I was speaking with my mother today. She’s an energetic 50-ish Southern lady who has found herself, of late, in a constant state of ennui. She wants to start a new career, something that she enjoys, something she has time to learn and excel at, something that doesn’t completely uproot her, something that will make her feel accomplished. At this point in my mother’s life job satisfaction is happiness, that ever-elusive thing she used to equate only to love and family.
My mom feels she is “hopeless” because she can’t put her finger on “what [she's] good at”. Every job she’s considered has been the wrong fit–inflexible scheduling, too little pay, too little brain-power required, a uniform. I pointed out that she has a lot of “wants” or requirements for someone who’s “hopeless”.
I have to give you a bit of background on my mom’s career. She started off working for our state’s attorney general’s office. Then, went on to work for a large oil refinery, big business and coveted work in our state. Later, she started her own cleaning supply company (that she still dabbles at now and then) and a boutique in her hometown. All of this, in addition to actively managing the HR and admin functions of our family business.
Now, she can’t figure out her marketable skills, can’t figure out what she has to offer the working world. She also feels pressed for time (”I’m not as young as I pretend to be”) and, as such, has ruled out plenty of new career options because they require returning to school for four years or require a long certification process.
She’s also ruled out jobs that include any sales responsibilities, jobs that are customer-facing (she’s not ready yet), jobs that don’t pay well (she wants a new house) and jobs that will take away her flexibility (she currently works from home).
So, what’s left?
I wrote my mom this long email filled with the millions of skills she’s got and the ways she could parlay them into cash, with little or no startup investment (education or cash). I won’t bore you with the details. But, the long and short of it is that she has plenty of marketable skills. She should get a job to build back her confidence. And, if she decides to go it alone, as a consultant or freelancer or part-timer, she could at least get the flexibility and the kind of work she wants (if she were able to narrow that down).
So, by now you’re wondering what is the point of this post?
I don’t know really. I guess I’m hoping that my mom’s story of discontent, of her search for worth in the job market (and probably this society), might help someone else.
In the end, I think I left her with a bit of statistics- and business magazine article-laden hope.
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