MY CV. NULL AND VOID

Available for freelance writing commissions on a variety of subjects including family history, nostalgic Belfast and its famous people, shops, shoppers & shopping, the golden age of Hollywood (esp westerns) and humorous pieces on life's weird and wonderful. Op-eds, columns, non-fiction book reviews too. Sometimes, I get mad as hell!

joecushnan@aol.com & @JoeCushnan

As many people have done and are doing, from time to time during my working life, I have updated and rejigged my CV when casually applying for new jobs, or indeed, desperately applying for jobs during a couple of tough unemployment periods. In one such period of desperation, I even paid a hefty sum for an 'expert' to edit my details to make the CV short and to the point. Waste of money, I now reflect.

Now retired from full-time employment and enjoying a decent pension pot, I do not have much inkling to re-involve myself in corporate life. I toyed with the idea of management consultancy and other part-time 'guru' work, but I don't seem to have the appetite to mix with egos, jargon and bullshit.

I looked over my last CV and came to the conclusion that it now has a value of near-zero. Not much of it matters anymore. It serves as a basic chronological history of education and employment. It touches on a few successes and a brief list of skills and experience, but that's it.

If I tell you that during the aforementioned desperation periods, I applied for 3,500 jobs, you wouldn't believe me. But it's the God's honest truth. I kept records. Of the 3,500 jobs, I got replies from about 2%, five actual interview invitations and two second interviews. Finally I got a job.

So, the CV now, at my age, is pretty much null and void.

I think I still have much to offer, but I am fussy where I would want to devote my time and energy. Retailing was good to and for me for the most part, but I recoil at the thought of ever having to work in that industry again.

I like the idea of doing something in the Arts and writing on a more regular basis. Thanks to some encouraging and supportive people, I have a growing portfolio of published writing. I tinker with my blog and have fun with it. But what else could I be doing to make the world a better place with whatever I now have to offer?

I'm thinking aloud. The answers will come.

But, feck all that, I am on the cusp of being a Granda for the first time. Game changer.