PORTLAND – Susan Moore knows first hand that the job market can be a discouraging place.
Moore, a 39-year-old Portland resident and single mom with ample work experience, recently landed a job after a grueling eight-month search.
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“It was very frustrating and disheartening,” said Moore, who got laid off last year from a career services position at Bates College. “I felt like there were a lot of jobs that I was totally qualified for, and I wouldn’t get called.”
Moore’s job search began in April. She was still working at Bates, but had heard rumors of job cuts.
Shortly after, Moore was laid off.
She quickly started networking, scheduling lunch meetings with acquaintances to discuss opportunities and telling friends and colleagues through e-mail that she was looking for work.
Moore wanted a job in the education field, where she had worked for years. She looked for positions at the University of New England, Bowdoin College, the University of Southern Maine, Southern Maine Community College and other schools in the area.
She took her search seriously, spending hours writing each cover letter. Every Sunday, Moore checked online job boards and the hiring pages of local companies, universities and nonprofits.
She also worked with Barbara Babkirk, a career counselor in Portland who helped boost her confidence and polish her resume.
The months dragged on without success; from April to December, Moore had only two job interviews.
Babkirk said Moore’s experience is common. In this economy, many of her clients — most of them high-level professionals — spend months searching for work. Job seekers who are older than 50 might hunt for a year, she said.
Raymond Inglesi, president of Drake Inglesi Milardo human resource consultants in Portland, said many of his clients these days take seven or eight months to find a job.
Such a long stretch can be discouraging.
“There were times when I thought, ‘I will never, ever get a job,’ ” Moore said. “Your confidence breaks down. You think, ‘Maybe I am not good enough,’“
Just before Christmas, Moore’s work paid off. She landed four interviews.
Then, just a few weeks ago, the University of New Hampshire offered Moore a job as academic coordinator in its psychology department.
She starts this week.
It’s a long commute from Portland to Durham, N.H., but Moore said she’s happy just to have a job, and she can always move to New Hampshire. She even received a “significant” pay increase.
Her job search was no easy road, but Moore said perseverance paid off.
“You just need that one interview, and you need to nail it,” she said. “Just keep plugging away.”
Staff Writer Jonathan Hemmerdinger can be contacted at 791-6316 or at:
jhemmerdinger@mainetoday.com
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