That was only the beginning [see Part I]. Even after I dumbed down my résumé and reduced a lifetime of experience to a few bullet points, hiring managers read between the lines and immediately branded me with the overqualified word. When I told them I had a steady income from SS and would not need medical coverage… even when I told them I would be perfectly willing to work for significantly less than my last salary, I got the same answer: “I’m sure you could do the work very well, but you’d probably leave as soon as something better came along.”
“No, sir/ma’am, I probably wouldn’t. I want something long-term, preferably part-time, to supplement the income I already have so I can work on being a freelance writer.”
“Well, of course, that’s what everyone says and it would just cost us too much to hire and train you, then have you turn around and leave. I just can’t take the chance.”
One employer gave me the same story, then offered me a consulting gig to redesign a restaurant chain’s training manuals and cookbooks. I grabbed that one! It lasted for more than a year, off and on, and paid pretty well (including a seemingly endless supply of guest cards for free meals at any of their steakhouses). It wasn’t enough to fatten up my bank account in a significant way, but I saved a bundle on groceries and ate very, very well! (I recommend getting the family-size carryout meals… you can eat well for a week!)
I finally got a part-time job in aviation because of my experience with (and almost a dozen recommendations from former coworkers at) my most recent job. Unfortunately, the guy left some important details out of the job description… like that he was hiring me to replace his wife in her favorite part of her job so she could work full time as the company treasurer. She did everything she could (subtly, of course) to make it impossible for me to do what I was hired to do. We parted company (by mutual consent). Poor guy had no clue that his wife did not want to be the treasurer. She definitely wanted my job though.
He laid me off so I could collect unemployment… then we signed a contract (and he gave me a hefty advance) to edit a training manual he had been trying to write for twenty years. When I sent him the first batch of edits, he decided he hated his own writing and was going to either ditch the project or start over. I haven’t heard from him since! Used the advance to get new brakes on the car. It was worth the hassle. Almost.
~~~~~
This was all going on in central California, after fulfilling a long-time dream to move home again. When I started meeting people, I learned I wasn’t alone in my overqualified classification. In 2006-2007, I met dozens of people who had followed all the rules for being successful—college degrees, experience in their professions, good work records. Some were working, but instead of well-paid professional jobs, they had a friend who had an inside contact who got them in for an interview. They got jobs… as cashiers in hardware or drug stores. One was working in a rubber stamp company, and not in the office! The temporary manager of my apartment complex had been looking for a full-time permanent job for three or four years.
What do you do when you get kicked into the gutter, discarded because of your qualifications; when you lose hope and reach the point of desperation? There are millions of us today in the same situation.
Here’s what I did. At my lowest point, I logged in to my alma mater’s networking site, shot off an email to a guy in the publishing business, who referred me to a friend of his who could probably help me better than he could, he said.
His friend did help. He delivered a swift (if virtual) kick in the backside. I deserved it; my email had made my fear, feelings of desperation, and… admittedly… self-pity, pretty obvious. I deserved his harsh reminder that feeling sorry for myself would not solve my problems. In a nutshell, he told me to figure out my strengths then get busy figuring out how to put them to good use to earn some money. Be a consultant, be a freelance writer, design Web sites… search the internet for ways to find work. Just keep moving forward and believing in myself.
Some of you have already figured that out. But too many don’t know how to begin, or don’t yet realize how many skills and abilities they've acquired in their lifetimes. Time to find out!
Four and a half years later, I’ve gained new skills and most importantly, have learned how to begin earning some money from them. I ain’t getting rich yet, but I have some steady income other than a Social Security check and modest pension. When I knew I couldn’t make it any longer in California without going on welfare, I returned to Ohio to do some serious work.
I joined free Web sites and writers’ forums where I could post articles and have them critiqued by other writers. Other than journals, creative letters and emails to friends, and my own ramblings, my primary writing experience was in designing and developing computer and software instructional stuff. Figured that wouldn’t sell too well to the general public. The writers’ Web sites and forums helped me learn what else not to write!
And I signed up on several freelance sites and worked with clients all over the planet, until the world-wide recession made fair pay a thing of the past. Clients stopped caring about (and being willing to pay for) quality and settled for the lowest bid. They were, I heard from a few of them, usually disappointed… but still weren’t willing to pay for higher quality work. I moved on.
I learned to be a print-on-demand publisher and set up my virtual shop. I took a proofreading course online—I love to edit, though I have no desire to be a proofreader, as traditional publishers define the job! Then, not having anything better to do, I developed my skills in designing and formatting book interiors. Wrote and published my memoir. Solicited editing and formatting work from everyone I ran into.
It takes time and tenacity to see results. Now, into my fourth year of freelancing, it’s beginning to pay off. And my first new steady client is the same guy that gave me the swift kick in the butt that got me started. He has also been my writing mentor and good friend. Dr. Woody Sears is an expatriate expert in Human Resource Development, and lives in Lithuania. We’ve never met in person and maybe never will. I love the world-wide contact today's technology gives me!
In conclusion…
- If you’re still struggling to find a place in our broken economy…
- If you haven’t been able to get a job because you’re too skilled…
- If no one will hire you because you’re now considered too old (a year or two ago, most employers set the age limit at forty for most jobs)…
- And if you aren’t already working (the newest twist: many employers won’t hire anyone who doesn’t already have a job. You have to be changing jobs, not trying to get back to work again. How awful is that, with so many highly qualified unemployed people trying so hard to find work?)
allow me to help you out with my own swift kick in the back side, and these suggestions. Assess your skills and experience. Write ‘em down. And write down the gaps… the “if I only knew how to..” stuff. Use the resources available online or in the local library to learn whatever you think will close the gaps. Some of it might cost you, but before you pay, see what you can find for free.
Read and learn. If you don’t have an ebook reader, go to the Kindle Store on Amazon and download their free “Kindle for PC” software. Then you can buy as many books as you want, at low prices, on any subject that will help.
Write down every idea you get about how to put your skills to work. Then get back on the internet and look for opportunities—real ones, not stuffing envelopes or getting paid to shop at your favorite stores. Don’t get trapped in those “earn money while you sleep” scams. It will cost you to find out how it works, learn new skills you never wanted, then use them to do stuff you hate, and you may never earn a dime for your efforts! I know somebody who actually tried it… and lost! She’s finally given up (I hope) on the too-good-to-be true “jobs” and works part-time in an office instead.
Is there something you’re passionate about, something you already know how to do and love doing, or maybe something you’ve always wanted to learn to do. Go with your passions and, if you have no passions, go with your interests and learn how to put them to work.
Success is not guaranteed? Hardly! With luck, determination, and lots of work, you will begin to succeed. Some things you try will fail. Just forget about it and keep working at finding your niche. Learn to be patient. Starting anything new takes a while, so don’t expect instant results. Just stick with it.
One big payoff: if and when you succeed, nobody will be able to fire you or lay you off if you own the company! Another payoff, possibly the most important: you will slowly become aware that, having made it past the inevitable hurdles, your self-esteem is returning and the feelings of helplessness and hopelessness are slowly fading into the past. Because you’ve taken your fate and your future into your own hands and are working toward something important: surviving and thriving.
Am I thriving? Not really, not yet. But every day brings me a few steps closer, brings me a few more dollars to stash away or spend. Every new client, every new project, encourages me to keep on keepin on! Don’t give up on me, not while my heart is still beating.
And please! Never give up on yourself.
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