This post may come across as being a bit self-indulgent and maybe I will sound a little full of myself - but please bear with me.

Let me set the stage here. I have been looking for full time work for a long time now and the process is taking a toll on my psyche. I consider myself to be a really good catch. I know, everybody thinks that, but most people that I have worked for would confirm that - at least that's what I tell everyone ;-). Until this recent job search - which began last year, I never had a problem finding a job.

I'm sure that in this economy, there are more and more people who are struggling to find a good job. For those of us who are getting a little older or who have been quite specialized for a good part of our careers, things are probably even a bit tougher. Or, those of us who have worked for ourselves for several years may find that companies discount us too quickly - thinking that we may not really want to go back to a 'regular' job.

This post originally consisted of a rant about my woes and expressed much of my deep seeded frustration. But, who wants to read about me - right? So, I have replaced my original post with this update - a list of some things that I plan to do better/differently moving forward. Perhaps this will be a bit more useful than my personal ranting!

#1 I am blowing up my resume and going to make more of a splash. A friend has inspired me (and he just landed a new job). Goodbye boring summary statements - hello confident, talented ME. My original is posted on this site - look for a new one next week.

#2 I have never been a fan of recruiters, but I am putting together a bigger list and hitting them all with my new resume - and new attitude.

#3 I am going to start calling people more - instead of using emails. I think it is time to push a little harder and get some real feedback.

#4 I just volunteered to use my talents to help a small, local non-profit charity market themselves more effectively and I plan to use my new connections to network into another market area.

#5 Finally, I am pushing back on opportunities that are not quite right - making clear suggestions as to how I could still help a company even though I may not meet all of their requirements.
I just looked at a job posting where I would be well suited for the Product Marketing/business dev. part of the job, but they wanted someone who could do Engineering work too. Although I am an Engineer by degree, I have not done lab testing or made samples for a very long time. Since I think they may have trouble finding someone who can do all of those things, I suggested they consider hiring an Eng. tech instead of an experienced Engineer and let me manage the project and marketing end of things - even if I worked less than full time in the beginning. I don't know what will happen - but it COULD work.

Well, that's it. That is my new plan. I will be working on it diligently starting next week. I don't know if it will be successful, but I'm going to give it a try. I'll keep you posted!