Job-hunters, Beware

I finally got a job, after exactly five months and one day of unemployment. To all the other job-hunters out there, it ain't easy finding work. In fact, the more senior you are in your skillset, the longer it's going to take. I made 197 job contacts before getting my first real interview (excluding head hunter interviews, of which I was asked to attend only three); and I was 211 contacts into the process before I got an offer. Five months. One interview. One offer.

And that's the good news—it only took me five months to get a job. After that experience, I'm convinced that you're lucky in this market if you can get a job at all.

The bad news is that you can expect a pay cut. To get an idea of what to expect, take a look at your stock portfolio. There seems to be a positive correlation between the percentage drop in value of your overall financial worth and the percentage drop in pay. Don't be surprised if your new job pays 50-60% less than your old one.

Now is a great time to go back to school. If you can afford to go to school full time and live on student loans (maybe combined with a part-time job), do it. I would if I hadn't gotten stuck with a property I couldn't unload when I moved out of state for my last job. That puppy is sucking down more money every month than the cost of a large, luxury studio apartment in Midtown Manhattan. So I'm in school part time. I'll be 47 years old when I finish my Masters degree.

But at least I'll finally be following my dream!

Now to rest up before work starts next week. I've got just three days to relax before life gets crazy busy again. Thank god I can go three days without the headache of filling out job applications several hours a day!