Unable To Find A Job After 3 Year Hiatus

Respected Members,

I am a sales & BD professional with over 15 years of experience. I started my career from the very basic field level (medical representative) 15 years back& worked my way up to the top management (Zonal Manager).I had worked with top MNC's & Indian houses in various capacities across various industries like pharma,finance & fmcg..In my last assignment I worked as Zonal Manager(East) with a decent CTC(11 lacs p.a.).I was associated with that company till Jan' 2010.But then I decided to start up a business of my own & so left the job. But unfortunately ,that step wasn't of much help, as my business failed miserably due to a variety of reasons.In the meantime I also came to know that the company I was last working with had been dissolved. Now,at 2013, I am desperately looking for a job ,as I am 40 already & have a family to feed. But wherever I apply ,I am getting rejected for this 3 year gap in employment or due to the fact that my last CTC was quite high & no half-decent company is willing to pay me that much for a person who is unemployed for 3 years. I have repeatedly pleaded with the interviewers that ,I am not expecting my past salary, as I also do understand, that competition is tough and highly qualified people nowadays are not getting that much. But ,that somehow is not making my case easier. Salary compromise is often looked with suspicion in HR parameters. And I can't possibly plead with HR's to give me the job because I have a family to feed &my backs are to the wall. Also ,my failed business venture is drawing more attention than my meteoric rise from a field executive to a top management rank 7 all my achievements. At this point, I should add, I am a plain honor's graduate in Science with no technical or professional degree like B.E. or M.B.A.I rose the ladder by sheer hard work. Now, some of my ex-colleagues & industry friends are advising me to fabricate(basically falsify) my resume to make the gap of employment disappear & also make all sorts of adjustments so that I can get a suitable profiling, which I am dead-against. I would rather die a beggar's death but won't compromise with facts and won't falsify my cv.Lies ultimately catch up & I may well land up in a far worse situation, professionally & legally than which I am currently now. Yet, there are friends of mine, who have falsified cv's,salary slips,appt. letters & are quite comfortably placed .I simply don't have the guts to commit such a felony & more importantly my conscience won't allow that.is there no place for persons telling the truth?..But from a technical point of view, what would be my stance with prospective employers, if &when, I get to appear for an interview. From a personal point of view, I am going through tremendous personal & financial turmoil which is but obvious for a 40 year old unemployed man. My situation has reached such a nadir, which is not worth mentioning in this forum & I am literally counting my days. Any advise will be like gold dust for me.How do I get a job to get my family, my self-respect & more importantly my life back.I will be obliged ,if the esteemed member of this forum can address my queries & provide me with a technical answer as to how to catch a recruiter's view & come out of the interview successfully? If needed, I can attach my resume .

Dear Friend,

Why loose heart and get desperate? Your past record as a marketing person appears to be wonderful. You have excellent achievements when you were not even reached to your Forty. Some decisions do go wrong, some do not yield to expectations. But that's the life. How there can always be lush and green. There are days of summer as well as days of rain also. What I wanted to tell you that do not loose your confidence and patience. Because these are the 2 things due to which you overcome all your trouble.

Since you have decided to go for a job, go there as a job interested person and not as small businessman. This attitude certainly pays you back. You have been out of the stream for a while, and now your first task will be to some how enter in the stream. I think you are wise enough to understand these points.

I am sure, you will certainly find a good job in the very near future and in the end not only yourself but we all will be happy to congratulate you. So keep hopes and good luck.

Dear Lost1973,
Sorry to note your predicament. How long did you work for the now defunct company? Before that where did you work? Have you kept in touch with any of your ex-companies' people? If so, have you approached them.
The worst thing that one can do is lose hope and go into depression. You are dead right that falsifying records does not help in the long run and also will give sleepless nights, especially as you seem to have a conscience that does not approve of such acts.
Kishore Kulkarni has given you sound advice and kindly follow that.

