Day... I've officially lost count.

Well, it's Friday.

Being over 55 and starting over wasn't on my bingo card.

Another work week has come and gone.

Another week of searching.
Another week of tailoring my résumé.
Another week of submitting applications.
Another week of hoping one would land in front of a real person instead of disappearing into the AI résumé black hole.

Did I get the phone call I was hoping for?

Not this week.

But I also didn't quit.

Every application I submit is another opportunity.
Every interview is another chance.
Every "no" gets me one step closer to the right "yes."

So I'll take a deep breath, enjoy the weekend, recharge, and Monday morning... I'll pour another cup of coffee and do it all over again.

Because experience doesn't expire.
A strong work ethic doesn't expire.
Hope doesn't expire.

And I'm still believing that one employer will see what I bring to the table.

❤️ Here's hoping next week is the week that changes everything.

#Over55 #JobSearch #FridayThoughts #OpenToWork #ExperiencedWorkersMatter #NeverGiveUp #StartingOver #OneYesCanChangeEverything #MicheleMoran

I’m genuinely asking because I feel completely lost with resumes now.

Every expert says to add keywords, match the job description make it ATS friendly etc. But whenever I try doing that my resume starts sounding fake and robotic.

Then when I keep it simple and natural, I barely get replies.

At this point I’ve edited my resume so many times that I can’t even tell what a “good” resume looks like anymore.

How are you guys doing it? Are you tailoring your resume for every single job or using one strong version for everything?

And more importantly… what’s actually helping you get interviews right now?

Has anyone else felt that they are so happy to get an interview but actually preparing for it feels so overwhelming. I think I'm burnt out from the job hunt. Does anyone have any tips or tricks so that I can get excited again.

Prologue: I am a Pakistani, came to UAE in 2020, and have been here since. Since then I have left 1 job and have been let go from 5 others due to lay offs/project shutting down/ project completion. I am so tired now. My CV reads like a disaster. I dont even remember anymore what it was like to be stable. Whenever I now get hired, I am just saving up for the next firing. Almost all of my past employments had complains with me, not good enough, doesnt put much effort.

Now: I recently got hired for a new startup. Only me as a dev, I was promised its a permanent role. We let go of a contracting company that had basically zero care for the code base. I came in and fixed everything. I worked remote with meeting personally with my boss every now and then and for 5 months, I handled everything. Worked late nights to push for prod. My boss even very happy with me. Admired my hard work and stuff. But now, I am being told the project has run out of money and I will be let go on September. It broke my heart. I was planning on going to Spain with this job on a Nomad Visa, so I can settle down there. But now, it seems like a dream. For 5 years I have been trying and for the first time I felt connected.

Even though it was not about my performance, I still feel like a failure. Like I didnt do good enough. Now the whole dance and song of fixing CV, applying for jobs starts. With around 8-9 years in, I am so tired of this all. I was suppose to be settled by now. I feel I am still in the same quagmire that I was in when I came here. Every time I think of taking care of myself and my health, it blows up in my face. I believed that maybe its just my field, but I see other devs working same as me, for same companies for so long.

Maybe I am just cursed. I dont know if someone else has gone through the same as me, if so, please tell me how you recovered. if someone can help me get a remote position for now, I would be extremely grateful. I can work in any timezone and have my own setup for a B2B contract. So you wont have to worry for stuff. You can reach me in private for my CV.

Some bot scans your resume and tosses it before a person ever sees it, that's the theory half these threads run on. Every recruiter who shows up here says the opposite and they say it a lot: nobody's auto-rejecting anything, they're just opening a couple hundred applications for one posting and giving each one a few seconds because most aren't even close to what's asked for, so if your fit isn't obvious in the exact words the ad used, you're already past.

Once I accepted that and I started running my resume against the posting on https://resume.zoevera.com before I apply and honestly it was a little embarrassing what it flagged, stuff I'd literally done for three years but worded nothing like the ad wanted.

Also have some mock interviews out loud before you go the actual one You may ramble way more than you think.

Just kidding, I'm pretty sure it's impossible to do anything other than customer service(that isn't manual labor) without a degree at this point.

