For the past year I've been on unemployment, working at a friend's shop for extra $$, and watching employers take advantage of the economy. For example, a job posted had the following requirements:
Min 5 years experience with Adobe Suite, including Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign. Experience with Flash, Dreamweaver, etc.
Able to shoot, edit and produce short videos for [our] clients using Final Cut Pro
Lot's of requirements, lots of experience, lots of expensive programs requiring more than just basic knowledge or skills. They were paying a whole twelve dollars an hour! Other jobs that I saw had things like "$320 per week guaranteed!". Really?? That's minimum wage in California. I guess they're counting on people not being very good at basic math. It's been a struggle, my savings are almost gone and I was about to either tap into my retirement account to pay mortgage, or rent a room or two out to total strangers in my home.
But then I got an email the other day, and it was a technical recruiter who wanted to interview me for a possible contract job that could become permanent after 90 days. She saw my resume on careerbuilder.com, and was familiar with the company that I used to work for before I was laid off last year (after 18 years). She liked that I had longevity, and the experience that I have from that job, and I'm happy to say that this coming Thursday I have an interview for that job - they liked what they saw in my profile and from what she told them. The official title is "System Verification Test Engineer, Level II". Basically it's a QA job, testing software/products.
I'm excited, and a little nervous, but feel confident that I can do the job. The company is local to me, about 12 miles away instead of 65, and the pay is very good. I really hope I get this, I really needed a break from the crap I've been through in the past year. Keep your fingers crossed for me....
thanks...