Email us questions at [email protected], subject line “businesslady.” Previous installments can be found here.
Dear Businesslady,
How long can I wait to quit after accepting a promotion at a workplace I dislike? Despite the fact that I wanted to turn down said promotion and stay in my old position…I took it. At the time I was in the midst of trying to get the heck out of this place, and now, a month in to the new job, I’d still like to move on. I would like to show on my resume that I am trustworthy and awesome enough to get a promotion, but I don’t want to look like a real weasel, either. What should I do?
–Discontent and underpaid non-profit professional
Dear Discontent,
Well, ultimately, you need to do what’s best for you and your career. So—there’s your answer: do that thing.
Just kidding! This is a tough spot to be in, because there are a lot of different factors at play: your current workplace, the potential future workplaces where you’re a candidate, and your resume/career arc as a whole. I’m going to try to tackle them each separately (although not necessarily in that order).
Regarding your current job, first and foremost, you may want to give the new position a bit of time to see if you dislike it as much as you think you do. I’m not saying to tough it out indefinitely—and depending on the degree to which your work remains the same even with the promotion, you may already have plenty of information about its long-term viability. But it usually takes longer than a month to start feeling comfortable and confident in a new role, so you may find it more tolerable as your familiarity increases. Either way, learning to find something to appreciate about even the crappiest jobs is a valuable professional skill.
(By the same token, make sure you evaluate what you don’t like about your work now so you can avoid doing it in the future. And if you find that some variation on “having to work for a living” is the main culprit, you may need to adjust your expectations about whether a new position is going to solve the problem. I’m not saying this is the case with you, but I’ve definitely been on the receiving end of “I hate my job” complaints—usually, but not always, from people fairly early in their careers—that boil down to “…because it comes with expectations that are tied to my livelihood and I’d rather do what I want all day long while enjoying infinite financial support.” However much I may identify with this perspective emotionally, it’s not particularly realistic or productive.)
I also give the advice above because, as you surely know, job searches can be lengthy ordeals. So at the same time as you’re trying to stay positive and open-minded about what you’re doing now, you should absolutely be updating your resume, polishing up your LinkedIn profile, putting out feelers to anyone in your network who might know of viable openings, and perusing job listings for other opportunities. You’ve already been in your new position for a month; by the time you submit an application, get an interview, and eventually accept an offer to go elsewhere, it could be another five or six months from now (at least!), and that’s not quite the same as leaving a few weeks after a promotion.
Of course, things can also move unexpectedly quickly if the right job comes along, so another factor to consider is how you narrate this move to prospective employers. In interviews, you can probably address “why are you leaving so soon?” by spinning the promotion into a broader story of dissatisfaction: “I’ve been eager to start doing [XYZ thing the prospective job includes that your current one doesn’t], and while I thought this promotion would help quell my desire to move on, I find it only reinforced my sense that I need a change.” Don’t badmouth your workplace, of course, but I think you can pretty easily make this about you and your desire to expand your career. This is especially true if you’ve otherwise got a pretty solid track record of sticking around for the long haul; if instead your resume has a few gigs of a year or less, you may find it more difficult to convince a new workplace that you’re willing to commit to them.
The other issue you’ll need to manage is—assuming you do find a great new position—whether your current colleagues feel frustrated that you’re leaving so soon after the promotion. Some of this will depend on how the whole thing went down; if it was something they basically thrust upon you, you’ll probably find it easier to explain that it wasn’t really what you wanted (this dovetails with the “how to talk about it in interviews” perspective above). If, on the other hand, your manager went to bat to get you promoted, or if they turned down other viable candidates to give the job to you, there may be some resentment there. My general feeling about this is “they can deal,” but if you’re in a fairly close-knit industry where news of your “betrayal” could spread and adversely affect your future job prospects, that may be another reason to stick around as long as possible and only move on for a job that’s a truly fantastic opportunity.
