too old, too fat, too long unemployed (interview, employer, work from home)
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The title says it. I think I'm completely unemployable now. I was laid off last November and since then, I've worked a total of 3 months. I can't do anything about my age. I'm over 50, but I'm told I look younger. I color the grey. I'm trying to work on my weight. Unfortunately, I am someone who stress eats. I do make sure that when I get an interview I wear professional clothing that fits me well. I go to interviews with a positive attitude, a firm handshake, everything I can do to make a good impression.
I've made some mistakes for sure. I had not interviewed in years, so I blew the 1st few interviews I had in various ways. I don't think I made the same mistakes more than once or twice. I tried to change careers and missed the hiring season in my industry. I wanted to change careers from the mortgage industry because it goes through huge expansions and contractions. For example, I worked for a mortgage broker that was bought out by a lender with goals to be in the top 10 nationally. They bought a lot of brokers, hired a lot of people for HQ and then over the course of 6 months laid off 30% of their operations staff. Working for a broker, there's no room for advancement, so when I was offered a position this summer to work for a very small office, I took it as a temp position which allowed me to keep looking for something outside the industry and benefited them by me taking a total newbie on and training her to do my job. I had a couple of good reasons for not wanting to go perm there. First, I'll kill myself if I have to do that job for the rest of my life and I thought this was my last chance to get out because of my age. It may already be too late. The other was the commute. Public transportation is not an option and I was driving 90 minutes each way with extreme congestion on the office end of the commute (and it hasn't even snowed yet.) It was incredibly stressful to do that drive every day. That job ended right before Labor Day.
I interviewed for a job I really wanted that was close to transportation, doing something new and interesting that I am confident I could have excelled at. I had a really good interview (I thought). Unfortunately I didn't get it. I passed up (early in the summer) a position at another tiny company that I thought was not a good fit. Since then, I occasionally get calls from recruiters who are really enthusiastic about my resume. A few, I've gone into their offices to meet them and then fat old knitgirl shows up and I stop hearing from them. I interviewed yesterday for a call center job that I know I will hate, but I'm so desperate that I'll have to take it IF they offer it to me. The interviewer didn't seem to like me. I've had a bunch where they DID seem to like me and I ended up not getting the job, so I'm not even hopeful that I'll get this. I'm not suicidal, but I've started thinking that it wouldn't be so bad if I got a fatal disease so I could just stop existing. I wouldn't kill myself, because I wouldn't do that to my parents, but I that's just about the only thing keeping me holding on. I barely have any hope at all that my life will ever improve.
I'm not even sure why I'm posting this. Maybe because you can only burden your friends so much before it gets old.
I know this has to be very, very hard. The next interview you have try to stay positive and have that positivism 'run' through you. You sound very down (understandably) and it is probably coming across in your interviews. Something will come along!!!
In a customer-facing position looks do matter. Being obese means that ones doesn't have enough self-control to not be obese and people extrapolate that to a general lack of discipline which can be problematic in the workplace. Still, plenty of obese people do get hired all the time.
The key to getting hired is to demonstrate, with verifiable past performance, how much value you can add to the company. This needs to be fairly specific. Not just "I am a great worker with attention to detail", but "I routinely delivered this-that-and-the-other on short deadlines and saved my previous employer $10,000 in the process."
You need to be enthusiastic not just about the job but about that particular job at that particular company. Why you want to work there rather than somewhere else. Things like "short commute" is a good reason that many people dismiss as inappropriate. Instead they come up with lies about how much they adore that company. That's total bull****. Just be honest, a short commute is a good reason because that means that you are unlikely to leave the company for a better job unless that job is equally short in commute distance.
You have to know what you want. Once you know what you want you can devise a way to get there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by veuvegirl
Something will come along!!!
Nothing will magically come along. Success is a function of taking action. Just waiting for something to come along simply doesn't work.
If you have to cut expenses by eating less, you will naturally lose weight and look younger. Keep coloring your hair, that's what all the media people do. Look at any 50+ yr old news anchors. They pile on the makeup and dye their hair.
I am 27, I have been unemployed for almost three years and I got a job about a month ago. I thought I was old, and too fat, but people don't care how you look like. There are people with tattoos at my workplace and with dreads, they still work there.
Not all call centers are horrible. My first call center was boring but not that stressful, I left that because I couldn't juggle school and work. My second was super stressful and I hated it. My third (this one), is laid back and not that stressful. In fact, in this one, I am helping people with their medical issues. So I feel like my work actually matters as opposed to just doing tech support or phone surveys.
I honestly think you should move to a healthier economy and use Craigslist more.
Being obese means that ones doesn't have enough self-control to not be obese and people extrapolate that to a general lack of discipline which can be problematic in the workplace. Still, plenty of obese people do get hired all the time.
What an ignorant statement! No,I am not obese,but I will challenge ignorance & cruelty.
In a customer-facing position looks do matter. Being obese means that ones doesn't have enough self-control to not be obese and people extrapolate that to a general lack of discipline which can be problematic in the workplace. Still, plenty of obese people do get hired all the time.
The key to getting hired is to demonstrate, with verifiable past performance, how much value you can add to the company. This needs to be fairly specific. Not just "I am a great worker with attention to detail", but "I routinely delivered this-that-and-the-other on short deadlines and saved my previous employer $10,000 in the process."
You need to be enthusiastic not just about the job but about that particular job at that particular company. Why you want to work there rather than somewhere else. Things like "short commute" is a good reason that many people dismiss as inappropriate. Instead they come up with lies about how much they adore that company. That's total bull****. Just be honest, a short commute is a good reason because that means that you are unlikely to leave the company for a better job unless that job is equally short in commute distance.
You have to know what you want. Once you know what you want you can devise a way to get there.
Nothing will magically come along. Success is a function of taking action. Just waiting for something to come along simply doesn't work.
My situation is similar to yours in a lot of respects. It sucks. Being unemployed can really grind you down. I flopped several interviews by seeming either desperate or hopeless.
You may want to consider moving if the job market for what you do is better elsewhere. I'm in the process of moving to another state for that reason. Also, different parts of the U.S. are more fat-friendly than others. For example, DC is fat-friendly; NYC is not. This could be a useful factor in your job search.
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