not ready for full retirement

[broadway]

For the past 5 years I have worked temp/contract jobs.

The last one was for ten weeks Sept-Nov 2017.

I thought I would finally get a full-time job close to home with less than 30 minutes commute but that fell through apparently --- received generic thank you email through ADP portal despite going in for an in-person interview.

I may or may not get another contract job.
Likely but not sure when.


For those who have been in similar situation, how did you mentally prepare for this? I am trying to remain optimistic, but some days aren't so good.

I have 10 more years before FRA. That's a long time.

 

[aja8888]

For the past 5 years I have worked temp/contract jobs.

The last one was for ten weeks Sept-Nov 2017.

I thought I would finally get a full-time job close to home with less than 30 minutes commute but that fell through apparently --- received generic thank you email through ADP portal despite going in for an in-person interview.

I may or may not get another contract job.
Likely but not sure when.


For those who have been in similar situation, how did you mentally prepare for this? I am trying to remain optimistic, but some days aren't so good.

I have 10 more years before FRA. That's a long time.

I worked nearly 20 years on my own. What you need to do is keep asking for work. Sooner or later, you will get what you asked for.

It's a numbers game and maybe you will get lucky and hit the jackpot by finding a client that can feed you a steady diet of projects. I did, and it lasted 11 years of the 20.

 

[Amethyst]

I guess it depends. Are you FI? The mental preparation would be different than if you still need to earn money and contribute to retirement accounts.

If you still need to earn, I see no alternative but to keep plugging. You are selling yourself/your skills. You must sell them relentlessly until somebody buys.

Salespeople earn their livings by making many more contacts than actual sales (yes, I know they use "sales funnels," but it's still a pound-the-pavement, -phone, and -Web game). Selling yourself is no different.

Good luck! So discouraging when you get a generic "thank you for coming to see us."

 

[target2019]

For the past 5 years I have worked temp/contract jobs.

The last one was for ten weeks Sept-Nov 2017.

I thought I would finally get a full-time job close to home with less than 30 minutes commute but that fell through apparently --- received generic thank you email through ADP portal despite going in for an in-person interview.

I may or may not get another contract job.
Likely but not sure when.

For those who have been in similar situation, how did you mentally prepare for this? I am trying to remain optimistic, but some days aren't so good.

I have 10 more years before FRA. That's a long time.

I worked that way for a very long time, so I understand the feeling of being your own marketing person. Even if you work with a specific agency, any certainty is just a personal illusion. So you must continue to market yourself. In the downtime, develop your skills. Maybe change direction a bit.

I am FT employed, but was retired 3-4 years ago. They twisted my arm with $$$. Still, I have to look ahead, and expect to get out in 2019. During this tax season I put in a lot of hours helping a young CPA with individual taxes. That is my early marketing for 2019...

If you start a project at home, I guarantee that the phone will ring, and you'll be left with one more home project to complete in the future.

What do you use to job hunt? From time to time I monitor search filters I set up with Indeed.com. That keeps me aware of local demand for my skills.

 

[broadway]

Are you FI? The mental preparation would be different than if you still need to earn money and contribute to retirement accounts.

Mentally I feel more comfortable if I am able to earn an extra $12K a year.
Firecalc says I am fine with the 3% withdrawal rate.

Good luck! So discouraging when you get a generic "thank you for coming to see us."

I am mentally beating myself up because I may have given them a reason to hire one of their interns instead of me.
I asked about PTO for doctors' appointments during the 90-day probation period and basically dwell too much time on it with HR.
The conversation with HR happened a few days after the on-site interview.

Although I got an impression that there was something going on behind the scenes with this position.
The job was withdrawn then reposted a second time. I applied twice.
The first time I received a generic rejection.
The second time I got a phone interview then the on-site interview then the generic rejection.

What do you use to job hunt? From time to time I monitor search filters I set up with Indeed.com. That keeps me aware of local demand for my skills.

Yes, I check Indeed and Careerbuilder once a day.
The demand is not good.




.

 

[Amethyst]

Well, you have your own reasons, but I would not have brought this up at all, other than to inquire (in a neutral tone) "What is your sick leave policy?" To ask pointed questions is to give the impression that you are an absenteeism risk. Not true, and not fair, but there you go.

Even if there was something fishy about this job anyway, something to keep in mind for future.

I asked about PTO for doctors' appointments during the 90-day probation period and basically dwell too much time on it with HR.



.

 

[broadway]

Well, you have your own reasons, but I would not have brought this up at all, other than to inquire (in a neutral tone) "What is your sick leave policy?" To ask pointed questions is to give the impression that you are an absenteeism risk. Not true, and not fair, but there you go.

Like I said, I have been beating myself up about it.

And a friend told me the same thing.

I was stupid giving them yet another reason to reject me besides age.

 

[l8_apex]

Like I said, I have been beating myself up about it.

And a friend told me the same thing.

I was stupid giving them yet another reason to reject me besides age.

Just learn from that and don't do something like it again. With most open positions, there are multiple applicants. HR then gets put in a position to find reasons to eliminate applicants. Never give them one. When talking to HR, just simply don't show too much focus on pretty much any topic, as it leaves the interviewer with questions about why the person had such a pointed interest.

Something else will come along, just keep actively searching. And also do what you can to expand your talents (and thus value) to the future employer.

 

[broadway]

Just learn from that and don't do something like it again. With most open positions, there are multiple applicants. HR then gets put in a position to find reasons to eliminate applicants. Never give them one. When talking to HR, just simply don't show too much focus on pretty much any topic, as it leaves the interviewer with questions about why the person had such a pointed interest.

I should know better! ARGH!
I have read posts by people on other forums.

And also do what you can to expand your talents (and thus value) to the future employer.

The "in" language seems to be Python though it really isn't a programming language but is scripting language like Perl.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

Python demand seems to be pretty high.

There also seems to be places looking for Nodejs talent. I went to a google developers meeting a year ago and the companies HR director of the place that was sponsoring the meeting asked me for leads on where they could find Nodejs programmers (I teach comp sci so she was looking to see if some of my students wanted a job).

 

[broadway]

I have a Python in easy steps book which I will start reading tomorrow.