Which brings me back to my earlier advice: do what’s best for you and your career. Sending out applications most likely can’t hurt you; at worst, employers who are turned off by how briefly you’ve been in your current role will…simply not interview you, which is no different than the zero interviews you’d otherwise get without applying. (Additionally, you’ll have the bonus of a refurbished resume and a cover letter ready to go.) Don’t feel guilty about leaving your current workplace behind, but do be cognizant of whether (and if so, how) any bad blood on their end could follow you around even after you leave. My personal cautionary tale on this front involves a family friend—let’s call her Ms. Jumper—who, after quickly leaving her first postcollege job for greener pastures, apparently so offended her former boss that any future young go-getters were viewed with suspicion as potential “Jumper types,” even years later. Fortunately her departure also took her into a different industry, but a grudge like that—or any other fallout that damages your reputation—has the potential to do more harm in the long run than staying in a lame job for a year.
If your only concern is how you look to prospective employers, though, I don’t think you have much to worry about. When a manager’s looking at an application from a candidate they’d like to hire, it’s easy to give them the benefit of the doubt regarding their career choices—the “awesome enough to get a promotion” should stand out far more than any potential assessments of weaseliness. Best of luck in your search! (Oh, and P.S., please don’t quit without another job lined up unless your budget can comfortably accommodate at least year of unemployment—the economy’s still rough, and that frustrating position you’re in now will start looking like a pretty sweet gig if you’re worried about making rent.)
—Businesslady
***
Dear Businesslady,
I just started working at a new job after being unemployed for a while, and while I was going through the hiring process, my boss told me that she would be taking a leave of absence for my first two months in the position. Although we have lovely volunteers, she’s the only other employee at this office, and she was a huge leader in the company: major events were organized under her watch, by-laws were updated, board members were wrangled, and a million other things got done. My role was supposed to be admin support: working with the volunteers, doing data entry, and helping with her daily work.
You know where this is going, right? She never came back from her leave. I’ve been at my job for about three months now, and all of the sudden, I find myself thrust into this weird hybrid role where I seem to be taking on a lot of the big-picture stuff she would have handled (applying for a company credit card! Organizing the AGM for the board!) and continuing on with my normal stuff. My days are very full, and very stressful. The President of the board has taken over as the nominal leader, but in reality he usually just turns to me and says, “Make sure that (whatever “that” is) gets done.” There’s no clear sense of when my boss will be replaced; the last time they hired for her role, it took them almost three months to get someone in.
So, I have a two-parter: 1) How do I mitigate the frustrations of doing all this work, alone? I’m not one to shirk responsibilities, but this seems kind of intense!; and 2) what kind of leverage do I have here? I make about 34K; my former boss made about 80K. Should I be thinking raise? Bonus? More vacation days? Something else?
Thanks!
– Alone Again, Professionally.
Dear Alone,
Congratulations on stepping up to the plate when your boss left—taking on new responsibilities and generally excelling at them is one of the best ways to position yourself for a major step forward in your career. (It’s also usually tied to forces entirely beyond your control, so you have to either seize the opportunity when it presents itself or else hope another one comes along.) On the other hand, it’s not a major step forward if the result is “do way more work for the same pay, forever,” so you’re also smart to be thinking about the bigger picture with regard to your role.
I totally understand the two facets of your question, but in some ways, they’re interrelated: figuring out the answer to 1) will likely involve some decision-making in the realm of 2). It sounds as though you’re pretty much on board with the tasks you’re managing, but (naturally) want there to be some increased compensation or other recognition if it’s going to continue indefinitely.
First and foremost, if you haven’t already, I’d start trying to establish regular check-in meetings with the President, and/or whomever is acting as your supervisor. Don’t launch into “I’ve been doing all this work and still making less than half of my old boss and AAAH!” right away, but use this as a way to enumerate everything you’re doing and demonstrate your overall professionalism. After a few conversations about your workload, it should feel pretty natural to segue into “So, can you tell me what the plan is for my position? Are you rehiring [old boss’s job] or…?”
Before you broach this subject, however, you’ll want to do some thinking about what your role would look like in an ideal world. The higher-ups might already have an ironclad strategy in mind, but they also might ask “well what do you think we should do?” or respond with something in between.
