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this is not where I thought I'd be at this point in my life...

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#MerryMonday  🎉 Today is my birthday and the start of a new decade (I'm Gen X so it's a BIG one). I have to say, a decade ago I didn't see myself where I currently am - looking for work and having metaphorical doors slammed in my face. I know I've faced age discrimination ("you're overqualified"), and I've lost opportunities because I haven't used Xero (please, I'm Gen X, I can learn any software). But the biggest issue is actually one I've brought on myself, I've set boundaries and they're non-negotiable. Maybe it's because I've spent my entire career being paid a salary for working 40 hours a week but actually working 50, 60, sometimes 70 hours a week. A quick calculation tells me I've worked over 15,000 unpaid hours in my career. That's the equivalent of working for over 7 years for free and you know what? I'm done doing that. Unfortunately that doesn't land well with recruiters, hiring managers and b...
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candidates really do appreciate transparency

Happy Friday 📰 Late last night, I received an email from a recruiter who had submitted my resume to one of her clients. The email was cryptic ("I'd like to talk to you tomorrow") so I replied with when I would be available to talk. She called this morning, apologizing for the short, ominous email but felt it was important to talk to me. The role is on hold because of an emergency with the client. Unfortunately there is no time frame for when the search will continue or even IF it will continue. I said I understood and thanked her for letting me know.  Truth be told, I would have absolutely been fine with an email (or text) telling me that but I appreciate this recruiter doing what so few are doing these days: calling me to explain that it's not me, just circumstances out of our control. I'm finishing the second of two jobs today and then I'm taking a well-deserved break - from work and the job search. #freelancer #FreelanceWork #FreelanceLife #WorkFromHome #R...
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listen to that small voice

Happy Wednesday 📰  Sometimes something tells you to stay away from a company and you're not sure why. I've been seeing a local company continually advertise for some openings in accounting and while they all *looked* like jobs I'm more than qualified for and would excel at, something kept stopping me from applying. I couldn't put my finger on it, I just never could get myself to hit "submit"... Recently, I saw a post from someone I'm not directly connected with on LinkedIn but I used to work with. They work at the company that I keep seeing jobs for and it hit me like a ton of bricks - I've been being protected from having to deal with this person again and I didn't even know it. Listen to that small voice inside that tells you to stop, it knows something you don't. #freelancer #FreelanceWork #FreelanceLife #WorkFromHome #RemoteWork #WorkLifeBalance #JobHuntingChronicles
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Better late than never?

Happy Tuesday 📰  This morning I received a rejection email. The funny part is that it's for a job I applied to last year so I kind of figured that I hadn't been chosen to move forward 😂 I guess better late than never, right? #freelancer #FreelanceWork #FreelanceLife #WorkFromHome #RemoteWork #WorkLifeBalance #JobHuntingChronicles
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job boards need to do better

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Happy Sunday 📰 This is one of the (many) problems with the job search today - I keep getting alerts for this job. Nothing in my background indicates that I am qualified to be a Secret Service Special Agent, nor have I ever applied to this type of job... If you're looking for a job right now, I feel your pain. I really do. #JobHuntingChronicles
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trading services needs to be fair

Happy Wednesday 📰 I had someone on another platform reach out to me 📨 about doing some bookkeeping 💻 for them. After a couple of messages 💬 back and forth, they asked if I would consider a trade of services 🤔 I get you have to shoot your shot 🏀 but really? Freelancers, have you had this proposition? Did you accept it? I'm not saying it's inherently bad but to me, the services need to be fairly equal in value for it to work. #freelancer #FreelanceWork #FreelanceLife #WorkFromHome #RemoteWork #CatSitting #CatSitter #WorkLifeBalance #JobHuntingChronicles #KnowYourWorth
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the job search is a marathon not a sprint

Happy Tuesday 📰  A former coworker reached out to me about his job search, asking "is it really this hard? What am I doing wrong?". I get it, it's frustrating. Between scam recruiters, ghost jobs, being expected to update your resume for every job you apply for (I personally don't do that), and being ghosted after an interview, the job search can be depressing. A lot of work with little reward. I don't have the answers but I know for me, it's important to set boundaries. Right now, I'm in the middle of a 12 day cat sitting job with a second 9 day job starting today, so I use the morning hours for my job search then I'll be done with it for the day. Of course, I'll check my email later in the afternoon to see if anything has come up but I won't actively be in job search mode then. It works for me. I job search in the morning, go to my cat sitting jobs in the early afternoon, then relax in the late afternoon/evening. Being *on* 24/7/365 is somet...
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