“It was a calculated (risk),” Cropper said. “I thought I had a good chance. The athletic director, the department heads were recommending me. But they’re not the ones who make the decisions.”
Cropper, 48, didn’t get the job, because, she says, her 15 years of experience required her to receive more money than the school was willing to pay.
“Teaching seems to be the only profession where if you move, you’re screwed,” she said. “I thought all this experience would help me, but it hasn’t.”
Actually it is more this age group of workers, 40-60, that have the issue across all professions. How do I know? I spent the better part of two years looking for work after being let go from Fidelity Investments in 2008.
Some can call it a 'union' problem but it is bigger than that. The financial sector was largely devoid of unions and yet significant cuts were made across the board to reduce costs. Entire levels of management were let go, coincidentally in the 40-60 age category, and in a way to avoid age discrimination law suits.
Everybody loves a bargain so the low cost sellers of goods are driving down prices. Low price competition is making it tough to compete on delivering 'value'. This is one of the major reason why this recession has lasted so long. Prior ones could make a quick upturn when one of the Fortune 500 expanded a product line or opened a new plant. That is not going to happen within the Fortune 500 nor the Fortune 1000! Growth when it comes will be driven by the small and medium businesses, and entrepreneurs who are looking to serve gaps in the market. It will be a slow up turn.
As a result of the slow up turn and continued price pressures, the salaries that were available before should be considered gone. The odds are we won't see those again.
So what do we do in the face of all this?
Those looking for work need to network, expanding their connections, building relationships, practicing their elevator pitch and being ready to identify an opportunity where they can add value for the right position.
There are likely networking groups in the area that can help. The Hopkinton Networking group meets on the first and third Fridays of the month and they have a good program. If there is interest to get something like that for Franklin, let me know and we can collaborate to get one started here.
You can find more information about the job search at
http://jobsearchjamsessions.blogspot.com/
Read more about Lisa Cropper:
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x2062851256/High-School-Notebook-Cropped-out-of-a-job#ixzz1jWuVsLgA
