The job I lost
Marketing Vice President at a Wireless Equipment/Software Company. I ran all outbound marketing, including our customers' consumer launch programs (of our product/service). I lost my job on 15 June, 2009.What it's like being unemployed
I don't like it. I spend hours and hours a day networking, applying for positions, looking for positions, contacting recruiters. I have had interviews with three companies, and am in the "top 25" in a couple of other opportunities.I have been working and earning money since I was 13 years old, so this is the longest period in which I've been without income. I'm at times ashamed, bored, and find myself slipping more and more into depression, particularly as we see our savings dwindle and we start to take additional, extreme measures to keep our house and make it from month to month.
I have started to look for non-profit volunteer opportunities as well now, hoping that it will give me some sense of purpose. I spend a lot of time working out, cycling, swimming, yoga, cooking, and doing projects around the house.
Advice
- People end up hiring the people they like, or know. I lost a job I was very qualified for, and did very well in the interviews, to a a marketing "hack" I once worked for. But the execs were Brits, so was he and he could talk about soccer.
- I've learned a lot about social networking, but I find that it doesn't really do much to help in securing executive-level employment. It's just good to know how to use it and how to utilize it in a marketing campaign. Most of what I see on these sites are poorly veiled sales pitches and people that do have jobs wasting their time instead of working.
