Professional Purse

Posted by Cynical Sarah on March 6, 2010

After spending a large chunk of Thursday working on job applications, I couldn’t help but wonder what else I could be doing to improve my chances of eventually finding a job.

Or you could say I was wondering what I’m doing wrong that I haven’t been offered a job yet.

I’ve continued to update and polish my resume. Plus I actually do take the time to tailor it and my cover letters to each specific job. On top of that, I also whittle my application list down to the jobs I’m truly interested in. I might get more overall responses if I flooded the market with applications, but I’m interested in quality of leads over quantity.

Plus it takes a lot of time and effort to put together a good application, and I don’t want to spend that time on a job I’m not all that interested in.

And it seems to be working, somewhat. I’ve had a few calls and interview, but the closest I’ve come to landing a job offer is being told that I’d made the top three candidates list for a position.

But me telling you all this is really just my way of waving my hands in the air and saying, “See, I’m doing my best!” in a great effort to conceal the fact that it must be something in the interview/call process that is breaking down in the job hunt. So while I know I look good on paper, there is something about me or what I’m saying or how I look that isn’t working in person.

On Friday I stopped in at a thrift store on my walk home from the post office. I was about to walk away emty-handed when I spotted a nice leather purse hanging on the back wall.

“Aha!” my brain said. “Perhaps the problem is that you don’t look professional enough.”

I’m not generally a purse person. I have a small wallet with a strap that I sling across my body. It has just enough room for my cellphone, a little cash, credit cards and ID. When I need a bigger back, I have a cool looking satchel that I love but isn’t any more professional looking. Neither look good with a suit, and both are about as casual as you can get with a bag aside from just using a duffel or backpack.

Hanging by itself on the wall of this little hole-in-the-wall thrift store, however, is a true, grown-up girl purse. It’s brown leather is still in pristine condition, and it has pockets and openings to actually organize and store what you’re putting into it. Most importantly, it actually looks like it belongs slung on the shoulder of a business suit.

“$3 for a grown-up, professional purse certainly can’t hurt my job efforts when I do get another interview,” my brain rationalizes.

My brain wins out, but it doesn’t know that the bigger trick will be using the professional purse without feeling like a kid playing dress-up. (And yes, I’m well aware that is probably the bigger problem – not the lack of a good purse.) I’ve managed to master wearing nicer clothes and even girly clothes without feeling unnatural about it, but I still have problems with that powerful, professional look.

It’s not that I don’t have the education or the experience to back it up. Once I’m in a job, I have the goods and the work ethic and adaptability to do well. I just haven’t quite mastered the kid in me that wonders how in the world I’ve managed to make it this far without the grownups finding out.

But like the girly clothes and dressing in things other than baggy t-shirts and blue jeans, it just takes one step at a time to find the comfort. A professional purse might be my first step.

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Tags: job hunting, purses, shopping, unemployement

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