass on us, since you just know that we'll up and quit the first sign of a better job. And we might, but think of the benefits to your company while we're with you. And that doesn't even address the possibility that you already know that your company isn't worthy of our talents and experience, so I suppose we should all thank you for that favor after all.
To those employers who had difficulty understanding the sum total of my experience, and its relevance to their particular needs: my apologies. Apparently my resume did not do a good job in identifying my professional background, at least not good enough for you to see that I was more than a good fit for your opening. And to those who decided to pass on me, even after your subordinates promoted me to you as a great candidate, it sounds like you and your team may have a communication issue. Fix that before you attempt any further revisions to how your company operates.
To all of those network contacts who insisted I provide them with a resume copy so that they could circulate it to their contacts: thank you for getting the word out. I mean that, but mostly to those who actually shared my resume. To those who made empty promises of assistance that they had no intention of keeping, as they most likely do on a routine basis, I feel worse for you than for myself and my predicament. And to those who DID follow through in getting my information to the right people, I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart. While many of those efforts did not lead to anything more than an introductory contact, your efforts were very much appreciated.
To those friends and close associates who kept me "up" with encouragement and serving as a sounding board, you have my most sincere gratitude. Glad to return the favor, but sincerely hope you never need it! I especially want to thank those of my friends who helped as much as they could but apologized that they were not able to do more. That's when you know that you have the RIGHT friends!
And, finally, to my family, the greatest source of strength I could have, thank you a million times over. You never lost faith or hope or confidence, and while I may not have always expressed it, I always appreciated all of that and more.
So off we go, into the great wide open, as Tom Petty once sang. Remembering along the way that the journey is the reward.
Today I begin a new job, after a long, long, LONG period of exploration, research, application, interviewing, etc., etc., etc. Very glad to return to full-time activity, and with a quality company as well!
But before I leave the realm of the job-seekers, I'd just like to share some thoughts with those with whom I came into contact during this journey:
To all of the prospective employers who made commitments of varying degrees without upholding any of them: thank you for keeping me motivated. The more this happened (and it seemed to have happened a lot over these past months), the more determined I became not to take anything except at face value. To be fair, some of you wanted to hire me for your critical opening, but were overruled by your boss, or someone else in the organization who had a friend who also needed a job, and so on. But after a few instances of hearing that "the job is pretty much yours" and equally promising statements, I kept my head down and kept pushing forward with my search.
To all of the employers who had an available job for which I was or am grossly overqualified, and in which you still didn't take my interest seriously: it's a real shame that we didn't have the chance to work together. Mature people with useful experience are plentiful in today's economy, yet the common thinking is to pass on us, since you just know that we'll up and quit the first sign of a better job. And we might, but think of the benefits to your company while we're with you. And that doesn't even address the possibility that you already know that your company isn't worthy of our talents and experience, so I suppose we should all thank you for that favor after all.
To those employers who had difficulty understanding the sum total of my experience, and its relevance to their particular needs: my apologies. Apparently my resume did not do a good job in identifying my professional background, at least not good enough for you to see that I was more than a good fit for your opening. And to those who decided to pass on me, even after your subordinates promoted me to you as a great candidate, it sounds like you and your team may have a communication issue. Fix that before you attempt any further revisions to how your company operates.
To all of those network contacts who insisted I provide them with a resume copy so that they could circulate it to their contacts: thank you for getting the word out. I mean that, but mostly to those who actually shared my resume. To those who made empty promises of assistance that they had no intention of keeping, as they most likely do on a routine basis, I feel worse for you than for myself and my predicament. And to those who DID follow through in getting my information to the right people, I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart. While many of those efforts did not lead to anything more than an introductory contact, your efforts were very much appreciated.
To those friends and close associates who kept me "up" with encouragement and serving as a sounding board, you have my most sincere gratitude. Glad to return the favor, but sincerely hope you never need it! I especially want to thank those of my friends who helped as much as they could but apologized that they were not able to do more. That's when you know that you have the RIGHT friends!
And, finally, to my family, the greatest source of strength I could have, thank you a million times over. You never lost faith or hope or confidence, and while I may not have always expressed it, I always appreciated all of that and more.
So off we go, into the great wide open, as Tom Petty once sang. Remembering along the way that the journey is the reward.
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