Misadventures in Job-huntingThe Unemployment Line

“Who am I and how did I get here?”

Not long ago, I found myself asking these questions. I suppose I was suffering from a mild identity crisis. I had become the victim of a business downsizing and found myself in an all-too-familiar situation.

I knew who I was at one point: one of the top ten students in my high school class, then a Franklin College student blessed with an academic scholarship. I was a journalism major intent on working in an advertising agency. Imagine how thrilled I was to have a job lined up at a Fort Wayne agency even before I graduated. I was really going somewhere.

Recently, I was helping my firstborn research where the best jobs would be in 2012 when she’ll be ready to start her own career. Doing this type of research never even occurred to me when I was in school. Rather, I chose a career where I could use my strengths: writing, creative thinking and team leadership. My decision-making process wasn’t altogether wrong, but perhaps it was lacking. Sometimes, I wonder whether I would have chosen the same career if I would have had the vast resources that are now available via the World Wide Web.

Don’t get me wrong — I had many wonderful experiences in the advertising business: developing different skills — some by choice and some out of necessity; tackling new challenges, which in many cases meant putting out fires, something I find strangely exciting; and working with some really cool clients.

But the business is cutthroat. Looking back, I’m surprised I wasn’t scared off by what I encountered during a college internship. The agency where I interned had a number of empty desks and offices. The firm had just lost a major account and had no choice but to cut its workforce. Maybe I was naïve enough to think it would never happen to me. Indeed, I was fortunate: I served the same agency for seven years before my husband took another job that led us to relocate.

When we planned our move to Indianapolis, I really had my mind set on making a change. I wanted to find a job where I could be more involved in the public relations side of marketing. So my next great adventure was a brief stint as a communications manager serving Indiana’s state government. I enjoyed many aspects of that job; I supported admirable causes and rubbed elbows with political bigwigs. But, for a myriad of reasons, I jumped at a new opportunity when a former coworker recommended me to another organization. That was the last time I left a job by my own choice.

I’m definitely a good catch; my past supervisors and coworkers would attest to that. Yet, I’ve been actively employed just six-and-a-half years out of the past eight, spending the balance of the time experiencing what can best be described as “Misadventures in Job-hunting.” The next time I write, I’ll share what I’ve encountered.

by Cynthia Baxter