Brother Can You Spare a Dime?

So, last week I filled out an application at a leading greeting card/novelty store as they were hiring for full and part-time positions. I've changed the names to protect the innocent so let's call them Mallmark! My background is in IT but I've been out since October 2006, and because of the economy, I am having difficulty getting back in. I'm currently working as a substitute paraprofessional/paraeducator but I am called on an as-needed basis. It's just not steady enough income on which to survive so I'm sort of forced to supplement my income elsewhere. With this is mind, I have spent several months attempting to do just that! Back to Mallmark, I received a postcard from them in the mail today that stated "We are unable to offer you a position at this time. However, we will keep your resume in our current file for consideration at a later date should a suitable vacancy arise." Now, when I visited their store and filled out an application at the beginning of the week, I checked off available for full or part-time work. When I completed the application, the manager sat with me and asked if I could work a weekend day and a couple of week days per week to which I replied, "absolutely!" She then asked me if I was interested in just the retail part of the job or would I be able and willing to lift boxes, stock shelves, and climb ladders. I told her that I would be willing to do whatever the job entailed." Now, I'm not sure what the perfect answers are to each of these qestions, but I'm pretty sure that I gave adequate answers. I was dressed professionally, my head wasn't spinnning, nothing disgusting was hanging from my nose, I wasn't burping the alphabet, or yelling profanities. So, why am I not qualified for this job?

Take, for instance, a popular online job posting site. Let's call them HaigesList. I attempted to apply to a position at a local hair salon as a receptionist. The requirements seemed promising. Good phone answering skills, I can do that! Able to book appointments for customers, check! And my favorite, able to sweep hair, check, and check! Now, I've been in this job slump for several months so, in my present state of mind, I got really excited at the prospect of being fully qualified to accomplish all of these tasks, until I read the last line. Must be currently going to school for Cosmetology, and must be serious about Cosmetology as a career. I began to slip into a deep funk as I realized that I wasn't qualified to apply for this position either.

In this trying economy it seems that, even with a college degree, two years of graduate school, and twenty plus years experience working at the top IT companies in my field have brought me to the conclusion that, I apparently have no marketable skills. At the ripe old age of 47, I have become obsolete!