2014-04-04 - 9:02 a.m.

I am in the mood to write today.

I had yet ANOTHER interview (this makes the fifth) with the same large corporation who had first contacted me within 24 hours of the posting of my resume on line on all the job boards.

It was a remarkably good fit and I was encouraged by having an interview so quickly when I was first unemployed.

I have had four more interviews , all with the recruiters for this company. Three were with the same recruiter who checked in to see if I was still interested and in the market.
The forth was with a different recruiter from the same company. I told him I had been speaking with the other recruiter, and this one honestly told me part of the trouble they are having is that the expectations of the hiring managers have not been realistic. Same old story as this is classic in the field of contract management: There is a disconnect between what the managers WANT and the reality of what they can GET in the market based on what salary they are willing to invest.

If you WANT to hire a contract manager with ten years of experience or more, you had better be ready to pay the market rate.

Those folks are ALREADY in jobs between $130 to 150 K a year and would only move if they get more than that and a competitive HR package.

Reality is that if the hiring companies continue to be reluctant to hire unemployed and ONLY consider the pool or working applicants they will then have to pay MORE.

I read an article in the NY Times just yesterday that a study done showed that even with career coaching, only 1 in 10 of the long term unemployed (considered out of work in their field for more than 6 months) landed jobs. The study showed employers are MORE LIKELY to hire a currently employed person without any relevant experience who they would have to then invest in with on the job training, than they were likely to hire an unemployed person who has all the desired skills and relevant experience.

That is just amazing.

Yesterday I interviewed with a manager of the legal contracting group in this large company that has been taking its time courting me for the past six months.

Reality is they realized they have to lower their standards and look at candidates with less than 10 years contract management experience.

They also have to look at folks willing to take $130 or less.

Realigning expectations makes me now in the applicant pool of those actually seriously considered.

I am bit hesitant to want to work for a company that takes six month to fill needs for new hires. That is a red flag. I did ask the question of the manager, noting the posting has been consistently advertised "What is taking so long to fill this position?"

I wondered if they filled it and had people leave as they were not a good fit. He said something about them being busy, I know the reality is the realigning expectations. I also know the reality is that this particular company is re-organizing as they all do every few years. They had a corporate management directive to change their work at home policy and mandate all employees to work in an office rather than telecommute. So the hires were to fill anticipated open positions when some would not stay at the company after that transition.

I have no problem working at an office. It is a good thing to do if one tends to be a workaholic as MUCH healthier to try to not take work home with you. I can do either, but going to an office is fine by me.

I have been applying to jobs that are more aligned with my vision of what I wish to do long term. There have been a few good postings for immigration attorney, paralegal, research fellow, and human rights related positions as well that I have applied for.

I would prefer humanitarian work , but if I get an offer in the corporate world I will take it for the short term recognizing it is a stepping stone to enable me to achieve my vision.

Interesting however that a paralegal spot in the Immigration Dept of one of the best large DC firms opened up and was posted yesterday.

I would almost PAY To work there for a while to learn everything I can from that position in preparation of opening my own Immigration practice should I have passed the VA BAR Exam. I can think of no where that would offer more comprehensive training.

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