Day 9: A little motivation from Dana

My NCAA basketball holiday had extended a bit, and whether is was intentional or just making conversation, Dana read me an article while I was washing the dishes after dinner tonight and got me going again. She is my wife, so I would suspect it was intentional, but done in a subtle, gentle manner to get me going and not let my quest for a new job drift off to the pile of other projects that I started and never finished.

The article was about how this recession has caused longer periods of unemployment, and with it a change in the way people view work. As people are unemployed longer, they become more depressed, sleep more, and socialize less. Americans in particular, define themselves by what their job title is, and an unemployed person is a non-existent person.

Now, don't get me wrong. I have a job, I enjoy my job, and I am gateful every time I hear the monthly unemployment report that I am not helping to drive tha number higher. But I do not and cannot believe that it is all doom and gloom with no jobs available for anyone. The article said that as each week goes by that a person is unemployed, they spend an hour less each day searching for jobs and begin to sleep in more each morning. No, I am not sleeping in more, my kids make sure of that, but i have had the feeling that sending endless resume into the abyss of some generic mailbox with the occasion automated response, "Thank you for your interest..." Only to be less motivational than the almost automated e-mail response that "Due to the high number of responses, we regret to inform you" At least there they have to cut and paste your name with each letter, so it you know that a human did see your resume at one point. I don't mean to be negative, but this job search goes in cycles of good news and bad news. You find yourself cheering for the slightest possible edge toward a job. The fact that one of my contacts on LinkedIn knows someone who works at the same company that you are applying to is a huge wish to hang your hopes on, but I am not sure it makes that much difference.

For now, I know that there is a senior IT network position that is a great match for my skills and will allow me to grow and be a valued member of an organization and I will find this position in the next 171 days. Once again, my linkedIn profile is below:

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=21037832&trk=tab_pro Can you help?

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