Think through the various possibilities that they might pursue; the obvious ones I see are: they hire a new person to replace your boss (perhaps you, via an internal promotion, and otherwise this could return you to your previously scheduled suite of tasks) or you keep doing oldjob+newjob in a hybrid position that may or may not have a new title. Of these, which is the most appealing? If your heart of hearts says, “you know, I liked it when I was only doing the admin stuff and I can live just fine on $34k,” there’s no obligation to be more ambitious—although do note my caveat above that opportunities like this aren’t super common or predictable.
My guess, though—and my advice for you, absent any other data about your self/situation—is that you’ll be better served by leveraging this into some kind of a promotion. If you think you’re too junior to actually assume your old boss’s job, then “new title/salary to reflect new responsibilities” is the way to go. (Plus, in all but the most rigidly bureaucratic organizations, a new title is an extremely easy way for employers to recognize hard work—after all, it’s free! So you’ll want to consider your future career goals and what kind of title will help you land your next position when the time comes.) Also do some research into salary ranges for higher-level admin positions, and don’t be afraid to ask for a big bump in pay if it seems reasonable. (Remember our uncertain possible-promotion-pursuer from the second question I answered? She ended up getting the job and a 44% salary increase in the process. True, I can’t guarantee you’ll get that lucky, but as I said then, it rarely hurts to be your own advocate.)
The degree to which your pay goes up will depend on a lot of things—their budget, how well they think you’ve been performing, parity with your colleagues (maybe not an issue for a small office like yours, but generally a factor), and the amount of work that will remain fully yours under the new role. But it might look something like this: if your current title is, say, Administrative Associate (at $34k), but they want you to keep doing all but the most high-level tasks you’ve recently taken on, you might end up becoming a Project Manager (at, let’s say, $48k). Or if they want you to basically go back to your old job, but keep doing a few things that you’ve proven your capacity to manage, you might become a Senior Administrative Associate (ideally at $40k, but at the very least recognized via a fancy new title). You’ll note that neither of those hypothetical new salaries comes close to $80k, and that’s because, while I’m sure that you are in fact doing most of the on-the-ground work that your former boss used to do, her pay was just as surely reflecting some behind-the-scenes leadership that’s related to seniority. If they do think you’re a viable candidate to fully assume her old position, then a more substantial increase would make sense.
One way or another, if they’re less flexible on salary than you’d like, that’s when you start discussing non-salary perks that you’d find meaningful. Your example of more vacation days is a good thought (although possibly impractical if they have an official policy that governs those allotments), as is a bonus (one-time or quarterly for as long as your increased workload lasts); other options might be the ability to work from home periodically, a flexible schedule, some kind of tuition reimbursement or other professional-development support, a reprieve from your least-favorite task, inclusion on a particular project you find interesting, or any combination of the above. Again, you don’t want to launch into a When Harry Met Sally-esque laundry list of “I’d like this or else this but if that’s not possible…”; you just want to have your own priorities in order so that you’re prepared for the discussion when it happens. Take that perfect-world job description and then think about a rough hierarchy of alternatives if (and let’s be real: when) they can’t give you exactly what you want.
Reality being what it is, it’s possible that you’ll hear “our plan is for you to keep doing what you’re doing right now, at $34k, with no title change or other job perks, and like it,” and that no amount of persuasion will convince them otherwise. In that case, please see the advice for the letter-writer above you: try to keep a positive attitude, think of all your new work as valuable training for an expanded role elsewhere, and begin searching for a new job. The chance to tell interviewers about how you took on all these additional tasks—successfully and with a smile!—is definitely worth some stressful workdays while you’re looking for your next move.
But my hope is that this becomes an exciting and pivotal chapter in The Story of Alone Again’s Prosperous and Fulfilling Career. In all likelihood, the President is just enjoying the status quo for as long as it lasts, but will ultimately be eager to keep an enthusiastic and productive employee around once pressed to do so. If not, well, once an employer says “take it or leave it,” they can’t be that shocked when their staff chooses the latter option. And either way, you’ll be able to use this experience as a springboard to something bigger and better.
