Find a new job challenge

[dodojojo]

Mods, please let me know if this is thread is acceptable here?  I looked through a few pages and I don't see anything related to looking for a new job or a career.  As someone with a mental block about the whole job search process--I thought maybe creating a challenge thread would be helpful? 

So what is MMMer to do if one is doing well on the FI path but not FI and not happy in their current position?  What if a change is needed?  In other words, you need a new job?  I haven't successfully applied for a new job since the dinosaur age, well, okay, pre-social media era. Though millions of people do it everyday,  I just can't get myself to jump in the fray.  I swear, I could be on the brink of starvation and I probably would still not update my resume. But I know that I can't wreck my FI path--I need to get out there, find another job and get on with my life rather resentfully grinding it out at current place

Who else is job searching and would like to contribute to this thread?  Of course, any input from superstar job seekers would be appreciated.

Let's see, where is that resume from 2007...

[utaca]

I successfully played the pandemic find-a-new-job challenge! Like you, I was well on my way to FIRE, but burnt out. I was also nervous about changing my career during the pandemic and I hadn't applied for a job in almost a decade.

In terms of pointers, I'd recommend Google Drive for updating your resume. It has a number of resume templates that are easy to use and look great.

Restrict access and/or scrub your social media, especially if you are inclined to post inflammatory political content (from whatever perspective) or have any interests that might look odd to an employer. For example, I like strange/fringe music/film/art/literature and I don't want an employer to think that because I enjoy a disturbing film from time-to-time, I'm going to be a creep at the office! Ultimately, rest assured, HR will try to find and examine your social media.

Also, if you're in a field where recruiters/poachers operate, seek them out and let them help you. They get paid to place people so it's in their interest to help you get a job.

Finally, if you're unhappy in your current position, take the plunge. Hell, take a pay-cut for a lower stress or more interesting job. What do you have to lose?

Hope this helps and good luck!

[Sibley]

Let me just drop this in... askamanager.org

Best source for all things work advice I've ever found. Good luck to any looking to change jobs/careers.

[dodojojo]

I successfully played the pandemic find-a-new-job challenge!
Finally, if you're unhappy in your current position, take the plunge. Hell, take a pay-cut for a lower stress or more interesting job. What do you have to lose?

Hope this helps and good luck!

Can you link to the thread.  I've looked through a few pages in Gauntlet and don't see the thread.

Yes, I'm dreading a step down in salary/title but I'm at a point where I  really need to go.  I fantasizing about skipping out without anything lined up because I'm just fed up.  I'm trying to do my work but my relationship with my manager is fraying badly.  I think familiarity breeds contempt and after so many years, we need to stop working with each other.  Not interested in staying with the company--just need a clean break.

[TheFrenchCat]

I've been kicking around the idea of getting a second job in the fall once my daughter goes back to school in person.  I currently have a super flexible part time job that I work about 16 hours a week, but could work up to 29 hours a week if I had more time.  It allows me to not need childcare for my daughter and is great for my mental health.  I typically make about 15-16 dollars an hour.  I'm not the breadwinner in our household, but part of me really wants to contribute more.   Also, especially after the last year, I find myself wanting more in-person interaction.  Most days I only see my daughter, my husband and my mother-in-law. 

So I'm thinking of taking a job with high turn-over so I can quit in the summer and not feel guilty.  Or maybe ask them to schedule me only when my husband would be home to take care of our daughter.  I keep finding myself thinking of being a barista again, since I enjoy making the drinks (but not drinking them), and I would see people more regularly. 

My other idea is to volunteer for a research group at a local university in the field I did my undergrad in.  This would involve re-teaching myself some things, but could be super interesting and also fulfill the seeing people requirement without as much pressure.  But I wouldn't make any money, at least right away.  There's a chance I could use the skills in some sort of side hustle, but I'm not sure it'd work out and I'm not sure I'd want to.

I don't think any of my employers have looked up my social media, though I'm only on Facebook and keep my profile private. Is that really a major concern for job hunting now?   Guess I should go check out ask a manager.

Good luck to everyone job-hunting!

[dougules]

@dodojojo, based on your post in the burnout thread, I'd say that your current situation is affecting your health to the point it's really handicapping your ability to find other options.  It's a Catch-22.  I'm probably just telling you something obvious to you, but I wanted to point it out explicitly.  Other than getting help with your mental health, I honestly don't have any good advice there, but somebody else might based on me pointing it out. 

