Let's just say I don't want to risk a board jinx this time.
As far as the problem- I have been a licensed prof for 20 years- This profession plummetted over the 18 mos so of course, many in this profession have been unemployed and struggling. In order to try to get work, about all of them are looking for lower level positions and/or if they have additional skills that are somewhat related, they are adding those in their resume to try to get work in related fields that can use those skills.
Here's the problem as I see it after mulling over previous input here about looking over-qualified on my resume and listening to a couple of potential employers' input: if I remove my prof license from my resume, I basicly have NO resume and NO references. I am getting responses to resumes because I have extensive experience and these additional skills as a result but it's really only the additional skills that they are interested in. I have no way to explain how I got these skills if I remove my prof status because I didn't work at the type of place where a person would only learn those specific things.
They are getting tons of resumes by people in the same prof and same situation- and they say this is typical after a recession that hits this profession hard. They are not holding this against "us" because they know we have been hit hard and just doing whatever we can to get back in the work force. But they are concerned because hiring those of us in this position when they really are only needing certain skills means that we/I would get paid a lot less and they don't want us leaving as soon as the market picks up or being dissatisfied with the job. There is a huge amount of competition because they are getting tons of resumes.
On the one hand, the potential employer is originally excited about maybe hiring someone who can do so much more that maybe they can make use of. on the other hand, they apparently then get worried and tend to choose the person that fits exactly (and only) what they need for that immediate position. I think this has a lot to do with why it starts out appearing that I have a good chance of getting a particular job, then I end up not getting it.
Now this particular job has one aspect to it that I
might be able to convince him would be worth it to me to have even getting paid less than what I'm used to. Of course I stressed that I am happy to take a lower salary than what I used to get just to get back in the work force but telling them that never seems to be enough to get the job. Anyway, he made it clear that he's interviewing several and the competition is stiff.
What's a little odd about this one though is that I never saw an advertisement for this postion- he contacted me because he saw an ad I had listed regarding my skills and looking for work. That's why I wanted to check out the company to make sure it was legitimate before sending him any more info about myself. But as it turned out, after I sent a resume he called me before I called him and I knew when I saw caller id that it was definitely legitimate. And he couldn't have known the type of stuff he was able to discuss otherwise.
I do have one nagging worry though and if anyone near me wouldn't mind me pm'ing them as a "check-in" one day next week, I'd feel a little safer.
