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Discouragement

     I'm beginning to have a pessimistic outlook on the job search. I had hoped to have found some good leads by now. I had an "interview," but, honestly, it was a faux interview because they'd already identified the person they wanted to hire. Waste of my time. Well, sort of. I at least got to connect with someone I've worked with before and now have a couple of people in positions to help with in the quest for gainful employment.

    I have another potential lead, but the pay isn't great and it requires jumping through a lot of hoops to be approved. It may not be a good cultural fit for me. But I'm entering beggars-choosers territory here.

    What's discouraging is that the list of jobs I'm seeing in my area of expertise is shrinking. It seems like overnight the pool of available jobs is drying up.

    I need to start networking more, and I've reached out to one former colleague but have not received a response.

    Self-doubt is the biggest source of discouragement. I just feel that former co-workers don't respect me or want to help me. If you told me to reach out to someone and ask them for some networking help, I would sit here plagued with doubt about who would want to help me and who would consider me someone worthy of being helped.

    As expected, most of the responses I've been getting have been rejections. That's fine. But I was hoping with my experience and credentials I'd at least get some interviews. I've only had the one fake interview so far. It's not looking good.


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