Over and Under Qualified

As previously mentioned, I currently find myself in pajamas on a daily basis staring at the computer willing the job postings to change and for my magic dream job to appear.
However, I am stuck in this awkward space between being over-qualified for jobs such as cashier or administrative assistant and being under-qualified for jobs in the technology and medical arenas.

When you are under-qualified you can talk yourself up and manipulate your skills and talents to fit the desired position, but you cannot make up certifications and degrees. This leaves you at the bottom of the stack of resumes on the human resource desk. Although I accept this outcome and understand why I am not able to take a job being a medical assistant or an IT manager.

Being over-qualified is painful. I am not afraid to work. My parents made sure my brothers and I knew and appreciated a substantial work ethic. Even though I prefer to find a job at my knowledge/skill level, I would never snub my nose at taking a job where I am over-qualified. The problem is they do not want the likes of me. Crazy talk right? They see my resume and the last 10 years of my professional life and immediately I move to the bottom of the pile of resumes again. In their eyes an applicant with my work history is not a good bet. They see me as a flight-risk because it appears that I will leave as soon as a job in my area opens up. So spending money on training me and working me into their schedule is not a cost benefit for them. Don't get me wrong, I get it, but it frustrates me to no end.

So here I sit in the middle. I cannot make up qualifications (well I could but there is something very ethically and legally wrong with that) and it would be hard to delete 10 years of my work history so I look more like a viable candidate for a position as a cashier at the local grocery store.

I had to (gulp) file for unemployment. Just writing that sentence made my stomach clench and bile enter my throat. Where I come from unemployment is a dirty word and one which you avoid at all costs. Even though it is your money, you should be working hard to not need it. It was hard but I did it because I have responsibilities to pay. It is an unfavorable sensation I feel each time I file my weekly certification and track my work searches.

So how does this all reconcile? Where do I go from here? I honestly do not know. I am trying out some freelance writing, which has proved to be an amusing distraction. But it is a hard world to break into and the pay is not always consistent.

And still you'll find me even on Saturday mornings in my pajamas scouring the internet for anything new that might meet me in the middle.