Connecting the Connectors for Connection

As an over 50 female, laid off from a job almost two years ago, I have come to the conclusion that we are in a vortex of nonverbal and outlandishly impersonal connection.  Looking for jobs via the online world has opened my eyes to numerous things that reflect where we are going as a society.

Having applied for over 200 jobs in the Denver market with zero to minimal response, I attributed the lack of response to my salary requirement and years of experience.  Denver is a millennial state; there are a plethora of hourly-rate jobs for the newly graduated lifestyle-seeking youngsters, yet the possibility of an experienced professional finding a good paying job is almost non-existent.  Thank God I was smart with my money and am not desperate, but the reality of this market, and I’m sure many other job markets in this country, bares witness to so many obscure facets of how our society functions.

A friend of mine convinced me to get back on LinkedIn.  People will notice who you are connected to and will compare that to your resume, she said.  When I was hiring, if a person did not have a LinkedIn account, I would simply throw their resume away because I could not validate it against their connections, she explained.

When did this become the norm?  When did we decide that a requirement to our experience and worth are connected to those we are connected to?  What happened to the interpersonal connection and ability of employers to take an individual’s word for their experience and life?  Why must I be required to connect with past connections in order for you to verify my connections so that you feel better considering my experience?  Remember when friends referred friends?

There is such a disconnection in the workforce hiring process between real, personal conversation and the curated resumes and social media presence most individuals portray.  It is fascinating, annoying and truly detrimental to the workforce in my opinion.

We all know that most social media posts are fun, happy, look-at-me examples of the good things in life.  I post lovely pictures of my horse in the pasture but do not post comments about how last week I had to go give my mother a shower at her assisted living facility and spray the poop out of her butt.  Resumes and profiles expound on the amazing experience individuals have had, using words that create an illusion of superiority and profound success.  I prefer to keep it simple but might be in need of some enlightening verbs to launch myself into the job-hunting stratosphere.

So, I created a new profile on LinkedIn and will hope for the best.  I’m “connecting” with people so I look good; so that employers who are interested are sure to see that I am indeed connected to people who will have absolutely nothing to do with my performance or motivation level.  This is our new world; who we know peripherally has become more important than who we are right here and now.

I will keep a sense of humor and continue the search for a good job situation however the odds are against me and I am aware of that fact.  Perhaps I’ll add some humorous little details into my resume to see if anyone even notices.  A young man I worked with years ago created an email signature that included a line under his name stating “Superhero, Captain of the Universe.”  After a year of sending emails with that same signature, I was the first to notice. We notice details if we are paying attention, but these days, what we pay attention to is the surface and that is a slippery slope, especially when that surface observation fails to dive into a person’s true ability.

Carry on we must!  Will I succeed in finding a job by connecting with other connectors?  Only time will tell.