—Businesslady
Tags: advice, business, dear businesslady, jobs
Related Posts
“Is This Working?” Introducing Our Job Advice Column
She Said, She Said: Advice on Yappy Coworkers and Being Poorer Than You Want
Raising the Tone: Etiquette for Resentment and Bachelor Parties
Aunt Acid: Advice on Found Money and Cliques
She Said, She Said: Advice on Roommates and Trust
Aunt Acid: Advice About Sisters
“if you find that some variation on “having to work for a living” is the main culprit, you may need to adjust your expectations”
This and the whole paragraph it is couched within just gave me enormous heart-shaped cartoon eyes for you, Businesslady. I think it is such great advice and a nice dose of reality to remember that 99.9% of adults have to work for their living while we would all love to have jobs that we 100% love and enjoy it just isn’t the reality for everyone. I am ALL FOR people trying to find a job that is between “tolerable” and “downright enjoyable” for themselves but sometimes you just… have to deal with the hand you have, you know?
I wish LW and anyone in the same position all the luck in the world finding a job that doesn’t crush their soul, I really do. May we all find non-soul-crushing means to keep roofs over our heads.
Also agreed! It was a great head-check for me in the opposite way, though–like, yep, I sincerely hated a few jobs I had in retail (which paid so low I qualified for food stamps and offered me no benefits or hope for advancement), but it wasn’t about the expectations placed on me as an employee. I work for myself now, and while I’m poor as crap, the same expectations apply and I actually LOVE them. Just need to make it all pay more.
YES! I had those same heart-shaped cartoon eyes. I think it’s especially important for new graduates or folks with limited work experience to hear, since that dream job that allows us to sleep in until noon, be in the office only three hours a week, and spend the rest of our time doing whatever we want is probably not going to fall in our laps right out of college. It is probably not going to fall in our laps EVER, but making the best of an imperfect position can help us get ever closer to our dream jobs.
LW2, one thing as well is to keep a detailed list of all the tasks you have taken on and items accomplished. This will be helpful later, even if just to add to your resume.
I also think waiting to find out their plan is also the best, as Businesslady begins with. At the end of the day this does happen, and while some companies may use it as a chance to take advantage of someone on the longer term, some may also just need time to find a good candidate. You also need to prove yourself capable and invaluable before negotiating. Them asking you to do something doesn’t equate extra value until you have proven to be able to do that thing.
LW 1, leave the promotion off your resume and go look for a new job. Easy peasy. A resume is not an interrogation nor is it exhaustive, so it’s legit to reflect what you did for the majority of your time with a company.
If you really want your resume to reflect the promotion, sit tight long enough for it to count. Six months? Some revenue number? However long you need to have measurable/demonstrable success in the position.
Absolutely this. If LW definitely needs to get out and wants to start applying for jobs right away, it’s better to leave the promotion off the resume altogether. Partly because it’ll look pretty bad to list “I got a promotion, took it, and then immediately left” but also because it’s not really valid to call it part of your job experience if you haven’t settled in and actually done the job for a while, you know?
I work at a Fortune 500 and I literally spend all day surrounded by powerful women who tell me things about how to Get What I Want in business SO I HAVE A LOT OF OPINIONS ABOUT THIS FYI okay here I go again:
I love you, Business Lady, but this is extremely unhelpful:
Reality being what it is, it’s possible that you’ll hear “our plan is for you to keep doing what you’re doing right now, at $34k, with no title change or other job perks, and like it,” and that no amount of persuasion will convince them otherwise.
LW 2 is being exploited, and not even in the traditional way! WHERE IS YOUR RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION?!
LW 2, get ENTITLED. You are acting as Interim Boss. As Interim Boss, you should receive Interim Pay while the powers that be get their shit straight. You absolutely have the leverage to request a compensation renegotiation ASAP (I mean ASAP. First thing Monday morning). Nothing about this is ambiguous.
Be clear about this: They should have offered you additional compensation. I suspect Old Boss was the one who did all the business? So there is literally no one around to notice that you need to be paid more. You need to be your own advocate here. It’s uncomfortable, but you can totally do it.
Outline very clearly in a written, bulleted list 1) the responsibilities you agreed to when you were hired and 2) the responsibilities you have picked up to cover Old Boss. Express your compassionate understanding of the situation, and firmly and unapologetically ask to be compensated for the additional responsibility while they work on replacing Boss. Be prepared to return to something approximating your original pay when they find her replacement.
