Help - Former USAID contractor -- zero interviews in a year

[Anonymous]

my sister also had this issue as a former USAID contractor. She finally got a job at one of the big conservation groups managing implementation of grants but she had a huge 50 percent paycut and huge cut to her title/position. But she'll work her way up again, hopefully. She also found that she had to apply for jobs within 24 hours of posting.

[Anonymous]

A lower paying pivot is better than permanent unemployment. Definitely for a 55 year old. Age biss is real.
Death doula is brilliant pivot.

[Anonymous]

My neighbor was out of work for 2.5 years and just recently accepted a job offer. The snag is that it’s out of state. They’re moving across the country.

Only mentioning it because he had to be willing to move.

[Anonymous]

OP here… would happily accept lower pay and title… at this point it’s health benefits we want!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here… would happily accept lower pay and title… at this point it’s health benefits we want!

You can’t get them through your. job?

[Anonymous]

No I’m self employed and happily and successfully so so I can’t really pivot right now.

[Anonymous]

Apply for jobs out of the area and move.

[Anonymous]

It’s really rough, OP. I was also a USAID contractor. My entire network has had a heck of a year. The people older than 60 have universally retired, ready or not. Those of us between 40 and 60 seem to be struggling the most to land new jobs. Lots of radical pivots - teaching, selling things on eBay. The successful, full time job pivots have been to state government and professional associations (I was in health, so lots of people went to the X state breast cancer association or whatever). The people who landed fastest were not in the DC area but in other urban areas that haven’t been flooded with DOGEd people.

[Anonymous]

If he’s not getting interviews, it’s the resume and cover letter. Without seeing them I suspect the skills and positioning aren’t transferring well to the kind of position he’s looking for, or they are written in governmentese. Or he’s looking at the wrong kinds of jobs that aren’t realistic for his background. People who have been in one industry / org for 25 years often don’t understand how insular and irrelevant they sound to the outside world.

It’s a tough market but he should be getting interviews even if he doesn’t land the jobs.

[Anonymous]

If he reviewed grants, can he get a job as an editor, even as a contractor?

I think at this point, some income is better than none. Both my DH and I are on ACA (55 and 61). It's expensive, but like I said, some income is better than one. Also, at least they are employed which helps with future employment.

I'd take temp contract positions if that's the only thing they can get.

I'm a PP who suggested moving overseas. Healthcare in most other countries are cheaper than the US. It's the one reason we are also thinking of moving to a different country. Healthcare in the US is our highest expense here.

[Anonymous]

get a PMP and switch to project management

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If he’s not getting interviews, it’s the resume and cover letter. Without seeing them I suspect the skills and positioning aren’t transferring well to the kind of position he’s looking for, or they are written in governmentese. Or he’s looking at the wrong kinds of jobs that aren’t realistic for his background. People who have been in one industry / org for 25 years often don’t understand how insular and irrelevant they sound to the outside world.

It’s a tough market but he should be getting interviews even if he doesn’t land the jobs.

I have to disagree with you here. I know excellent candidates who have worked with career coaches, adapted resume to non- USAID language, etc., applied to literally 500 jobs and nada. It’s brutal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If he’s not getting interviews, it’s the resume and cover letter. Without seeing them I suspect the skills and positioning aren’t transferring well to the kind of position he’s looking for, or they are written in governmentese. Or he’s looking at the wrong kinds of jobs that aren’t realistic for his background. People who have been in one industry / org for 25 years often don’t understand how insular and irrelevant they sound to the outside world.

It’s a tough market but he should be getting interviews even if he doesn’t land the jobs.

I have to disagree with you here. I know excellent candidates who have worked with career coaches, adapted resume to non- USAID language, etc., applied to literally 500 jobs and nada. It’s brutal

I only started getting traction once I rewrote both my resume and cover letter to personalize for each position. Time consuming but AI helps and also thinking about the personal connection to each job, which AI can't help with.

Also, look at the level of responsibility. Some jobs you will want to highlight how senior you are, some jobs you need to downplay that. When I applied to jobs where it looked my supervisor would be less experienced than me, I tried to reorient or remove language that made it clear that I had managed X staff. I was in a senior leadership position in an acting capacity for a long time. In some cases, I emphasized that; in others, I included it as a bullet under my old job title. Not lying at all, but highlighting those things wasn't going to be helpful for that job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No I’m self employed and happily and successfully so so I can’t really pivot right now.

You should be looking for a full time job yourself with health insurance.

Your DH may never find professional work again; that happened to all my relatives in tech.

I would apply to Home Depot and Costco, speaking spanish and being professional would be a good way to move up to management at the store.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s really rough, OP. I was also a USAID contractor. My entire network has had a heck of a year. The people older than 60 have universally retired, ready or not. Those of us between 40 and 60 seem to be struggling the most to land new jobs. Lots of radical pivots - teaching, selling things on eBay. The successful, full time job pivots have been to state government and professional associations (I was in health, so lots of people went to the X state breast cancer association or whatever). The people who landed fastest were not in the DC area but in other urban areas that haven’t been flooded with DOGEd people.

How old is OP DH? It's possible he went to grad school, so could be actually 59 or 60, depending on if 25 years at this one job was his ONLY job??