Applying for a job after 7 years, here is my dilemma
It’s been seven good years since the last time I searched through vacancies and seriously looked for a job. Back then I was only looking for an internship and now is actually the first time I’m actively looking for a real job. I’d like to take you along on this journey of finding a new job that will suit me better than my last one did. I’ve had time to think about the new route I want to take in my life. Part of that included knowing which job direction I wanted to go in. At first, I thought I wanted to do computer/data science jobs, only to discover this year that as much as I love data and analytics, I don’t like to work with numbers all day. I need human interaction, something that’s a bit more social.
In my post ‘How I learned more about myself’, I spoke about a pretty accurate personality test I took. The result showed that I was classified as an ISFJ (Defender) and they tend to be active in the caring and teaching sector, so I started looking into those roles. I’ve been tutoring for five years, yet I don’t care much for becoming an actual teacher. Going into care (nursing, etc.) never crossed my mind and wouldn’t be an option either. There were other jobs that were suggested that I initially didn’t bother to look into, because I assumed to know what they were all about. Plus, in my mind, I really wanted to do something marketing-related. But, it turns out that marketing roles generally do not fit people with my personality type, because these jobs are more for the commercial types. Even with this information, I decided to find out for myself whether this was also true in practice.
One of my favorite things to do nowadays is to check Indeed (job search engine) to see if they have any interesting job there. I’ve found plenty marketing roles that I would be a right match for when it comes to education and skills. However, personality-wise, these jobs wouldn’t be the best for me. Most roles require someone to be assertive and proactive, and I’m quite the opposite. I had to start looking into a different direction than the one I had set in stone for myself. I thought back on what I enjoy the most, and that’s data, service, and organizing. This led me to vacancies such as HR assistance, HR analytics, office manager, and communications advisor. These roles seemed great, but here’s the issue: my interest alone in these roles doesn’t suffice, I also need working experience in those areas, and that I don’t have.
Since I started applying for jobs, I’ve had my share of rejections. Most of them come with the standard “thank you for applying, but we found someone who fits the role better than you do.” So, you want to reject a whole me without specifically telling me why? Nope. We don’t do that over here. I wasn’t going to let them slide, so each time I would send an email back to ask why exactly I wasn’t good enough. Below are some of their replies.
When I applied for the role of study advisor at a university: “We’re looking for someone with more relevant experience.” When I applied for the role of marketing recruitment specialist at an e-commerce company: “You have too much work experience.” When I applied for the role of HR advisor at a Christian high school: “You don’t match the (reformed) Christian identity of the school.” When I applied for the role of marketing coordinator at an e-commerce company: “You’re quite modest. We need someone who is more assertive.”
Here’s my dilemma: jobs that I’m qualified for don’t match my personality and jobs that I’m interested in don’t match my work experience. This job search journey is interesting, but I’m liking the ride. They say rejection is merely a redirection, right? I guess we’ll get to the right destination, one step and one rejection at a time.
