Get your head in the game

As I have probably written before, I am a pretty open, honest person. I say it like it is (or at least how I think it is), and I am just not about pretenses. Which is why this whole job search is seemingly adding to the already multiplying gray hairs I have and further stressing me out.

For all my weaknesses, I like to think I have some good things to offer. So why do I have to, in some sense, be someone I am not? Why do I have to use certain buzzwords just to get an interview? Why do I have to put on a suit and curl my hair, just to be taken seriously? Can't someone see that I would be a good editor, even though I am not technologically savvy? Does it make me a bad worker because I really want to find a job where I can work five shorter days or three or four days a week so I can spend time with my kid?

I have already second guessed myself on the jobs I applied for last week. I had to copy and paste my cover letter into a text box. I did that, but I jumped right into the "Dear Sir or Madam" (and I am not even sure if that is the correct salutation). Should I have kept my address block? If so, does that mean, I should kiss those jobs good bye?

I have talked to two different people at two different career services. One said an objective on a resume is unnecessary and the other said I absolutely should have it. Having been one to review resumes in the past, I think objectives are unnecessary. But for all I know, the person reviewing my resume for those jobs thinks I should have had one (I don't).

One page or two? I finally had my resume pretty much where I wanted it, and then one of my friends, God bless her, took my resume and redid it as a one-pager. Again, some have said a two-page resume is fine; I have worked enough years. But others have said it is not necessary unless I have many, many accomplishments to detail and I have that many different things to say (I don't). For the record, I do feel better with my one-page resume.

I have read that networking is the way to go, and I have attended a few of those types of events. But at this point, I don't really know what I should get out of these things. It feels like dating (and I have shared my sentiments on that in a recent post); and in most cases, many of us at these events are looking for a date, so to speak. While it is nice to have that in common with people, it sometimes makes me feel hopeless, especially when I talk to someone who has applied to dozens of jobs without a single interview. But I guess I will keep going to these things, and hope I figure out what exactly I should be doing while there (for now, I talk a little to most everyone and hand out my business cards to most of those people).

I don't want to sound hopeless. Because I am not. Part of me really believes that something will come along and it will work out just fine. Of course another part of me is still hoping I will win the Powerball so I can get off this painful ride. I really like wearing cut-off shorts, little makeup, and not curling my hair...