"Dumbing Down" Your Resume

[MorningStar]

A friend of mine has been looking for a job in her field for over 6 years now and has even applied to McDonald's , Wal-Mart, etc., but she's told she's "overqualified". Other jobs want her programming skills updated, but at this point she doesn't know how to accomplish that. She's 60, exhausted, has medical problems, and has no family to support her. She hasn't been able to see her parents since 2006.

I was reading that sometimes it's wise to "dumb down" your resume, which is a marketing tool for yourself, but you do need to list everything on your application. Have any of you had to do that?

Also, what are the best places to Network? Some people say you just have to be on LinkedIn and others say it's awful and spams you to death. Someone asked her last night, "What's wrong with you that no one will give you a job?" She said, "I don't know! Ask them!"

I'm getting extremely worried about her future. She has diabetes and both of her parents are blind from it. If that happens to her, I have no idea how she will be taken care of. She isn't on medication because she has no insurance and she is required to have labs taken every three months in order to have her prescriptions filled. She has no money for that.

[LittleWyvern]

Other jobs want her programming skills updated, but at this point she doesn't know how to accomplish that.

If you're talking about computer programming, there's loads of excellent and free resources out there to get up to speed on modern concepts. Udacity is the first site that comes to mind, but if there something specific she needs to learn then I can suggest sites more focused toward a specific subject.

If you're not talking about computer programming, then I'm really embarrassed.

[dahlia]

She could try taking classes at a community college to update her computing skills cheaply and maybe for free. At 60, can she get early retirement, or apply for SSI due to health until she gets SS?

It used to be possible to get Medicaid and not have to get the whole welfare thing. I don't know if that is still the case, but as a diabetic myself, I would make sure I had medical care, even if it meant the gubmint paid for it.

[NeuroTypical]

I was reading that sometimes it's wise to "dumb down" your resume, which is a marketing tool for yourself, but you do need to list everything on your application. Have any of you had to do that?

I got layed off during the "dot-com bubble burst" - they estimated 30% of the telecom people were walking the streets of Denver unemployed.

I custom designed a resume for every job for which I applied. Eventually, I applied at a contracting firm that specialized in filling spots way below my pay grade and skillset. I got one of the best contract positions available in that area - only required high school - which is all my resume said for that job. I made them love me for a year and we lived very meagerly, then got a permanent job offer and told them about it. They fretted and said "oh, if only you had a college degree", and I said I did. My boss was no dummy, I think she had it pretty well figured out from the first interview.

Also, what are the best places to Network?

Sitting at a desk in your house, with several pens and a notebook so you can keep track. Start calling people you know. Write down who and when you called, what you talked about, and who they referred you to.

"Hello, Bob Hiringmanager? My name is LoudmouthMormon. I'm looking for work, and Morningstar told me you might have something available in the area of..."

You practice 10 second blurbs about who you are and what you do. You research and practice for every call. You also practice a 45 second blurb in case someone actually has something. You do this an hour a day. This is hard for some people and easy for others. It was like pulling teeth for me, and I had to do it for 6 months before landing that hourly gig, but it turned out.

If your ward has an employment workshop, they should be able to teach folks how to network.

Edited June 22, 2013 by Loudmouth_Mormon

[MorningStar]

Thank you all. It's pretty complicated. The only job she could get was from a friend and she has a 45-60 minute commute just to stay afloat, and she's so exhausted, she doesn't know how she would do school on top of this job. It pays very little and she has been trying hard to hang onto her condo. She was underwater because she took out a loan against it when she had to take 3 month medical leave for major surgery, was immediately laid-off when she came back, and wasn't able to refinance because she had no job. She didn't know how she would rent a place with no job either, so now she has liens against her place because she couldn't afford to pay property tax or condo dues. She has fines for not paying those. After unemployment ran out, she used all of her 401k, had to pay a large penalty for that, she found a miniumum wage job driving for a shuttle company, but the next year when she had her physical, the Dept. of Transportation wouldn't approve her to continue driving because her blood pressure was high. They wanted her to go to the doctor and get an EKG, colonoscopy, and other tests that she couldn't afford because she had no insurance. So she lost that job too.

As a single person, it's very hard to qualify for medical care in our state. I did a search and the only program that came up is one that you pay into that has a very long waiting list. I keep hoping that we will be able to buy a place large enough to give her a room to stay in and just focus on going to school if she can get the funding. She's desperate to keep her place, but I don't think she will be able to. She's having a very hard time facing that and I'm sure she's thinking if she does lose it, she will never own a place again. Most likely, she will have to claim bankruptcy because she will still owe after it's foreclosed on.

One thing I have learned - if you get a tech job, be sure to keep updating your skills! She used to have an easy time getting a job, so it's a huge shock that she has been underemployed for this long. She used to support her elderly parents.

[MorningStar]

If you're talking about computer programming, there's loads of excellent and free resources out there to get up to speed on modern concepts. Udacity is the first site that comes to mind, but if there something specific she needs to learn then I can suggest sites more focused toward a specific subject.

If you're not talking about computer programming, then I'm really embarrassed.

Thank you so much for the link! I think she needs to learn Jave, C++, and some others. I know she knows SQL and some other things, but I'm quite illiterate when it comes to these things. She has developed web pages, been a project manager, software developer, and more. I was just thinking maybe she should learn how to build apps. :)

[LittleWyvern]

Thank you so much for the link! I think she needs to learn Jave, C++, and some others. I know she knows SQL and some other things, but I'm quite illiterate when it comes to these things. She has developed web pages, been a project manager, software developer, and more. I was just thinking maybe she should learn how to build apps. :)

As far as Java goes, it's a rare language in that not only are there official tutorials, they are also quite good. All she'd need to get started with Java would be the JDK, an IDE--a program that makes developing code easier (either Eclipse or Netbeans are great, it's really just up to personal preference), and a desire to experiment.

As far as apps go, Java is a good place to start there too because Android apps are programmed in that language. Google has some great tutorials, and the only other thing you need to develop Android apps is the Android SDK. There's also Android plugins for both Eclipse and Netbeans which makes it really easy to get started.

EDIT: If she wants to get back into web development instead, she probably just needs to brush up on PHP and javascript.

Edited June 22, 2013 by LittleWyvern

[MorningStar]

Thanks so much!

[dahlia]

Can she rent a room in the condo? With the liens, etc., it may be too late, in that she might not want to expose a renter to an eviction, but a renter might help.

Also, and this is just me, I loved school. If I were your friend, I'd look for a way to go to school full time and get a Pell Grant or something else and just be a student until she hits early SS. Most students can get a job on campus, so that's 20 hrs a week of $, which is better than nothing. I would always rather go to school than work and over the years have found ways of funding myself so I could 'stop out' when I wanted to. Something to think about. Also, a lot of states have 'displaced worker' programs. She might look into something like that - usually you've got school and a small stipend or a PT job - enough to get by.

Also, can your friend get food stamps? Apparently Obama can't give them away fast enough; your friend might try for them, which would at least save her money for other things.

I am sorry your friend is in this situation. At the point where it looked like I was going to have to drain my 401(k) to get by, I'd have sold the condo and headed to Florida or Montana and live in a double wide. Unfortunately, people often wait until it's too late, or too difficult, to provide help, no matter how much you want to help them. I used to see them all the time in my law practice. I hope your friend finds a way out.

[mdfxdb]

Sounds like she held on too long. She should have sold the condo. Now it sounds like she, and society are paying for her bad decisions.

She can get a job. She may have to move to make the commute better, but there is a job for her.