What to Do The Next?

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  Jase1 on 24/02/2016 - 01:18

  Have you looked on whirlpool for other IT roles? That's the first place I think of. Looked on gumtree, or other job sites like the gov run one also JobSearch.gov.au ?

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    tuanyuan on 24/02/2016 - 09:09

    Yes. Whirlpool's job post is scarce, and always week old.
    I checked JobSearch for jobs other than IT, nothing fruitful.

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  [Deactivated] on 24/02/2016 - 05:48

  Any option to relocate? More varied IT positions are available in Asia, Europe, and the US as the population is higher. My Brother-in-law was unable to secure work here but got sponsored work in the US. It was a long, hard road but it led to better paying work than he could get here and the longer he worked the more opportunities became available and he moved from sponsor to sponsor before getting his green card and now citizenship. It wouldn't be an easy option, but it could work depending on your skills and background.

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    tuanyuan on 24/02/2016 - 09:13

    Thanks for sharing the story. I cannot relocate currently due to family commitment. Then I would not be employable in same/similar field if there's a couple of years' gap. That's why I want to look for other options other than IT.

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  the-mal on 24/02/2016 - 07:05

  +1

  What roles did you fill in IT?

  Also…

  already had 1.5 car incident

  Okay, I'm curious… What's a 0.5 incident look like?

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    pjetson on 24/02/2016 - 08:49

    +1

    Maybe it was two 0.75 incidents?

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    tuanyuan on 24/02/2016 - 09:19

    Relational database, but not in the most common operation support area.

    I almost crossed a red light in peak hour at a busy inter junction. Braked hard enough after crossing the line. I couldn't imagine what would happen if I continued.

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      the-mal on 24/02/2016 - 09:56

      Relational database, but not in the most common operation support area.

      As in database support?

      I work in the Analytics/Data (what used to be mainly datawarehousing) side of IT. There is massive growth, and will continue to be for some time, in the analytics/data area in both end-user support (need to have knowledge of data structures and business knowledge) and QA/testing if either of those interest you.

      If you've had decent exposure to DB support in some capacity I'd imagine it'd be a pretty smooth area for you to transition into and it's really starting to grow. Lots of companies are continuing to beef up their internal data services including the whole "democratisation of data" (pushing more and more data out to "the business" to self-serve) and this means lots of additional end-user support is needed.

      If you got a bit of training, even free online training, from one of the big BI vendors (Tableau, Microsoft, Qlik etc) and positioned your resume right you'd be sure to get snapped up. If this area interests you of course…but your support background wouldn't be wasted here.

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  mskeggs on 24/02/2016 - 07:29

  +1

  I'm assuming you have experience in something like a mainframe programming language that isn't used at other employers. I almost got a job doing that when I left uni but the recruiter took me aside and told me the prospects were nil.
  I am pleased you have applied for jobs as varied as retail, it suggests you aren't being unrealistic, and I think this will help the process to get back to a good job.
  My suggestion is to use your experience obliquely.
  One of the "joys" of the modern workplace is that you are typically asked to do a lot more than a comparable role did in the past. The downside is being too busy, but the upside is you get a little bit of experience of other people's roles and responsibilities.
  So I'd ask you to think of a time you helped cover for somebody on holiday, or were involved in introducing something new, or decommissioning something old, or relocating something moving. The way most businesses treat their employees it seems there are changes every week.
  Each one of these challenges gave you experience in skills like project management, administration, planning etc.
  Now look at your resume. You have said one role. But I bet over the last 20 years there have been changes in the role. Maybe it was renamed or reclassified, or transferred from reporting under finance to reporting under a CIO, or other changes where little bits of extra work were added to your job description. These are the things you need to magnify on your resume.
  A recruiter doesn't need to know that the bulk of your tasks have been the same for 20 years. For example, instead note that in 2007 when your title changed from Lead Data Processor to Data Processing Lead you added a bunch of project management responsibilities. And that in 2012 when the division reorganised, you gained dotted line accountability for a diverse team. The recruiter doesn't need to know this was a short term project to redraft a trivial form, when you could make it sound an important process where you gathered requirements, assessed stakeholder inputs, trialled new input methods and rolled out a new process.