If it helps, (and this is what I do), pretend you’re an entitled, privileged white dude in your mid-late twenties. Would you tolerate being paid $34k to do all this work? Or would you walk your entitled ass into the President’s office and say “SUP I’M HOT AS FUCK PAY ME BETTER AIGHT? AIGHT LET’S FROLF”
Because the answer is always the latter. The bro would always ask for more money because literally his whole life he has been told he shits gold.
LW2, YOU SHIT GOLD. GET PAID.
I love you and this answer. NAIL IT LW2
“SUP I’M HOT AS FUCK PAY ME BETTER AIGHT? AIGHT LET’S FROLF”
Whenever I need a self-confidence boost, I am going to channel this frolfing asshat. Thank you for the inspiration. (ALSO YOU ARE SO RIGHT)
+1
I would also add: to me it sounds like the President at LW2’s company (and I’m interested in what kind of company has a lot of ‘volunteers’ – are people volunteering at a for-profit company? But why?) is scrambling himself and is probably not thinking very hard about LW2 and her ability to get this stuff done. If she just smiles and tries to keep up, he will likely assume all is well, which leads to two possibilities: 1) they are heading for a bit of a disaster because, while LW2 is likely supremely competent, he or she is not experienced enough to deal with this situation; or 2) LW2 does a job that should be compensated at a vastly higher pay scale for $34k. Neither is ok.
I would say that LW2 needs to have a straight-talk meeting with the President and point this stuff out. “I was hired to do X, and now I am doing X, Y, and Z. In order to do Y and Z well, I am going to need A, B, and C (meetings with the President, extra support, whatever). If I am going to keep doing Y and Z, it is fair that I get a raise. Can we discuss this.”
Also LW2, I would keep in mind that the President is likely both stressed by the situation and also under the impression that they are doing the whole of the job, so tread a bit lightly. Do NOT tell the President that you are doing the former boss’s whole job, because that is likely not true, even if you are doing lots of it.
I’m pretty sure LW2 is at a nonprofit because of the reference to “boards” in addition to the volunteer thing. And that’s partially why I took a more measured approach than what samburgers narrates above (even though I’m 100% on board with demanding your due and not being a doormat). In a tiny nonprofit, the President might not even be aware of all the extra work LW2 is doing, so taking the time to establish that before the “okay, so now pay me for it” conversation might ultimately be more effective.
Storming in on Monday morning to request immediate compensation could backfire if the President’s totally in the dark–like the difference between “Sorry for not saying something sooner, but could you stop clicking your pen all the time?” and a sudden “OH MY GOD WHY CAN’T YOU GO 15 SECONDS WITHOUT CLICKING YOUR GODDAMN PEN” outburst when you’ve been sharing an office with someone for months.
Also (there are exceptions to this, of course) but nonprofits tend to be exploitative out of disorganization/ignorance, whereas many for-profits use that tactic deliberately. If LW2 were in a bigger or more corporate environment, my advice would’ve looked a lot more like samburgers’–complete with righteous indignation!
No one needs to be told to be more timid about asking for money, I don’t think! It’s damaging to non-profit workers when we perpetuate the belief that you have to ask for money on a Tuesday only when the humidity just so because it’s ~*small and for a good cause*~ or whatever.
Half of LW2’s letter is “Should I get paid for the work I’m doing?” The answer to that should be “YES.” Period.
LW1, I feel you. Here is how it has played out for . . . . a friend. This “friend” had an entry-level job that after awhile was beginning to frustrate her, and she began to look for other work. Then she got a promotion that she at first refused, later accepted. The first few months were really rough, because she was already frustrated + she was on a steep learning curve. Then suddenly the curve leveled out, the job got a lot easier, and she got a lot more into it. Started doing a bunch of professional development stuff, became a cheerleader for the office and the industry.
Two years later, the job went through some really rough patches when, like LW2, she was suddenly taking on a lot more responsibilities than she was trained or paid for. Now she’s burnt out again, frustrated again, looking for other work again. On the downside, she really feels like What have I done with my LIFE for the last two years, having poured a lot of energy and time into a job that will not love her back, at the expense other fulfilling pursuits. On the upside, after two years in the promoted position her resume is a lot snazzier and the wait for a new job is a little more financially comfortable.
