The job search is a maze. It can take crazy directions and detours, it might be endlessly frustrating and perplexing, and the advice of others may not get you to your answer.

My name is Erich and I’m in career transition

I have been in career transition for 29 months. Don’t call me unemployed because I’ve worked far too hard in these 126 weeks-and-counting to be called anything other than ‘in transition.’ From intensive job searching and networking to freelance writing, researching, interviewing, social media navigation, and ceaseless searching for a better future for myself and my family, I’ve been hard at it from day one.

I have had to come to terms with the fact that the industry in which I made my living – media and broadcasting – is in increasingly dire circumstances and there are less and less jobs to be had. People are holding tightly to their positions while management is constantly cutting spending and searching for ways to cut more. In response to this, I have had to search deeply within myself for what I want to do for the rest of my working days, with the understanding that it likely doesn’t involve working in media. Essentially, I have had to re-invent myself.

I’ve wanted to write frankly and compassionately about my difficult situation for some time, but I’ve kept putting it off. I’ve wondered what might happen if I shared my story and many people read it. What will they think of me? Will they think that I’m not employable and that I must be doing something wrong in my job search? After all, it’s been over two years since I left the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in January 2013 as the result of a job redundancy. I left voluntarily. (I’ll share more about this shortly.) Continue reading →