  When you do this kind of 'expansive' review of your resume, you might find you are actually a pretty skilled administrator or project manager or similar.
  Once you have found these crumbs of relevant tangental work experience, decide what you want to pursue. I'd suggest something like project management is a pretty good angle, or perhaps your skills might sway towards business analyst, or systems administrator or service manager.
  The point is, instead of having a resume that describes you as, for example, an Algol programmer, you now have one that describes you as Project Manager/Programmer and hopefully list Algol under there along with Javascript, Ruby, C#, Objective-C and whatever latest buzzword languages are popular that you can pick up a smattering in an afternoon.
  The next piece in the puzzle is to speak the language of the role you are edging into. To sustain the Project Management example, I would suggest getting certified in PRINCE2 or PMBOK so you learn the way other certified project managers talk. If you are looking to do business analyst stuff the alternative might be six sigma, or service stuff might be ITIL. The point being that you now have some entries on your resume that look like you have been doing the job, and the language and buzzwords to sound like what you are presenting.
  If you aren't sure whether you want to be a project manager or a helpdesk staffer or product manager or whatever, $30 at Amazon will get you a relevant book telling you the theory component of whatever role it is' training and certifications. Read up.
  The final piece of the puzzle is to get some extra reasonably relevant experience.
  Since you have been doing some volunteering, perhaps there is an opportunity via that organisation to gain some experience?
  If not, my suggestion is to look at short term contract roles. Some of these jobs are so dire that they are essentially unable to be filled. The combination of poor prospects, terrible locations, inadequate pay and thankless work means that the recruiters are happy to put anybody forward for the role, and since they get paid a portion of your salary, they will argue strongly in your favour that you are worth employing.
  All of a sudden, in a year's time, your resume will include 20 years of foundational work showing your reliability and dependability, then a couple of 3 and 6 month contracts showing your current employability and varied skill set.

  I recognise it is a daunting and difficult task, but I suspect you wouldn't have been able to last 20 years at your old role without significant adaptability. Use your strengths there as a springboard to something new and better.
  Best of luck!

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    tuanyuan on 24/02/2016 - 09:40

    Thanks mskeggs. You always share the most valuable thoughts here. I'm glad you replied my post. I will read it again and break your points into manageable steps.

    I know my CV and strongest skill set is not adapting to the changing job description and market. Due to the last workplace stress I had, I don't think I'm able to exaggerate my experience first then learn and catch up in new IT field, which will then be obsolete in a few years' time. That's the main reason I'm willing to 'downsize' to entry level job so that I can enjoy what I'm doing with more physical activity, and bring no work home.

    I know I'm a bit picky to choose the next job because family and my own well-being is more important now, comparing to what I had been thinking 2 years ago. But the reality still caught me and pushed my mood down. I didn't expect getting a shelf stacking or postie job would be so difficult.

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      the-mal on 24/02/2016 - 10:00

      That's the main reason I'm willing to 'downsize' to entry level job so that I can enjoy what I'm doing with more physical activity, and bring no work home.

      You might want to look at working for a not-for-profit. You won't get any where near the pressure of a commercial company. You also won't get the same pay, but it's good if you want to get that work/life balance right and ease your way into a new job role.

      NFP also tend to be open to you learning some parts of the role on-the-job if you have the right attitude and skills mix as they're not going to get access to as many potential candidates as for-profit organisations simply because they're restricted as to how much they can pay.

      After being burned out by financial services I took a "break" job with a NFP and it turned out to be brilliant for my well-being and my career advancement. Just another option to think about!

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        tuanyuan on 24/02/2016 - 10:31

        No, I was not in database support area, that's why it's difficult to move.

        Thanks for sharing your experience. Yes, I'm looking at the NFP sector right now. Pay wise is not a concern. I won't treat it as a "break" job, but rather a comfort job to prove my existence and worthy. I'm glad to able to try out different volunteer works and they don't judge my past experience.

        I would happy to continue volunteer works but now I need a payslip job to help with home loan application. Got refused just because I don't have up-to-date payslip even when I can well serve the future loan. :(

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  purplelady on 04/04/2016 - 11:32

  Just wondering how are you now? Did you find anything?