I’m still looking for a job, but something really weird is happening. Someone will get a copy of my resume. I am posted on Monster.com, Michigan Talent Bank and I have been sending it out at least twenty times a week to various job listings that I see. I have been getting a pretty good response with employers checking it out on the sites.
A few weeks ago, things really started to look up. I started getting calls from prospective employers and had a few phone interviews. Things would go great and at the end of the call I would be asked to send an updated version of the resume, usually with salary requirements and references.
This is where things would get weird. I send the updated resume with a cover letter tailored specifically for the recruiter and the job. Then, nothing. No follow up at all. With one contract house I even had a sit down face to face with their recruiter, who helped me update my resume. After I left his office, I heard nothing back from him. With another, I sent the resume for a specific job and never heard back. I sent a follow up email asking about opportunities with other customers. She responded that the first customer was still reviewing resumes (after two weeks), but she would keep me in mind. Since then, nothing.
Back in 2001, I found out that my last employer at the time would stonewall people calling for references. The only thing my boss (who I worked with directly for five years) would tell them was “All I can say is that he worked here from 1996 to 2001.” That’s not exactly putting the bad mouth on someone, but if I was considering hiring somebody and I heard that, then they would be taken off my shortlist.
Anyway, I wonder if someone is putting the bad mouth on me. I keep in contact with three of the four people i have listed as references, so I doubt if it is any of them, but I am thinking that I should send the next resume without that fourth person and see what the results are.
BTW, I hate being unemployed. It makes me paranoid.