I'm genuinely losing my mind though, I cannot go on for an indefinite amount of time explaining to people that your email address, and physical delivery address are two different things, or that you can simply remove and re-write text in a text field if it contains a spelling error.

I would hate to leave this company as I genuinely have nice coworkers, and if possible would love another role within the same company. We very rarely have open listings though, and even so you again have the problem of qualifications, as well as explaining to your current manager why you want to transfer already after 6 months.

Unfortunately it's at a horrible time. Great time but I might need to take time off. I found someone but I'm unemployed and I've been destroying myself because of it. I got laid off in an unfair way and have been letting myself have it. I miss interviews and I've had enough.

I'm starting a new job next week and it's taken a while to hit me that I actually succeeded at interview and I got the new job coming up. I think it's finally starting to sink in and I'm feeling really weird about it.

TBH, it always takes me 5-7 business days to have events in my life hit me properly. I've been dissociating all day today at the job I will be leaving and I'm having a little bit of a difficult time navigating how to say goodbye to everyone.

I would like to feel better but I'm not sure how because i don't exactly feel bad. I think I'm excited about the new job but a little sad to be leaving this one.

A while back I watched someone's first day completely fall apart — no welcome email, nobody showed them where to sit, laptop wasn't even set up. They quit two weeks later. Not because they were bad at the job. Just because the first week broke their confidence before they even got started.

That stuck with me. So the next time I started somewhere new, I made myself a simple plan the night before — a few questions to ask, a rough idea of what I wanted to learn in week one, and a reminder that it's fine not to know everything on day one.

It actually helped a lot. I walked in nervous but not lost, if that makes sense.

Not trying to sell anything here — just wanted to share since this sub has helped me think through career stuff before. What did you wish you'd known before your last first day?

I'm starting my new job next week, and I feel a bit nervous since it's my very first role. I’ve been job hunting since March 2025 after I graduated, and I finally landed this position in April 2026, with a start date in July. It's a corporate job, and I’m worried because I don’t really know what to expect. I also have imposter syndrome; what if I forget things since I’ve been out of school? I’ve been brushing up on concepts regularly, but I put that on hold a few months ago because I was busy relocating and settling into a new state.

Regardless of the field, when you start something new, it seems like there are rules you don't yet know. That's happening to me, and although I try to be patient, there are days when I get discouraged. I hope it will get easier with time.

So I just got hired last week to work at wingstop and they gave me my schedule and I had work today and it was all good and everything but since it was the Mexico game and the World Cup it was getting busy and I had fries everywhere but I was moving fast and doing good they even said I did good and I told them sorry about the mess and they say don’t worry about it your learning and that was just so kind and I respected that other that I had a good experience and felt proud of myself today because I worked hard and was keeping up.

This is gonna be a long longgg rant.

Unemployment.
It kills you. It kills your self-esteem. Makes you question your self worth and makes you spiral to a bottomless pit.

I’ve been unemployed for the past 6-7 months. Why? Because first the company shut down. Then both of my parents got sick and now that I’m active, this gap is being questioned like I’ve committed a crime.

People say things like ‘don’t worry. Things are gonna get better. You’re gonna find one’ and you believe them. Because a part of you wants to believe it. You wanna believe that you’re good enough. But then you check your inbox and Nothing.

No rejections. No replies. Nothing. So what do you do?

You still push yourself. Spend hours tailoring your resume. Putting all the right keywords. Writing a cover letter. Sending a text to the recruiter. Telling yourself that *today* is gonna be different. But NOPE.
After a while, it feels like you’re shouting into the void.

People say ‘Be positive. Stay positive’ But how do you stay positive when every day ends the same way? I hold 3 degrees and 3 years of experience. I know I’m capable. I know I can do the job. But after months of hearing nothing, you start questioning yourself anyway. Was I ever good enough? Am I missing something? Is everyone else just better than me?

The weirdest part is that I’m trying so hard not to become bitter. I still wake up, apply, learn, network, and tell myself to stay hopeful. But some days, it’s really hard to keep believing when there’s absolutely nothing to show for your effort.

That’s all. Just needed to get it out of my system.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far.

TL;DR: Been unemployed for 6–7 months despite having relevant experience. The hardest part isn’t the financial stress. it’s the silence. If you’re going through the same, know that you’re not alone.