Be positive in your approach as suggested in earlier post go as a job seeker and not as a failed entrepreneur.

A good potential employer will Infact see your entrepreneurship experience as a plus and not a minus.Its a manner of presentation.As you might be aware that 9 out of 10 new ventures end in failure that doesnot mean the person has failed...as there are multitude of factors that can cause a busines to fail.So here is what i prapose,

you make summary of 1)lessons you learned in last 3 yrs

2) new skills you acquired

3) do a analysis of what factors caused the failure?

what you could have done or managed better.

and so on

and talk about this when asked about in interview....

Experiences of life should make a person better and not bitter.

So try to present your profile with a positive approach.You are courageous man to have tried a new venture,many companies would be highly appreciative of that quality as they can put you in leadership roles for new ventures as you are not afraid to take new responsibilities.

So good luck to you pal.Be strong and keep trying,also make profile on linkedin.com to get noticed.

and last point you are not old,40 is the new 20...:)

You’re Positive Points

1. Having 15+Years of experience with Sales BD with different Industry, and

2. You are Honest and Sincere, (where and you do not want to fabricate resume)

You were attempted to do business is not any big mistake. Everyone wants to grow and you tried your best, may be due to some reason you are not successful. So look for next step.

What I understand from your text is that you are losing hope on yourself; I will tell you should never lose hope. At this point of time you don’t need to add any qualification unless your job needs.

You may try following;

1. Look at resume from the prospective of Business ( as Business manager looks at anybody’s resume)

2. Highlight your achievements and capabilities,

3. Try with different job portals and consultants

4. Apply mid and senior level (from 8 Years onwards) Positions

5. Never try to convince about your failure or gap give the valid reason (if they do not believe forget it)

6. Be assertive and never plead for job, you will lose the opportunity, no business man gives job because you want, he will take only people to whom skill set and attitude matches irrespective, whether you employed or not or having rich experience or not.

7. May be you can remove your data of birth and irrelevant data from resume; try to tailor your resume for each opportunity you face.

Success there with you 

Wish you all the best

Regards

Harish

Dear lost 1973
You just need two things
1. Try to strengthen your hopes and
2. Reshape your CV. Yes, not falsify but reshape it! Falsifying means you add or subtract wrong information while reshaping means disguise all of your weaknesses in strengths. Reshaping is not illegal. It is rather adjusting your strengths and weaknesses at right place and in right words. I'd like to see your CV so that I will able to advice more meanwhile following article will tell you more about CV reshaping
Your Career Lion: Create Your Resume With Pride

Dear Lost 1973,
My sincere advice is to be positive in the approach & change your ID to a pleasant one[
Now there are plenty of outsourcing agencies for recruitment, you may get a few, if you try in the net as well as our repsected members shall also guide you.
Once again I am re-iterating you to be positive & you should be proud that you are an Honours science Graduate with multi level rich experience.
As our respected member pointed out that you re-shape your CV and even if you are getting 70% to 80% of your previous remuneration, its OK means Something is better than nothing. Hope you will take it in the right spirit.
Wishing you all the best.
Regards.
Ravi

Place where you are stationed?
Would you be interested in giving soft skill training/teach anatomy and physiology/Pharmacokinetics and dynamics to prospective MR\'s etc.
Pl Mail yr resume and answer my queries, what is yr expectation?

Thanks Mr.Ravi,
.I am also praying for that. I am happy to join at even less than 50% of my last salary despite inflation. The idea is to get back in mainstream and get some income f lowing into the family, so that I can feed them at least with an honest man's income.

Hi,
I am a certified coach and specialized in career coaching. I am willing to help.
I can conduct a few coaching sessions with you if you are based in Delhi, otherwise on skype if you are based outside Delhi. You are free to make a choice as lot of self disclosure is required during coaching sessions.
Since you are in a difficult situation at the moment, I offer you my coaching services free of charge.
All the best.
Indu Wadhwa