October 21, 2012 - I skipped a few days. Went to the library on Friday and all the computers were in use. I have the internet at home but, I like to do a search at the library after I check out the new reference material. So, since there were no open computers, I decided to look at the new arrivals. I found a book called "Laptop Millionaire", I skimmed through it and decided to give it a try. It gave me some good ideas about how to make money online. Writing your own E-book was one of the suggestions, now I am going to move in that direction as well as doing the traditional job searches. I have a couple of ideas and I will check to see if there is any interest in what I want to write about, the author says you need to get at least 30,000 hits to be sure there is a big enough audience for what you plan on writing about. That was excellent advice, I wouldn't have thought to do that.

It's time to look at my usual sites for my continuing job search - Careerbuilder - There are a few new jobs, one that I have the perfect background for, the pay is kinda low but, I guess I have to just deal with that. I applied through careerbuilder, let's what happens. Hopefully, I will hear something on Monday.
When you apply for jobs and have your email address out there, you get a lot of spam emails about job offers, I just got one from a person named "Tansy Highers" ...lol....funny stuff.

Monster - Okay, trying to get on the site and I am having an issue, it just wont' load. I think I have a virus because my computer is just not running right at all. I have to do some investigating.

Craigslist - I find a job every now and then on Craigslist that fits my background but, there are so many fake jobs that I wonder if it's worth the effort. I've gotten pretty good at spotting the fake ads though. Today there are at least three jobs that are suitable for my background. I started to apply for one and was directed to another website that requires an electronic signature. I've never had to do that before. There are a few steps to follow and the job is perfect for me so, I will go through the hoops. I found another job, which the pay is also low but, it starts right away, which is helpful. I sent a copy of my resume and I hope to hear back soon. I will keep checking my email.

Well, that's the job search for today. I might walk up to the local gas station and get a newspaper. I buy the paper every once in a while, I find there aren't that many jobs but, I get to have the coupons so, it's worth the cost of the paper, even if the job section is pretty thin.

October 16th, 2012 - I was unable to go to the library as planned yesterday so, I had to continue my online search. I usually get emails from careerbuilder.com and monster.com so, I go to my emails and click on the links provided. The careerbuilder search was pretty much the same as yesterday. There were a few new jobs added one that seemed really great with a starting temp salary of $25.00 hourly but, they want "Elite Software" experience and I don't have that one. I looked it up online and it seems like a software package used in the legal field. I have very light experience in that area. I had to set up accounts to send to a legal team but, that's about it. There were a few other jobs but, I don't own a car so, I have to find jobs that are accessible by public transportation. My last job I had to take two buses to get to so, I don't mind having a pretty long commute but, some places you just need a car to get there. I get turned down a lot for that  reason alone. When my situation improves, a car is on the list of things that I need to purchase.
Okay..onto Monster.Com - Lots of new accounts payable jobs today and, they are all over NJ. I spotted a few new Accounts Receivable ones too but, my background doesn't seem to be a fit for any of them. I am going to send my resume to one job even though I am not a perfect fit, it may still work. I got interrupted by a phone call from a recruiter who saw my resume on Careerbuilder. She asked about my background and what I am currently doing and she thought I may be a fit for a job she is currently recruiting for but, she thought I was located too far from the job and the company would not like that. So, another one bites the dust for now. Onto craigslist to see if there is anything new since yesterday. Nothing I am qualified for on craigslist. mostly tax accountants and full charge bookkeepers. Sometimes I check the customer services job section to see if I may be match for some of those jobs. None of the customer service jobs are in my area of expertise. So, that is the job search for today. Someone suggested indeed.com. I will look at the site later and report back what I find out.

October 15th, 2012 - Okay. I have been unemployed since the middle of May of this year. My previous job was a temp assignment with Accountemps and it ended after 3 months. I was promised that they would look for a job for me but, the only real offer I received was an assignment in a really bad neighborhood that had a EPA sign on it that is was slated as a superfund clean up site and a prostitute had been killed outside their doorstep 2 years previously by one of her customers. So, I had to turn that one down. Anyway, I was sent out on numerous interviews in the first month or so but, almost all were for part time hours and lower pay and I did not receive any job offers. I decided to write about my experience since I am sure other people have been feeling like I do, that you seem to search and search and don't come up with any real leads.

I woke up this morning, checked emails and facebook, and checked craigslist.org for any new jobs. I scrolled through the last 3 or 4 days, just in case I had missed one in my search on Friday and I didn't
see anything that I would be qualified to do. My background is in Accounts Receivable and Collections.
I checked again a few hours later and I saw one ad, for an accounting clerk and clicked on that one, it was a part time job doing bank reconciliations using Yardi software, at $10.00 an hour. I did the exact same job in 2007 and I was paid $17.00 an hour. Wow!! I can't believe how much salaries have fallen in the past 2 years alone. Plus, a good majority of the jobs are part time hours only. So, if this job is 20 hours a week at 10 bucks, that's 200 minus taxes so, around 160.00 a week. I obviously can't live off of that.

Next, onto careerbuilders.com, more job posting in my field then last week but, most want very industry specific experience. Must have worked in apparel industry, must have medical collections background, must have worked in collections at a law firm...etc....This is something that was not a big issues a few years ago. I can't understand why it matters either. Whether you are collecting back rent or for non payment of medical supplies, what is the difference? It's the exact same methodology that is used. I finish scrolling through all the jobs posted within the last 3 days and I am missing one vital "must have" on each job I click on.

Last website search will be with  Monster.Com - Not much of a change since Friday, when I last checked. A few new accounts payable jobs, which my experience is from over ten years ago and I have tried in the past and sent my resume but, it seems my experience is not current enough. I would agree, I would assume a lot has changed in the past ten years and my skills may not be up to day. Although, I do think I can transfer my recent computer skills with Accounts Receivable to an Accounts Payable function but, most companies will just take the person with the most recent experience in AP.

Tomorrow, I will go to the library and check out the latest information that they have available. They usually put together a binder with the job section from a few local newspapers. I appreciate that they do that since it's easier tolook at all the job openings in one book. I also check the new resources on how to create a better resume or the other numerous books they have on job searching techniques.