So…I’m still unemployed.
I’m not worried, but we’re going on a month now. My insurance coverage runs out at the end of the month and my severance ran out ages ago. I’ve had a couple leads, a couple interviews, but I’ve also had several rejections (with no explanation) and I’m thinking I’d better start considering contract work or perhaps a different career.
So here’s the point of this post:
I’d like some suggestions for what I should do.
Here’s some background:
I graduated from a liberal arts school where I majored in Communications. I worked for the school newspaper as the features editor before I was unceremoniously canned by the crazy Serbian Editor-in-Chief whom I opposed at every turn. I wrote a massively popular weekly column (analog blogging) and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a business minor as well.
Worked for 6 ½ years at a great software company here in KC and watched the company grow from 18 employees when I was hired in 2000 to over 300 by the time I left in late 2006. The growth of the company meant that I was asked to adapt to many different roles on the marketing team. I started as a writer, focusing on case studies and brochures, but dabbled in web content and documentation as well. I started to teach myself graphic design and also managed the logistics for the 80+ trade shows the company was going to annually. (Not very fun.)
After that, I began working full-time as a graphic designer. I had taught myself enough to get by both as a print and web designer and so I was asked to do both at times. In addition, I started teaching myself Flash and was doing interactive pieces for the company as well. This led to me focusing solely on interactive design in my final years at the company where I was responsible for interactive presentations, flash advertisements, and other stuff like smacking down sales representatives whose PowerPoint decks got out of control.
Late in 2006, some stuff happened that made a once-awesome place to work a little less awesome. The place itself was still a great place to work (and still is), but my little corner of the company was not a fun place to be at the time. So I started looking. And I found something at a financing company in Fairway. And they liked me. A lot. I was going to get to write again, while still using my design capabilities and the marketing strategy skills I had acquired along the way. But it was tough. I was going to have to leave a very comfortable place and strike out on my own. It was scary, but it was the right thing to do.
OK, maybe in retrospect, after being laid off, it wasn’t perfect, but for me at that time, it was right. I spent 2 years working for a financial services company, learning the ins and outs of the equipment leasing industry and discovering how to identify the difference between a Kenworth and an International dump truck. I wrote copy. I strategized. I designed. I made good friends with some really smart developers. I worked under a great boss who never let me forget that I once assumed he was five years older than I was even though he was 3 years younger.
But I got laid off.
All along the way, my fascination with all things web-related has persisted. I’ve continued to hone my craft as it pertains to web design. I write clean HTML and CSS. I understand and engage in Social Media. I also love movies and music and television (and just about everything pop-culture related). I’m a pretty good public speaker, a skill I’ve crafted by preaching sermons over the past few years.
I’ve got a really great skill set. I just happen to be stuck in the middle of this crappy economy where very few companies are hiring, which is unfortunate for folks like me.
So I’m beseeching my readership. I know you’re out there. I’ve seen my stats. Considering you now have a better understanding of who I am as an employee, what are your suggestions for careers I should pursue? I’m open to entertaining new career paths. I realize that this request may very well result in ridicule from some of you, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take.
What should I do?