[Dicey]

Do you have a profile on LinkedIn? Definitely a good/easy way to start.

[dodojojo]

@dougules Updated the burnout thread.  You're right, I'm just trying to hold it together.  If the new opportunity works out, I'd like to be able to take advantage of it.  I'm trying things outside of work to see I can keep my stuff together.

LinkedIn!  Augh, I have such mixed feelings about it.  Much of it due to some personal hang-ups.  I likely won't get much of LinkedIn without working through those issues first.

[dougules]

dougules Updated the burnout thread.  You're right, I'm just trying to hold it together.  If the new opportunity works out, I'd like to be able to take advantage of it.  I'm trying things outside of work to see I can keep my stuff together.

I've got my fingers crossed for you.  It doesn't sound like the new opportunity could be any worse, really, and if it is, you said you have FU money.  Working in a toxic environment can kill you. 

[dodojojo]

dougules Updated the burnout thread.  You're right, I'm just trying to hold it together.  If the new opportunity works out, I'd like to be able to take advantage of it.  I'm trying things outside of work to see I can keep my stuff together.

I've got my fingers crossed for you.  It doesn't sound like the new opportunity could be any worse, really, and if it is, you said you have FU money.  Working in a toxic environment can kill you.

I feel, at worst, it will buy me time to find a job elsewhere.  I was blown away at first but now I'm wondering if they're playing 3D chess and I'm still at the checkers board.  Maybe they're buying time too--dangle a carrot to keep me around and train my replacement instead of skipping out with 2 weeks notice.  It's hard to believe they would take on the extra cost of keeping me and hiring another person to do my soon to be old job...Like they really care about me?  My brain is addled and I'm wondering if I'm just spooking myself now.

[dougules]

I feel, at worst, it will buy me time to find a job elsewhere.  I was blown away at first but now I'm wondering if they're playing 3D chess and I'm still at the checkers board.  Maybe they're buying time too--dangle a carrot to keep me around and train my replacement instead of skipping out with 2 weeks notice.  It's hard to believe they would take on the extra cost of keeping me and hiring another person to do my soon to be old job...Like they really care about me?  My brain is addled and I'm wondering if I'm just spooking myself now.

Yes I think your brain is addled, and you probably are spooking yourself.  Even if not, does it matter?  If you have enough on hand to be secure until you could find another job, you're ok.  I would just assume they're being genuine because that's the assumption that's most useful for your mental health.  If they are scheming, occupying your head space with it is the only thing they can do that will actually hurt you. 

One way or the other, you should get professional help for your mental health.  Stressing to the point of making your health decline should be treated like the medical problem it is.  Also in your situation, you need help to be able to consider your options rationally. 

[Avolonte]

Hello! I started job searching just as the pandemic set in last year. I was in a similar situation where the relationship with my manager at old job was deteriorating in a way that I also described as "familiarity breeds contempt." I don't think I had slept through the night in 2 full years, the gaslighting that went on there had me questioning my own sanity and self-worth, and on top of that the pandemic hit just as I made up my mind to get out. It was hard to job search in that frame of mind, but I just kept plugging away at it with a goal of doing something to advance the search, however little, every day.

It took me 8 months to find a new position, and it was essentially like having a part-time job on top of the full-time job. I second the website askamanager.org--it's amazing. I also ended up paying a service a couple hundred bucks to re-write my resume and linkedin profile, just because my resume was 20 years old and I felt like I needed a second, neutral opinion. I reached out to a recruiter, friends and former colleagues to tell them I was looking. I practiced answering interview questions with my husband and a couple of friends to fine-tune my wording and get feedback. The first interview was still awful, but they got better! The cover letters became easier to write and the interviews went more smoothly each time.

Other tips I have based on my involvement in hiring staff at various times: HR will definitely do a search and go through your FB profile and anything else they can find. If applicable, be sure to follow any directions in the job listing and not just send a resume; at old job and new job, any applicants who don't follow all instructions are immediately thrown out (like "send us a cover letter, resume, and answer the question "why do you want to work here"--people who didn't answer the question were out).

Good luck to you and I hope you find a great position!