Resumania

Have no fear people, Utley is back after a great day of skiing yesterday! For those of you familiar with the sport, it was the finest kind: spring skiing. Thank God for Sabbaticals.

I spent the day skiing with a friend of mine who is back home for 2 weeks from Peru. For you avid followers, I have referenced this gentleman before; When we get together there are always some great conversations and brainstorming sessions, so I'm hoping the time will be rewarding.

I mentioned last Friday that I had received an email from a recruiter I met through my college alumni network. I was initially excited about this, however after speaking with him, I was, shall I say, less than excited. It gave me flashbacks of the world that I believe I am trying to escape, which I'm not sure is a good thing or a bad thing.

Without really asking or caring what my situation was, he began giving me "tips" on masking my resume to make it appear that I was still working for my last company. Which I left the end of January. Now I understand his point, but I got an unsure feeling about the whole conversation, a vibe which did not make me entirely comfortable. He wanted me to include all the 4 jobs I've had since college, add as many "definite numbers" as possible to make the resume look as presentable as possible. I understand this, however as I said I just didn't get a good vibe from this chap. I felt he was more trying to get a "sale" rather than help me out during this monumental stage in my life. Maybe I am incorrect in feeling that way, and after all, I came from the world of sales, so I understand what he needs to do in order to "get paid". He made it seem I was some type of a**hole for having 4 jobs since I graduated in 2002, although I did work for the same company twice, and I was part of a mortgage industry that suffered one of the worst downfalls in history.

After the resume talk, I asked what type of positions he had recently been getting applicants for. In typical sales banter he said they get all types of "orders", in all different areas. The first he had in mine for me was in a similar industry in which I had again just left, simply with a larger company. I was in no way intrigued or interested. Again, maybe I have the total wrong attitude about the whole exchange, because I know I probably will need to rely on a recruiter to obtain employment.

I have been thinking about my next course of action since that conversation. I guess I just doctor up the resume as instructed, send it to him, and be picky with the opportunities? Because I am not quite ready to settle, I am really looking for the right opportunity here. And if a job description just makes me cringe, than I should probably avoid it, right?

Entering stage 2 of this sabbatical, these are the questions that I will have to begin to seriously ponder if I want to make any progress. And they are tough ones. Like taking a big plunge and attending pharmacy school, (which would probably cost me $100K...$100k that I don't have) or when I will begin to substitute teach, or when its time to settle on a job I'm not thrilled about. Hopefully I just keep writing, keep getting ideas from people, keep plugging away, and things will fall into place...a very good place, that is.