Unemployment Chronicles, Day 40: It's Getting Better

Mostly, people say positive things about my job chances.  "You have very marketable skills."  "Unemployment for accountants is only 3.5%."  "Things are looking better than they had been."  It might be a tough world out there for some people, but you'll be fine.

The thing is though, you almost have to look at the downside of the situation when you are not working.  The worst case scenario is pretty bad, so it's hard not to be cautious about my chances of success.  Despite the upbeat analysis of friends and recruiters, there are a few things going against me:

1. The economy.  It's still lousy.  I think we're currently in a lull in the already-really-slow recovery.
2. I'm expensive.  Yes, I'm worth it, but I would have an easier time if I were hoping to make $70K per year.
3. I'm old.  This worries me.  I can't quantify age discrimination, so it's an unknown.
4. I have done a little bit of everything, but not so much of any one thing.
5. The contractor market is apparently pretty soft right now.

Probably just to depress me, Robert Half gave me an example of a resume arranged in their particular format, so that I could reformat mine.  The guy in their example has done so many things that I told Jackie he should be living on his own private island by now.  We speculated about whether he has a cocaine habit or maybe a gambling problem, and that's why he is still working.  I hope he is not a real person; I would hire him first.

The biggest factor on my side is that I have until October or so before my situation becomes critical.  If I can't find a job by then, the sky really has fallen.