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The launch of the AARP "My Dream Job" community site, the "watercooler", March 19, 2008, was a happy occasion for me. It marked the culmination of hours of hard work, writing journals, providing all of the information for the personal profiles, and the most daunting for me, getting a handle on how to navigate the technical aspects of the site. 

Just the thought, that soon, thousands may be viewing my personal site, reading the journals, and evaluating the information was sobering. The responsibility I had, to relate my experiences in a very concise and clear fashion was very apparent to me. I understood how important this information can be ro a prospective job seeker who is "retired and  restless", or who is retired and has to work, for various reasons. 

A few days after the launch of the community site, I received a very valuable lesson. As I indicated in my last journal, March 26, 2008, I had been in touch with Bob, the Chief Career Counselor, of RetirementJobs.com, Bob had developed a media resume for me and suggested that I look into the career opportunities at a major radio corporation, here in Washington,  DC, to assess how my background would relate to the qualifications for a number of jobs posted on the company's website. I went  to the website, and after scrolling through several pages of available jobs, I came to the conclusion that my background was not consistent with the highly technical requirements of every position that was open, including entry level jobs.

It became very apparent that my desire to reenter the media industry was not feasible. Whether in television or radio, the business is deadline-oriented, very fast paced, and technology driven. I told Bob what had happened, and he is in the process of concentrating any new resumes on my stong abilities to write, communicate, edit and do research. We are reassessing our job search strategy.

A very valuable lesson learned: focus on possibilities consistent with your capabilities. The journey continues.