Now only you know whether this is a position that you need to leave ASAP for sanity (in which case, like samburgers said, go now and leave it off your resume) or whether you can ride it out for a little while as you gain useful experience and money. Just wanted to let you know one way it could look.
Oh man, can I ask a question? What do you do if, for reasons in a combination of “outside my control” and “slightly more in my control,” your resume is a series of short stints? Part of this is trying to get into new fields, but layoffs, toxic work environments, and taking jobs you don’t really want just to pay bills are all factors. Do employers really believe this is a sign of a bad work ethic? Is there any way to shape your resume that can either hide this, or explain it better?
Hmmm how short is short? I’ve been building myself a nice little HR career in television/tech and have, until now, never had more than about 18 months at any one job, and it seems to have never mattered.
After the first job (which was like 3 years) all have been 12-18 months. And yeah, one of those was because the company lost a bunch of money and laid off half the staff.
How many is “all”? 12 – 18 months is typical for a young professional in this market, so the number of jobs counts.
4, so I guess not that many? Especially before 30?
I wouldn’t expect that to be a problem. Job hopping a little before 30 in this climate is normal, IMO, especially if you’re prepared to talk about why you moved around.
In my monstrously large company, most folks do some (or a ton of) hopping before they land here. My company is in the midsts of a HUGE transition–new people, new focuses, new brand, all of it. There’s zero expectations that its people aren’t also evolving and trying new things.
I’d be interested to know what others think, though!
This sounds like my resume, and I’m somehow making a career in academic administration. Remember, your resume isn’t an exhaustive history of everything you’ve ever done, it’s your means to getting an interview. Proceed accordingly.
At the recommendation of one of the great doctoral students who taught me in library school (thanks, Carolyn!), I maintain a master list of everything I’ve done since finishing college, and then pick and choose what I want to include in a resume for a given position. Include whatever information markets you as a good candidate (whether through the skills you developed, or just showing that you’ve been employed or busy over a given time), and cut the extraneous stuff.
Depends on what you’re looking for, but one way (courtesy of author Peter Bowerman) to structure a freelance resume is as follows:
HEADERblabla
Selected (Field in which you’re applying) Clients
1. CLIENT: The Toast
PROJECT: Awesome columns about catching up on YA literature
2. etc.
I was always paranoid that if everything didn’t have dates that lined up exactly I would burn in Hell, but this has made my resumes (and me) look smarter, AND you can micro-tailor it to the job you’re applying for. Good luck! May we all earn enough for Top Ramen to be an optional delicacy and not a dietary staple.
I think this format works if you’re a freelancer, but most hiring managers will want to see actual dates attached to specific jobs, and you can often appear as though you’re being shady by omitting that info.
But, Jaya, I don’t think your job history is problematic at all! A year is usually the standard minimum for sticking around at a given job, and you can get away with switching positions more quickly when you’re earlier in your career.
For anyone who’s concerned about a series of short stints, this is where your cover letter can really help you–you can use it to highlight the vast array of experiences you’ve had due to your various positions, then narrate your desire to find a more long-term job at the place where you’re applying.
Absolutely correct, it’s from a book on professional freelancing. But it’s useful for online applications where what they really want is for you to identify and parrot back enough SEO-type words and phrases for their screening software to give you a pass.
I did a skills-based resume, with headers like “Technical Skills” and “Customer Service” or whatever as the main body, with bullet points about what I knew about those things, so I could pull together the experience I’d gotten in different jobs without getting redundant. I listed work experience after that as just “Employer, Job Title, Dates.” (by the time I hit 22, I’d had ten different jobs, which I didn’t really want to call attention to).
I agree that a skills-based CV is good idea, even if you have had just a few long-term employers. The advice given to me was that recruiters want to know what you can do more than they want to know where you worked. So make your skills and accomplishments the first thing they see, followed by your employment chronology. This format also removes the need for a lot of repetition if you did similar tasks for different employers.
