The Invisible Rose
Sep 1, 2018 · 4 min read

Well, I updated my email address from hotmail to gmail. Somewhere I read that hotmail moniker will really age you. So will the year I graduated from college but it’s the hotmail address that shames me most I suppose. Here is my email address count: 2 hotmail, 3 gmail, 3 yahoo, 1 proaxis.com, 1 comcast and a host of others that come from being associated with this or that. My hotmail address will remain my beloved and main address and the new, hot and sassy gmail will be for job searching. We have one email address that we’ve had since 1995. Mind you, I should just not pay the pittance to keep it next time the renewal comes up but I’m sentimental.
So I’ve been mulling over the reasons I get no response to my submitted resumes to these run of the mill office jobs listed on Craigslist. Here is what I have come up with according to my brand of thought.
1. My age. When you graduate from college in the early eighties that will date you unquestionably. Age discriminatio is a real thing. See here
2. The actual number of resumes submitted and people looking for a job is staggering.
3. I’ve had gaps in my employment. Yes, yes I have. I had children to raise and a farm to look after with my husband. I had people in my life that depended on me and I wasn’t willing to say, "well now dependent ones I’ve got to put me first and have a timeline that shows constant employment (since the beginning of recorded history) to be relevant."
4. My resume objective is too wordy and needs to be dumbed down. Here’s a sample of my latest objective:
To enter in to a work environment where I can use the skills mentioned below and interact with others in a professional capacity. I am looking forward to being employed in an office setting and seeing that that for which I am responsible is run smoothly and efficiently and that my tasks and responsibilities are executed properly and in a timely manner. I am looking forward to meeting in person and proceeding towards forming a well-functioning work alliance. I have had diverse work and life experiences that make me a well-rounded candidate for the position for which I am applying.
5. The men (an assumption on my part) posting these positions on Craigslist really just want bimbo sexpots and not a mature, logical and grounded employee. Here’s an example from a job posting to which I responded: Question 6. How good looking you are on a scale of 1 to 10.
Just kidding, you can disregard #6, hope it made you smile!
 I did disregard it and answered the other questions in an intelligent tone and manner.

So why am I talking about lying on my resume? I strongly lean towards not lying as a lie always has a way of nosing it’s way back to the teller. But here’s the deal. I watched a news story about people who lie on their resume. One female said she was proficient in Excel. She now says she barely knows how to open Excel. I passed my Word, Excel and Outlook test at the staffing agency and that was after never even having used Outlook. I was so relieved. But, I’ve used a lot of programs and so basic logic led me to a passing grade. But what would I lie about? Could I add in some non-existent jobs that are similar to the ones for which I am now applying? How dumb! I could re-adjust my college graduation date by a few years and re-adjust the date of my first job following graduation. That job was in a foreign country and who is going to check that one out? I also held various volunteer positions. Should I elaborate on them more? I ran the church office for several years and created many brochures and kept data bases updated, supplies in stock and whatever it took to have a decent office. No pay of course but it was on my time. In fact, I spoke with the preacher yesterday at a funeral and without being prompted he praised me for the fine work I did back then, That made me feel good and then I told him I was looking for a "paying" job. He was quick to offer himself as a reference. I thanked him.
So back to the news story about the lying on resumes. Are those lying females my competition? Yes, they are. Here I am ready to work. I won’t get pregnant. I don’t have my nose in a phone all day updating the world about my latest meal. I’ve raised and managed 3 children. I know when to speak and when to just be quiet. I have wisdom. But does any of that matter in the workplace anymore? I just tell myself to keep putting one foot forward and keep getting those resumes out. But, on other days I tell myself maybe I really am just a washed up bag of flesh that no longer has any relevance in the world. Then I snap out of it and do an inward glare for even considering the latter.
I remember my eldest daughter telling her brother that he doesn’t have to lie to kick it. I really like that phrase. It says a lot. RMG