Published: Tuesday, 12th January, 2010 3:03pm

Career Workshop: Too experienced?

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How often have you been told you have too much experience for the job? Middle manager J. Phillips has been coming up against closed doors like this since he was made redundant from his publishing company in June. He now asks; what options are left for him? Life and Career coach Michelle Bayley makes some suggestions.

Question:

This is my take on the current nightmare I am facing in looking for work.

I have eleven years' experience in the media as an account manager and then as a production manager in magazine and book publishing. I lost my job in June of this year due to redundancy, but have had only one interview for a junior position (which I did not get as apparently 'I had too much experience!'). Working all my career in conventional printed media, I have found myself overtaken by the digital revolution in the media industry, and find that all my experience is now useless when applying for jobs, jobs which I know I could do, or learn how to do given the chance, but I am flatly refused even a meeting with the majority of job agencies. To go from a successful middle management position working in London to this, is frankly devastating.

My point is this: there seems to be a black hole for people like me, people with years of experience, young and ambitious, who find themselves suddenly out of work, and completely unemployable.

Yours faithfully, J. Phillips.

 

Life and Career Coach Michelle Bayley replies...

As horribly frustrating as this 'black hole' feels for you at the moment, it is possible to get out of it. From your letter, it sounds as though you've been focused on getting a specific type of role via a specific agency route, so it feels like it's time to broaden out - both in how you're carrying out your job search and in the type of role you're going for.

Although from your point of view agencies are there to get you a job, most agency staff are on commission, so will focus more on candidates whose CVs are the closest match to what an employer wants. And while I'm not suggesting you abandon the agency route altogether, if you want to stay focused on media production roles, it's definitely time to use other channels like job websites or contacting employers direct and doing whatever it takes to get a foot in the door.

I'm sure you know that you'll need a very well argued case which makes the most of all of your strengths and transferable skills. But given that you have a skills gap I think you'll only really win over an employer if you tackle it by signing up for the training you need asap. You might be eligible for a loan that's interest free while you're training. Take a look at the directgov site to find out more.

I'm not sure if you've also been applying for account management roles, but given your past experience it would seem to make sense if you did, possibly even in a different field. Even if this isn't what you want long-term, it would mean money's coming in again and you could study part-time to get the digital skills you need to return to production.

And it might be that you would ideally like to take your career in a completely different direction. To help you get clear, you'll need to step back and ask yourself questions like:

What motivates me about work?

Which skills do I most enjoy using?

What kind of organisation is the right match for me?

It's a thorough process but there are books out there that could help you - try the career changer's bible, What Colour is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles for starters.

Finally, although it's totally understandable that you're feeling 'completely unemployable' with 'no hope', think about the impact it has on you when you tell yourself those things. I suspect it won't be helping, so try to notice when it happens and stay focused on the fact that you have plenty of skills and experience that do make you employable. You may not have got in front of the right employer yet, but I'm sure that if you broaden out, you will. Good luck!

Michelle is a certified professional life and career coach. Find out more about coaching at www.findyourwaycoaching.co.uk

For more career-related advice, visit www.jobsite.co.uk/insider