The other night I went to a Pink Slip party. The idea is that you get people in a room of job seekers and recruiters. This allows the recruiters to meet with people looking for jobs face-to-face and have a mini-interview on the spot and allows job seekers to talk with other job seekers about what does and doesn’t work.
The idea is good. The people organizing the event are amazing and nice. But the recruiters, at least in IT cared more about eating, drinking and talking to each other than talking to people in the room. The recruiters were clumped together in a way that was very uninviting. In fact, I stood next to a group of them for about 15 minutes without a single acknowledgment from them. Job Seekers started talking to other Job seekers standing around the IT table. I met a nice guy who is having a hard time finding a job in this economy.
I did get a pair of awesome !iT Jeans for free. They even fit! Just a bit long. Maybe I didn’t fit in at the event because I choose not to drink. One guy I spoke with had 6 already and the party had been only going for an hour.
What I did learn from going is everyone is scared. No one knows what to do. How to make themselves stand out when recruiters/companies are getting hundreds of resumes for any position. People trying to figure out how to reinvent themselves, being faced with having the skills and yet now finding they are on their own. Not sure what to do next. People want to work, probably even regret hating the last job. But only because it’s taking so long to find the next.
I’m currently in an interview process with a company. Four rounds so far, and I have no idea if they will take a chance on me. See, I’ve decided to take this time to change my career. Go after one that I will love, that I know I can do and do well. But I need a place to learn, a place to start. In this economy, that’s dangerous. Many senior level people are applying for jobs that are completely under them. How can you blame a company that decides to take a senior person for a steal in a lower position versus taking a chance on someone new? Will they produce? Will they make it? I can assure the company as much as I can. I try to get across my selling points in an interview. Then hope for the best.
I feel bad for college grads. This has to be the worst time to graduate ever. I remember when I graduated, companies were looking to add new, young talent. But now companies can get old, experienced talent for much less. So here’s to everyone finding what they want, re-inventing themselves and maybe finding happiness.