My resume is spottier than yours described below, and it’s worked out okay for me (though I’m also younger than you)! I think when you can provide good reasons for why (all part of that general “creating a narrative” thing that’s really the whole application), employers appreciate that self awareness and the sense that it was totally on purpose or at least appropriate – certainly more than a projected feeling of anxiety and needing to make excuses or hide things.
My reasons include having moved around a lot due to the importance of experience abroad for my field, skills-building (like learning Arabic), and, when I think it won’t count against me, mental health. (I’ve found people in the professional world to be far more accepting of that than I’d ever expected!) I definitely spin it as having acquired a wide range of skills as well as evidence that I’m flexible and willing to do whatever’s needed, no task too small, etc. I also put the emphasis on any upward mobility achieved in a short time at any one job as well as specific projects that I worked on, so it looks more like “I was there to accomplish Thing and I did it” as opposed to “yeah I was in and out of there real fast OOPS.”
ETA: I also make sure to give specific reasons for any notable period of unemployment, if I can do so without seeming defensive. So like, the six months I spent unemployed and living with my parents last year was a choice I made to focus on my grad school applications before reentering the work force after returning from abroad, since I was in an economic position to be able to do so. It definitely was NOT also a prolonged period of culture shock and mild depression during which I barely left the house, no ma’am.
(ETA: missed SarcasticFringehead’s response above. What s/he said; what follows here is the longer version.)
I think it’s likely to be typical, especially for folks who are under 30 (I have no idea if you are). If you’re worried about what the chronology will look like on your résumé, though, I have a suggestion: Instead of listing your jobs chronologically, group them by skill set, industry, or by sector. The group you list first should be the one that best matches the job you’re applying for.
Example: say you’re applying to, I don’t know, Bitch Magazine to be a staff writer. Your 3 years were in a writing job, then the company layoffs hit and you had to work a series of service-sector jobs (retail, fast food, whatever). But maybe you also did some freelancing on the side. You know Bitch will be more interested in the writing experience than in your ability to toss extruded chicken into a deep-fryer, so the first section of your résumé under your education should be titled “Writing Experience.” Then list all the positions you held, even freelance, with the most recent first. This does two things: it highlights the skills you know the HR or interview team will be looking for, and in the process of doing that, it can help you smooth out any gaps you have where you were either unemployed or working a filler job so you could make rent.
I started getting a much better interview-rate when I did this to my resume. It also lets you put older but still-relevant experience further up (for example, I am a librarian, and I worked with government documents in college. Sure, that was a while ago at this point, and I’ve had a lot of jobs in between then and now, but the fact that I can quickly parse the GPO classification system is a relevant skill, goddammit.)
I have a question for everybody. Both answers to these letters include some advice to hunker down and deal until you find something better. My current job is in a different field and there’s no potential for promotion, but stable. The field I have experience with is very competitive; the majority of jobs are temporary contracts. So, is it irresponsible to leave a stable but dead-end job for a a less-stable, potentially lower paying job (or even a paid internship?)
I’m not totally sure I understand – you have experience in highly competitive, short-term-contract-ridden field X, but you’re currently in boring but well-compensated field Y?
If I’m understanding that right, I think the answer has to do with whether you’re in a place where you have the luxury of focusing on long-term career growth and/or fulfillment. I’ve been in a stable field that I’m not that interested in for the past four years, because I needed the stability and money. Now I am getting out to do something that will make me poor for a while and is risky, but is more fulfilling. The only difference between me now and me four years ago is my financial/life situation, and thus my ability to appropriately focus on the long-term without setting things on fire (like the rent payments). So, where are you on this spectrum? And, what’s your motivation for getting back into Field X?
You understood that correctly. I’m sorry if I was rambling.
I realize that this may be a non-problem. I think my major concern of being out of Field X is that I will lose the skills and/or marketability in that field if I’ve been out of it for a long time. I want to think that it’s possible to support myself in Field X. But I don’t know if I’m being naive about it. Also Field X is what I want to do when I grow up. Sounds silly, but it’s true. I’ve worked in it for a few years, got post-graduate degree in it, and I enjoy it. What I’m doing now in FIeld Y is (hopefully) an interim method to pay the bills until I can find a position in Field X. It’s just that the next job in Field X may be contracted or low-paid. I don’t know if it’s just a stupid, idealistic move to leave the safe but soul-crushing job in Field Y to go back to my first love, Field X.
