OT-Job Search Help

[santa's surpriz]

I having a bear of a time finding a new job, I just finished my degree and in my mid-30's. I graduated with a degree in Human Resource Management and Healthcare Management. I have been seeking a HR job, but have little repsonse with my resume. I do have HR experience highlighted on my resume but it is also filled with financial sales. I am willing to relocate and have search jos everywhere. It is really difficult to have job posters take you seriously when you are not local.

Taking an entry level salary is out of the question, there is no way I can take that big of a pay cut and still survive as a single mom. Has anyone made a complete career change? How did you have the most sucess? Can any one offer advice? TIA!!

 

[ancestry]

I have had and I am still having the same struggles as you are. The economy isn't the best right now and in most states the unemployment rate is very high! When I decided to make a career change I went back to college and completed three separate degrees (2 bachelor's and 1 master's). I have been looking for a full time (regular type of) job for close to 1 1/2 years now.

I finally found a decent part-time job about 10 months ago (i.e. I teach a portion of an online college course and also teach some Saturdays in the classroom). This job pays very well on an hourly basis but is not livable by itself because it only adds up to about 9 weeks of work out of the year.

I've continued to look for a full time job. I was mailing out resume after resume to jobs that I thought I was perfectly qualified for and wasn't getting any interviews. I finally started applying for jobs that technically are "beneath" me career, experience and salary wise. Once I did that I started getting interviews. I am a final candidate for a position which is significantly less (like $20K per year less) than I was making before I switched careers. I should know tomorrow if I got the job or not. Combine this potential job with my part-time online teaching job and I might have a full time livable salary but I still will be making less than I did before I returned to school 5 years ago.


What was interesting that I wanted to share with you is the following: I am WAY overqualified for the job. The job only requires a high school diploma with some college classes (no degree required). Meanwhile I have 3 college degrees. The lady who interviewed me said that she was surprised at how many people with master's degrees applied for the position which technically doesn't even require a bachelor's degree. She said that everyone she interviewed for the position was "overqualified." Even though the job technically requires no degree she only interviewed those with master's degrees.

Point being that the economy and high unemployment rate has really shook up the job market. In a flourishing economy with a low unemployment rate, that would never happen (interviewing such overqualified people). People are desperate to get *any* type of job and jobs are very competitive. If you don't have work related experience in the field you are trying to get into you may need to lower your salary expectations. Making a career change sometimes means that you have to go back to the beginning again and re-establish your career. When you apply for a job you are competing with other people who never did a career change and who have an established career in that field without any major gaps or breaks. You also may be competing with people who are way overqualified for the job.

I will be happy to have any type of job right now. I don't qualify for unemployment, etc. so any job even a low paying job is better than no job.

I wish you the best of luck. I know how frustrating the whole process can be.

 

[smokeyblue]

You just say "degree". What degree? Associates? Bachelor's? Masters? If you don't have a masters you are going to have to start small and work your way up. In my hospital the HR people have been there FOREVER and all of them have masters degrees plus many certifications. The only new hire in years and years was the Directer of HR and he had a masters and over 20 years of HR experience. Also do you have any clinical experience? A good majority of our upper level management came from years of clinical experience.

It's a really tough out there. I've been trying to get into our IT department for years only to be passed up by "people who know people" even though they are far less qualified and don't have the dynamic background I have.

My suggestion? Take what you can get closet to your field. You may have to take a non-healthcare position. Sorry I didn't have anything better to say. Good luck to you.

 

[meriface11]

for career changers, i recommend a functional resume where you list your experiences and skills as opposed to a chronological resume.

are you involved in SHRM or participate in any local SHRM events? not only would it be a good way to network, but it will help you build your knowledge foundation. Are you PHR or SPHR certified? at the least, PHR certification might help show that while the majority of your experience might not actually be in HR, your degree and certification shows functional expertise.

finally, i would focus on an HR job in the financial sales industry. operational understanding means a lot to business leaders. or you might want to start with recruiting for financial sales and later transition into generalist work.

 

[santa's surpriz]

Thanks for all the input, at least it gives some ideas to go from. For those asked, it is a bachelors degree with honors. I do have a functional resume and have pulled out specific hr duties for each job held. Right now, I am studying for my SPHR certification. So once I get that out of the way I think I will be on track. It's just fustrating bc I am ready to make a change...yesterday.