Auld Lang Syne.... Happy 2011!

Here we go, again.... "on my ownnnn....goin' down the only road I've ever knownnnn..." Oh, wait, I broke into 80's rock lyrics. Lemme get off the hood of this Trans Am and get on with my blog.

I suppose I could prattle on about resolutions or world events or wax poetic about the cold gray-ness of winter but why be predictable?! I begin this year looking for work (AGAIN!) yet I find myself perplexed and confused as to where to go next. People ask me, in all fairness, "what do you do?" or "what do you WANT to do?" In my mind I stammer and grope for something that sounds lucid. What usually comes out is, "Well I can do a lot of things and I want to do a lot of things so I should find a job in which I can do a lot of things." WHAT?!?! uhhhhhh....

I literally can't come up with my very own elevator pitch even though I've coached many a job-seeker on this very thing. The trouble is I'm not a cookie cutter employee. If I were an engineer or an accountant or an outright sales person or a teacher.... IF, IF, IF! Yeah, IF I'd been more astute in college and gotten a degree in something useful and IF I'd done an internship and IF I'd used the lack-luster, crusty ol' Career Services Department and IF I'd stuck with something longer in the face of challenges.... "if wishes were fishes, there'd be no room in the river for water."

So here I am facing yet another frustrating, humbling, mind-numbing job search. I have possibly narrowed down my choices to a couple of areas but still find myself searching, not knowing quite what it is that I "do". I've actually been told that I'm too experienced in too many different areas. Again, uhhhhhh.... You just can't ask people for help in finding a job without a concise job title! Forget being talented in multiple areas with amazing experience in a variety of industries. No-sirree that will NOT do! Pigeon-hole yourself, put yourself in a box and then you can breathe a sigh of relief if you find yourself looking for work. WHEW! You'll be happy that you limited yourself, trust me!

I'm by no means throwing myself a pity party or having a "O woe is me" (to quote the great Bard) moment. I just felt it was my duty to make the public aware that people with diverse, even crazy backgrounds can be a great hire! Please don't dismiss us... we know we've not treated our careers with the respect they've always deserved and we know we've not always made the right decisions along the ol' career path BUT we have experience, scrappiness, wild devotion to pleasing those that appreciate us and have moved beyond the career mistakes of the past.... Can you?