Jobless In The City

Leslie Rochelle

Leslie in the Middle

How do you start over in the middle? That’s what I’m trying to figure out. I have lived in New York for eight years now and enjoyed quite a journey. I began my career here working as an administrative assistant at a finance company. Assisting two senior executives and their respective teams, I learned a lot about the business of my company which was financial assurance. I was later promoted and earnestly set on a solid career path in finance specifically dealing with municipal bonds and asset-backed securities. Unfortunately, my business was at the center of the market collapse and my company was hit hard in 2007. By early 2008, I found myself out of a job as did the majority of employees of my company.

Even though the rumblings of recession speak were abuzz all around, I didn’t take it personally. I actually saw it as an opportunity to take a bit of a break and lay low for about six months. You know, to give the economy a chance to get some legs and snap back into order. That was very naïve, and that was 19 months ago. I did have six carefree months of spring and summer. It was beautiful. “The summer of Leslie.” I started my job search in the fall. Everyone’s hiring in the fall, right? Not so in these tough economic times. I first focused only on jobs that I found out about through personal relationships. And I don’t even mean this in the traditional sense, because absolutely no one was hiring. I mean if an acquaintance, friend or relative mentioned that they heard someone was hiring, I looked into it. These were few and far between, but there were just no postings for my niche in finance.

As the anniversary of my layoff (I prefer to look at the bright side of things and call it a layoff) approached I felt I needed to take more steps and measures to find a job. As a college educated woman with a master degree in Advertising and six years of experience in Public Relations and more than five years experience in Finance, I didn’t expect to have this hard of a time finding a job. I had experienced something similar when I first moved here, but turning to a temporary agency to get my foot in the door solved that problem. This time, I’m solidly in the middle. I officially over qualified for the temporary agencies, and everyone looking for a job right now has the same qualifications as me if not more experience and education. Additionally, everyone looking for employees knows someone looking for a job. Talk about a rock and a hard place.

So I’ve expanded my search to cold calls, in other words, for any job posting that looks like my qualifications might match, I apply. During this time, I’ve only received interviews from inquiries that came through people I know. I’ve even had a few meetings with people that weren’t hiring but might eventually know someone that is. Not a single one of my blind inquiries has garnered an interview. But they are still necessary. Who knows, I might shine through to one of these people soon.

In the meanwhile, I’m exploring my creative side. My amateur music career is flourishing in that I can sing with my bands on any night of the week at anytime. I’m no longer pushing for early gigs so I won’t be tired at work the next morning.

My Singing Gig

I’ve recently discovered that my acting chops are a little sharper than I ever knew. I auditioned for one production and seem to have impressed the director (fingers crossed) and I’m looking for more opportunities along those lines. And finally, I’ve used this time off to travel and volunteer. I saw my family more last year that when I actually live in the Metro Detroit area near them. And I have a wonderful volunteer gig at the New York Public Library helping adults learn to read and write.

As the job search continues, I’ll keep you posted on whether I can ‘make it here’ again. At this point I’m more than willing to try to get my foot in the door of yet another industry and work my way back up. Hopefully this time the economy won’t tank in my middle.

Follow “Leslie in The Middle” each week as she continues her search for employment.