Rebuilding

This week I spent some time working on my resume. I have been out of the professional workforce for almost 15 years! Who the heck is going to hire me? Fortunately, I found a copy of an old resume I had started to work on a few years back. Being a stay-at-home mom for the last 15 years has been a wonderful opportunity for me. But as the boys grew older, I found myself in the last few years saying, maybe it's time for me to go back to work. Now that Ed has suddenly found himself unemployed, I find myself saying "it's time for me to go back to work!"

I know it won't be easy. The unemployment rate in Michigan is expected to rise to 11.3% this year and peak at 11.7% in early 2010 before we even begin to see any declines. I will be competing against people who have already been in the workforce and have current experience and skills. However, I started thinking about all the qualifications I have amassed as a mother of two boys and the sometimes single parent of a traveling salesman. If I could submit my resume based on those job experiences, it would read something like like this:

President and CEO (sorry honey, you get to be CFO) of small Fortunate 4 company seeks position where she can utilize her wicked organizational and communication skills to help build a successful future. Excellent at multi-tasking, project management, following through on details, budget management, and purchasing. Experienced with meeting tight deadlines, coordinating multiple schedules, and able to work long hours and weekends. Past responsibilities include the training of all personnel in multiple phases of life, managing expectations, smoothing over egos, and communicating massive amounts of information in easy-to-understand mediums. Excellent phone, computer, and embarrassment skills.

As I started working on my real resume, I realized that I actually used to be a valuable member of the professional workforce and have real skills and talents. For me, being able to stay home and raise my kids has been awesome. But, with one about to head off for college in the fall, and another in high school, I've known for a while that it's time for a change. The events of this week have only expedited the process.

After many years of not being a "professional" you start to forget what your true value is. You find yourself reminding your kids that at one time you were a real person with different goals and dreams and other responsibilities before you became "mom" and you did get paid for doing those things. You remind your kids, that contrary to their popular belief, you aren't really the out-of-touch, overbearing, nagging, social embarrassment parent they perceive you to be. I will say, however, I think they're starting to get the message. Last night, Cameron was reading my resume. He said "I had no idea you knew how to do so much stuff!"

This morning I read the paper and saw a headline that said Rod Marinelli had gotten a job with another football team. I thought "holy crap!" If he can get another job after the season he's had, Ed should definitely be able to get another job (as well as myself). If not, then we're in the wrong industry. Hmmm...perhaps I should send my resume to the NFL.