30 something seeking career advice
April 6, 2012 1:49 AM   Subscribe

Help a thirty-something year old find his way (back) in his career

I'll try to bottom-line it.
Me: 35 years old, Dutch nationality, born in Germany and lived/worked/studied in 6 European countries. Multilingual with a master degree in entrepreneurship and new business development.
Current life/work: live in the Netherlands with a lovely girlfriend that has a stable job. Since my master in 2008, where I was 31, I've had trouble finding anything except freelance jobs. I've started 2 companies, one consulting, one technology, and I've worked as a freelance manager in 2 other jobs. My current freelance job is ending and I'm actively looking for work.
Some related context: my family went bankrupt when I was 14 and has been struggling since. I've tried to support them as much as I could, but had to support my studies, etc. as well. I have a student debt of ca. €40K, which I am keeping up with, no mortgage or other commitments. I am not in a position to afford therapy (which will be an advice you'll likely give) and have taken it before with the response that my life needs sorting out.
My problem: I feel very stressed at this moment in my life and I would like to get unstressed (though I realise that some stress is part of life). I get many rejections from the applications that I send, either because I'm over-qualified or under-qualified. I feel very blocked about approaching people (always have really) and have trouble selling myself.

So… my options, as I see them:
look for my dream job: the problem is that my dream job was to start businesses, but I don't see many advertisings for this. Also, not my blockage in approaching people. Also, it's typically a thing to do when you have at least a year of savings, not when you need an income.
Get a basic income: I've been trying this and still am. So far, rejections, or no answer. I think I appear weird as a 35 year old with a master degree and experience in management applying for telemarketing jobs, which seem to be the main ones out there…
Get a job on my level: I've been applying and so far have gotten one interview scheduled out of the 50 or so applications in the last month and a half. The rejections are often vague or list a non-fitting profile. Since my profile is start-up experience, and the jobs I apply for are mostly at bigger companies, that could be the reason.
Option I'm not realising: The floor is yours.
posted by vincentv to Work & Money (9 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Response by poster: I should also mention that my other dream job is to write. I've written a blog between 2004 and 2010 and loved doing that… Both writing and starting businesses have some overlap in my mind: I love coming up with ideas and working them out into a story. Again, a bit hard to find jobs for, I think.
posted by vincentv at 1:54 AM on April 6, 2012


Most work out there now is freelance/short-term, particularly in your areas. Accept it as it is because you're not going to change it any time soon.

If you know you will be overqualified, leave things off your resume - oversell your ability to do whatever they want you to do, regardless of what your actual qualifications/experience is. If you're going for telemarketing jobs, don't put your masters and management experience on there. Sell the fact that you're willing to work hard and follow instruction.

Ideally, you should apply for a very specific type of job and tailor each of your applications to that specific job. If you're sending out heaps of applications and only have one interview it shows me that you're just sending out bulk applications, not tailoring them to each position. Cut down on the number you apply for and really hone in on what each job needs and how you can deliver that.

You're not going to get any jobs in writing because there are no jobs in writing. The only field for writers that paid money was journalism and that's in the toilet.

Once you sort out your day job you can sort out your businesses from there - but really focus on getting the job that will pay your bills. Once you diminish your stress, then you can progress from there.
posted by mleigh at 3:21 AM on April 6, 2012 [3 favorites]


Have you been applying on your own? In the States, I'd suggest finding a recruiter or a headhunter who could do a lot of the legwork and networking for you. Also, if temporary/contract employment is available through agencies, you might want to do that. The best way to get a job, I think, is to have one foot in the door already somehow. Either because you know someone in a company, or you temp there, or volunteer or intern.
posted by xingcat at 4:58 AM on April 6, 2012


I'm in the Netherlands. We have the lowest unemployment rate in the EU. I don't know any unemployed people here, and certainly not with any affinity to technology.

If you're not getting hired, you're either applying at the wrong jobs or your resume has massive flaws, or you come off as crazy in person or something. It's hard to say without more information. I'll be happy to have a look at your resume if you memail me.
posted by dhoe at 5:29 AM on April 6, 2012


You need to get over your blockage and work any contacts you have. You don't need to ask THEM for a job, you need to ask them if they KNOW OF ANY JOBS. I *hate* cold-calling people and asking for help, but honest-to-god, if you don't make it about begging for a job it's not so bad.

