[HarryD]

Keep it up. Lots of good advice above.

You have to get out there and keep making contacts.

I have walked into in your shoes.

When I was laid off (3 times over my career), I had to put my head down and get out there.

What did I learn? (In in no particular order).

You need to contact something like 5-10 new people every week.

You need to follow up with your previous contacts at least once every 2-3 weeks.

Most often you will discuss not being hired by them but what they think you should focus on or how to use you existing skills and abilities. If they have or know of an opening, they will tell you.

Ask each contact who else you might contact.

Every verbal meeting is followed up within 24 hours by an e-mail (I’m old, it used to be a snail mail letter) thanking them for the help offered, summarizing the conversation and your plan forward.

You always establish when you would like to contact them again.

Your resume/cover letters need to be customized to the opening you are applying for. You need to clearly state each of their stated qualifications and how you meet it. I put a table in my cover letter to make it easy to find.

Do not ask or allow others to issue your resume. You want to do it personally. See above for the why.

Do you have a concise 30 second speech about your qualifications and abilities? Practice it so you can rattle it off when they say “tell me about yourself”.

Remember that the folks looking at the responses to a posted opening is looking for a way to remove you from consideration. Make sure you do your best to be sure all their questions are answered.

The hiring manager has a million other things to do and he wants to get someone hired now. He does not want to waste a ton of time interviewing.

Automated systems use keyword searches to screen you out. Read the qualifications carefully and be sure you use their words in your response.

100 new job related contacts=1 interview

5 different company interviews=1 job.

Do not worry what every one says you should make. How much do you need? When I asked myself this question a 20% cut in starting pay was doable and helped me get where I needed to be.

When I was laid off in Houston in 1982, one source of contacts was my alumni office. Ultimately I got my next job via an alumnus who’s department happened to have an opening when I called him.

In 2003, by willing to take a pay cut, I got the job I currently have, was the most satisfying and will be retiring from soon.

BTW. I have a BS ChE and MS in Environmental Management degrees. A significant part of my career was doing things i did not directly learn unless to consider the problem analysis and solving with the tools at hand part of the curriculum (which is not overtly taught).