Employer wanted

It sure is nice to sit at home and look outside to an empty parking lot, only to realise you are the only one sitting at home, searching once again for a well-deserved job. It’s not so nice after all.

Being a dedicated worker and enjoying new challenges have always been my best descriptions; however, last week, February 19^th to be exact, I was confronted with a letter by the new accountant at a small privately owned transport company where I had been employed for over a year, and had accomplished many things that would have cost the owner much more money than my salary actually was to do these out of office.

Having been a member of the workforce for many years now, I always pride myself on my accomplishments and what I can offer the new employer.

I’ve had some rough times lately with employers as they have been in financial binds or decided to restructure in order to save a couple salaries along the way.

In my most recent stint in the transport business I worked on obtaining the ACE accreditation for crossing the border (electronic manifests); C-TPAT approval and its Canadian counterpart PIP. I also had the owner of the company contact a transportation lawyer (whom I knew from other transport jobs I had in the past), this in order to fight traffic fines and save our valuable transport points – this in maintaining a satisfactory listing from the Quebec government.

I also worked more than 40 hrs per week – eating lunch at my desk while answering the phones, all to make sure that the drivers were well attended to, and if a problem happened, I was there to handle it and find a quick solution - I also worked from home during snowstorms – and during holidays in order to make sure everything was running smoothly.

I also helped design and write the content of a website that this last employer did not have. In working with the website aspect, I would send out massive personalized emails to potential customers, and draw them to the website. If we only received one prospect from a massive email campaign, it was one potential customer that we did not have prior to my email, and this tactic generated traffic to the website for future potential customers. People got to know who we were and the services we offered. I would call our customers to let them know where their shipment was each day, and would also give them a call once we were delivered. I strongly believe that customer service needs to be this way. The customer is the one paying the bills.

Business development takes time – and it does not always see a quick turnaround, but one prospect’s interest is one more than what we had before the email campaign.

Job restructuring sucks – as it presently means that I must find a better job, or one that will see my talents and offer me a decent wage for services rendered, and in today’s market with a strong Canadian dollar, trade with the US is happening at a much slower pace.

Some job restructurings are acceptable in the eyes of an employee – but for one to ask that a talented employee, who takes their job at heart, is asked to take a considerable pay cut for at least a year, and continue to work as hard as before, it hurts… it almost seems as the employer was not appreciative of everything that I obtained for him; nor was he fully understanding of the impact that he was asking me to take.

My rent does not go down in price, and the cost of living does not go down either, I still have a car payment, and I still have food to purchase and put on the table each day. So how can one accept such an undertaking? I’m asking myself that each and every day. Did I make a wrong move, should I have stayed and got behind on my bills for this employer? Then I always come back to the same answer in my mind, I don’t think so, I truly believe that things happen for a reason, and something better will come along. I will be faced with a new bunch of challenges, and maybe be respected for my knowledge and my work ethics.

The internet job searches have not produced anything concrete yet, a few leads, but no firm job offers. I’m still sending out my resume on a daily basis, even to companies in my area that are not posting job openings; and even to companies who do have job openings, that I’m not totally qualified for, all this in hopes that maybe someone out there will be interested in the person that I am, and the talent and knowledge that I have to offer, and give me a chance.

I enjoy scrapbooking and greeting card design in my spare time, cooking, writing, business development, etc… and would love a good paying opportunity; even a legitimate work from home offer would be great right now. Anything would be great – the bills are not taking a detour from my mailbox just because I’m not presently employed. They don’t know that – but I sure do, and the stress level of not knowing when the bills will be paid is high.

Here’s to a better day, a better economy, a better job market, and a potential employer with a heart who’s not shy about paying a decent salary for work rendered.

Karen Eryou