Pick up the phone and call someone you've worked with: "Hey, I'm getting back to doing X and wondered if you have time for a chat about the state of the industry over coffee/beer. I'm working up a new resume and wondered if something has changed since the last time I went out actively looking for work. You're an expert. I'd love to talk to you!" Then, once you've had a nice conversation about what they do, how you should change your resume, etc it will be easy to ask the next question: so do you know anyone looking for people like me right now?

People like to A) talk about what they do, B) dispense free advice, and C) help other humans.

If that doesn't work, take the first job that comes along. The best way to get your dream job is to have *a* job.
posted by pjaust at 5:42 AM on April 6, 2012 [5 favorites]


What kinds of jobs "on your level" are you looking for? It seems like being a business consultant might be in line with your experience and background.

Bigger picture: why is starting a business your dream? What about it specifically? Obviously people don't advertise jobs for you to start your business, and if you can't approach people that's going to be a problem. Maybe you can get over those issues, or maybe you can find something without those hurdles that still offers the aspects you want.
posted by J. Wilson at 6:26 AM on April 6, 2012


Allow me to second the idea of working the contacts. There is no shame in this. I try to help pass on any leads about jobs that I know of to anyone who approaches me and every one in my circle of friends/colleagues seem to do the same; it is a very well accepted part of working for a living in the 21st century.

If you are getting freelance, grab it. Companies are always more interested in people who are already working.

For most people I know, their first or second jobs were not their dream jobs. Pick up a job that pays your bills while you keep looking.

There are several good threads on job-hunting on mefi that you may want to try to look up. At a very high level, here is what has worked for me in the past when job-hunting in North America; you may be familiar with them or applying them already, but anyway here is my two pennies:

- Resume' - invest as much time as you can building the most appropriate resume' for the specific job you are applying for
- Ask friends and ex-colleagues to refer your profile internally to their company's recruiters through the internal job-boards or e-mails to their internal recruiter (related to what I said at the beginning)
- Add job specific. tailored cover letter when applying to a job through a job board or a corporate website
- LinkedIn (very important in N. America; don't know big it is in Netherlands)
- Build relationships with a few good recruiters for application to mega-consulting corporations (this is a quirk of technology consulting industry in USA; applying to a large corp like IBM or Deloitte is easier if you go through a recruiter they work with, It should be similar in Europe to if this is an area that you are interested in .... good pay, terrible lifestyle)
- If you are working with a recruiter, make sure that s/he doesn't post your profile for any job w/o your explicit approval. No good recruiting consultant will do this; but it is better to make sure (If two recruiters submit your profile to the same client, that client may not touch you for the next -usually- 1 or 2 years)
- If you are applying through job boards, focus on the keywords that users are going to use to pull up resume's for jobs in areas of your interest.
- Prep for interviews. read up on the company. Ask friends. Troll boards like glassdoor etc. Ask HR in the company that you'll be interviewing with about the interviewing process and the type of questions that get asked. Think through and articulate your answers. There is a big difference between your knowing the answers and articulating them in a way that makes sense.
- These days, many first interviews are telephonic. They way you speak over phone and the quality of your phone matters. Practice did make a difference to me.
- Looking for jobs and continuing to work on the resume' is a depressing affair. I noticed that if I exercise regularly or take regular walk or read motivating stuff from time to time, it made a difference to my level of motivation (this is well-known these days. But it was interesting to find this applicable personally..)

Good luck!
posted by justlooking at 6:45 AM on April 6, 2012 [2 favorites]


Your life needs some clarity as far as career is concerned. Are you clear on your career path? I am presuming, no. Also you may have some self confidence issues or maybe you are trying too hard. No, seriously. From experience, sometimes we put so much pressure on ourselves that we blindly try to absorb all information and everything around us that we lose sight of what we need to do. Take baby steps first. I would suggest taking a week off from everything, if you can. Or even 2 to 4 days and just relax and take a breath to sort out all the information you have received till now=your past issues or troubles, why after 2oo8 you havent got the job you wanted (btw, do you know what job you want or are you firing indiscrimately?).

I think something is holding you back and that might be your will to get the job. Hopefully you can find the right one with all the practical advice given by others
posted by pakora1 at 9:30 PM on April 6, 2012


Response by poster: Thank you everyone for the advice. I can't promise that I'll follow all of it, but I've read it all and appreciate the effort.
posted by vincentv at 4:18 AM on April 8, 2012


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