I am on the hunt. The job hunt. Great timing, huh? Is it ever good timing when you really don't know what you want to do and you are already really, quite grown-up?
I peaked out, job wise, in my early thirties. I had just graduated from law school and got a job in the marketing department of a nutritional supplements company. I liked the work which was a mix of product marketing and FDA /FTC compliance (the law part - which made me feel better about paying off my student loans.) I liked the small size of the company. I believed in the product. I even got to go to Europe twice on business!
The company was sold the month after I had my twins. I didn't work again for 16 years.
Then I had to get a job because our family was falling apart financially. I had a resume full of experience, but the last job I had came with a secretary and the only thing I had ever done on a computer was shop, help with homework and bank.
I couldn't even get an interview for a management level job. When I set my sights lower, I was questioned about my over-qualifications. I finally came up with a toned down resume and the explanation that after 16 years, I felt like I was pretty much back to entry level.
It wasn't easy. I was lucky to get the job I did, making a less than I had 16 years before. I worked very hard and enjoyed my job for 5 years and probably should not have left it. My husband never liked that I was working in what he considered a "menial job for low pay". He said I could leave it and when I was in a bad patch, I did.
Now his practice is slow and he is freaked out about our finances and telling me I have to go to work again.
This is not exactly how I pictured my fifties. I am just old enough to have grown up with the knowledge that I would have a college education, but without whatever it is that tells you to make a career choice. When I had my children, it was natural to me to be at home. I never missed working, I never really thought I would go back to working.
I have searched my heart and mind for a "passion." I have undergone career testing. I have read books. I envy those who have one. Who know what they want to do.
What I am going to do is get my resume updated and go hunting.
