I need to leave my job - What now?
November 29, 2010 11:11 AM   Subscribe

Please help me leave my job and get a new one. The last straw was being forced to work Thanksgiving. I am so outta here. But I'm not actually sure how to look for a job.

I've always had work fall into my lap. I tell one person that I'm looking for a job and they say, "Fantastic! I know just the thing." I'm not sure how to make this happen. Should I send e-mails to people? Call them on the phone? Set up coffee dates to chat with them and bring it up? I've also never had to apply for a job without an inside connection. How do I do that? I've looked around all the big job websites as well as the careers pages for some local companies, and I just don't know where to begin with sending in my resume.

I have an appointment tomorrow to meet with the career services office of my old college. But that's about all I've done so far. I'm really not sure where to begin. What kind of jobs should I be looking for? I honestly do not care what I do next. I've got a full life and my work has never defined me. I just want a job where I can make $40-$60K without the absolutely insane hours and stress I have right now. Bank teller, sales manager, bookkeeper, llama herder - it all sounds good to me.

In case it's helpful, here's a description of what I do now. I feel like I've got a pretty broad range of skills that I can apply to just about any office job.

I'm a supervising editor for a mid-size business publication. I oversee a pool of eight writers (down from a dozen last year), recruit new writers, prepare books from start to finish for publication (content and copy editing, as well as formatting), research extensively, analyze financial information, maintain our database driven website, and manage our internal database. In short, I do it all. (I even have to do some SEO bullshit and keep the ecommerce stuff running.) I've been at this position for 4.5 years, and it's burning me out something fierce. In the last year, the company has nearly doubled the workload while slashing the staff. Since I'm the person in charge of quality, it's been a constant battle for me to keep the quality up while the rest of the staff is being pushed for more and more quantity. It wouldn't be so bad, except that I truly despise being yelled at over things I have no control over, which is happening with increasing frequency. I've had a sous editor for the last year, which has made it tolerable. His last day is in two weeks, and I know I won't be able to do this job without him. There will be no replacement.

I've also got five years sales experience, plenty of customer service work and some call center work. I have a handful of websites that I've designed, and I've done a lot of IT support. I've taught piano and tutored for 11 years. (Yes, this is an anonysock. I'm not ready for work to know I'm jumping ship ASAP.)
posted by Bottlecap to Work & Money (6 answers total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
Location information would be helpful here. I've had to post a few jobs/read resumes as part of my job, and in my part of the country, bookkeepers are going for as little as $35,000. Competition for work is fierce, so salary expectations are ridiculously low.

It sounds like you're a jack of all trades at work, which is great - but you need to focus on a specific group of skill sets. What part of your job do you enjoy the most? Take that apply for jobs that encompass those tasks, tailoring your resume accordingly.
posted by litnerd at 11:56 AM on November 29, 2010


Response by poster: I'm in New Mexico. $35K would be fine, as long as it wasn't contract work.
posted by Bottlecap at 12:03 PM on November 29, 2010


Response by poster: Really, I'm not that picky about what I do next. Would it work to have a stack of resumes tailored to different skill sets and applying to jobs in different areas? I assume the different sets are writing/editing, IT, HR and sales/SEO. How would I break down those sets? Is there something I'm missing from that list? Also, my degree is in English, how do I sell my IT skills strongly enough? I'm dealing with a server, 10 networked computers and half a dozen remote desktops. Plus the web stuff.
posted by Bottlecap at 12:08 PM on November 29, 2010


Don't quit until you get a new job... Right now, life sucks, but it will suck more without the comfort of a regular paycheck.

My advise is the following:

a) put up a profile on LinkedIn.com

b) do a search on LinkedIn.com for related companies and start emailing folks of those companies who have profiles on LinkedIn

c) do a search on LinkedIn.com for open positions and start applying

Good luck! :)
posted by jchaw at 12:51 PM on November 29, 2010 [4 favorites]


Response by poster: It's part B that trips me up, jchaw! When I e-mail those folks, what should I say in my e-mail? How can I not just be a jerk e-mailing them out of the blue?
posted by Bottlecap at 1:36 PM on November 29, 2010 [1 favorite]


Best answer: This book helped me quite a bit: The unwritten rules of the highly effective job search. The title is pretty tacky, but the advice is good.

There three principles you are missing at the moment.

1. You need to choose some career direction to target first. You can always change your mind later, or attack multiple directions at once. But know that Honestly do not care what I do next never flies in an interview. Companies will always judge your application based on whether you would be a good fit for the position, and a good fit for the group. If you come out of the gate saying "I could do anything," you sound like a listless bore who has no particular strength, and no specific interest for this particular position or the company. Not good.

2. Emailing people asking for a job is not a "jerk" move. Not at all. Imagine a boss who has been trying to hire someone for months, but just cannot find a good fit. The last three people they hired for the position flaked out or had to be fired, and they are getting desperate. Then they read your email, and you are the perfect person. Oh joy! You just made their day. So, when email people, be proud of your qualifications, and write like you are the living solution their burning staffing problem.

3. When you email people, in addition to asking whether they have a need for someone like you, also ask if they know of some other company who does. This way if they don't need you, you have left space open for a conversation to emerge, which leaves everyone with a good feeling, and you are likely to get a few good leads.
posted by gmarceau at 2:20 PM on November 29, 2010 [3 favorites]


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