“I need a job!” How many times have you said that? Actually, I remember just twice – once when I was graduated from college and had sent out a million (okay a little exaggeration) resume‘s to television stations and now. I have either been gainfully employed or, as a family, made the decision that a paying job was not best. All that has changed. I am not gainfully employed and the family has decided that I need to start providing an income.

So, “I need a job!” Do you know how hard it is for me to find a job/career when I have not had full-time work for almost 17 years? It is pretty darn hard, especially if I want to find a job/career in my field of study, contemporary media/journalism. I have been sending out resume’s via a job search website http://www.flexjobs.com.

My first experience of sending out resume’s, oh so many years ago, was all done by snail mail and the employer would respond back with a “Thank you, no jobs are available”, or “Thanks, but your qualifications do not match our needs.” Now you send out a resume’ for a job posting and the email response is…”Thank you for your application. While (insert company name) attempts to contact all candidates within a reasonable time, due to the high volume of applicants, we may not always be able to respond to each submission. We will contact potential candidates to schedule an interview. HR will keep your resume and information on file for future consideration.” I don’t have hundreds of applications out there, but I have either received the above statement or heard nothing at all.

Some problems I have been finding are employers want paid experience. I have been a volunteer writer/editor for a not-for-profit quarterly newsletter for over 3 years and have been their non-paid grant writer for two years. How can this not count as experience? My success rate for grants is over 50%. My understanding, that in the grant writing world, that percentage is successful.

I also have been writing, almost non-stop, since college. I either found a way to write in my job or was using my background for other organizations or businesses. I have written for the Girl Scouts – newsletters, brochures and other PR publications. I used my talent writing for our housing development, the Village of Kennard, Nebraska, Toastmaster’s International and presently, Camp Fontanelle in Fontanelle, NE. But the only job that I actually was paid for writing was at the television station. The other positions were not part of my job title but became a part of my job or was done as a volunteer. I even write articles for our local newspaper but once again, not a paid position.

I just need a chance, but cannot take a non-paid job. I blog regularly for practice and write for http://www.examiner.com. Examiner is more about getting practice and getting published. It cannot be my main source of income. I spend many hours a week, sometimes a day, and this is about all I can give non-paid.

I am learning about on-line writing. This is a new animal for me. This was not a possibility when I was in college because the internet did not exist. I don’t know if there are more writers out there or more people out there writing. But I am trying to brush up on my AP style writing and copywriting/editing. I am not expecting a miracle. I would like a writing position by mid-summer. I am being patient but I also know that I would rather write than work in customer service. It seems that is one of few options that I have since it has been 17 years since working full-time.

This blog is a place for my thoughts, experiences and feelings. While it is not meant to have huge SEO, there may be some, like you, who read this. If you have any words of advice or encouragement, please share. Your help is greatly appreciated.