Adulthood, why you so difficult!
Oh adulthood.
It doesn’t come across as a non-problem so much as a problem with no obvious answer. I mean, from the information given, it seems like one piece of advice would be to do some research to try to figure out how “naive” you’re being about Field X and how stupid or idealistic of a move it might actually be. It sounds like you have a lot of experience, including a graduate degree(!), but it could be helpful to put all your thoughts and all the numbers you have available into one place to look at and think about. And/or talk to someone in Field X with a different perspective from yours, and/or try to identify things you haven’t thought about within that field or on the edges of it that are more satisfying than Field Y, but also stable.
But also it could be that the real advice is just, sorry you have to take a big risky leap to do what you love. 🙁
I know this is kind of a late reply, but I just want to say thanks for your advice. This feels like a big decision for me, and I’m really glad to have your perspective on it too. 🙂
Probably, I opted to sort of touch on it and then just let it drop when I realized I was probably heading towards saying "you really should see a professional counselor because you take things way too personally" which wouldn't have helped her as she would have taken it too personally. And knowing that and still saying it would have been making things worse. But if anyone's had success, please share.
Absolutely correct, it's from a book on professional freelancing. But it's useful for online applications where what they really want is for you to identify and parrot back enough SEO-type words and phrases for their screening software to give you a pass.
I'm not totally sure I understand – you have experience in highly competitive, short-term-contract-ridden field X, but you're currently in boring but well-compensated field Y?
If I'm understanding that right, I think the answer has to do with whether you're in a place where you have the luxury of focusing on long-term career growth and/or fulfillment. I've been in a stable field that I'm not that interested in for the past four years, because I needed the stability and money. Now I am getting out to do something that will make me poor for a while and is risky, but is more fulfilling. The only difference between me now and me four years ago is my financial/life situation, and thus my ability to appropriately focus on the long-term without setting things on fire (like the rent payments). So, where are you on this spectrum? And, what's your motivation for getting back into Field X?
Oh adulthood.
It doesn't come across as a non-problem so much as a problem with no obvious answer. I mean, from the information given, it seems like one piece of advice would be to do some research to try to figure out how "naive" you're being about Field X and how stupid or idealistic of a move it might actually be. It sounds like you have a lot of experience, including a graduate degree(!), but it could be helpful to put all your thoughts and all the numbers you have available into one place to look at and think about. And/or talk to someone in Field X with a different perspective from yours, and/or try to identify things you haven't thought about within that field or on the edges of it that are more satisfying than Field Y, but also stable.
But also it could be that the real advice is just, sorry you have to take a big risky leap to do what you love. 🙁
YES! I had those same heart-shaped cartoon eyes. I think it's especially important for new graduates or folks with limited work experience to hear, since that dream job that allows us to sleep in until noon, be in the office only three hours a week, and spend the rest of our time doing whatever we want is probably not going to fall in our laps right out of college. It is probably not going to fall in our laps EVER, but making the best of an imperfect position can help us get ever closer to our dream jobs.
(ETA: missed SarcasticFringehead's response above. What s/he said; what follows here is the longer version.)
I think it's likely to be typical, especially for folks who are under 30 (I have no idea if you are). If you're worried about what the chronology will look like on your résumé, though, I have a suggestion: Instead of listing your jobs chronologically, group them by skill set, industry, or by sector. The group you list first should be the one that best matches the job you're applying for.
Example: say you're applying to, I don't know, Bitch Magazine to be a staff writer. Your 3 years were in a writing job, then the company layoffs hit and you had to work a series of service-sector jobs (retail, fast food, whatever). But maybe you also did some freelancing on the side. You know Bitch will be more interested in the writing experience than in your ability to toss extruded chicken into a deep-fryer, so the first section of your résumé under your education should be titled "Writing Experience." Then list all the positions you held, even freelance, with the most recent first. This does two things: it highlights the skills you know the HR or interview team will be looking for, and in the process of doing that, it can help you smooth out any gaps you have where you were either unemployed or working a filler job so you could make rent.