Marybeth

First in the "Career Girls" monologues

They’ve got a name for that period now: The Great Recession. Makes it sound grandiose, doesn’t it?

At the time, though, it was just life. Maybe you realized people you knew were struggling. Or they were anxious. Or maybe it was you, or your spouse, looking for a new job and getting nothing. It wasn’t until years later you read some of the statistics: 8.7 million jobs were lost between December of 2007 and early 2010.

These weren’t just statistics to me. Oh, I had a job that wasn’t going away: working at an outplacement firm, helping people prepare for live interviews by recording them. And we sure had an uptick in our business.

Here’s what I did: I’d position these people in front of a computer with a camera. They’d respond to a set of questions based on their field or desired position, and then we’d play it back and discuss what they did well and ways they should prepare better answers or change how they talked, or looked, or used their hands. Some people didn’t need a lot of coaching. And others were just a mess.

Now you might be thinking, “who needs to be taught how to act in an interview?” But most of my clients did. You have to understand: many had worked for the same place for 20 or 30 years. Many had never thought of developing a “personal brand” or how they looked to a hiring manager. And if you lost your job in, say January of 2009, it didn’t matter how well educated you were, or what skills you had, or what seniority level you’d attained in a big-name company — there just weren’t enough jobs. If you wanted to fill one of those few openings, you took any informed advice you could get.

Meanwhile, I had started a little vlog to share my days with friends who’d moved out of town. Mostly I posted videos that described what I’d seen on my latest walk or something equally mundane. But then I got the idea to ask a few of my clients, the more articulate ones with whom I felt some connection, if they’d tell their stories online, on my vlog. And some said yes.

Originally, the posts all featured women I knew. Then I started hearing from other people who’d stumbled upon my site, asking if they could submit their stories. After a little hesitation, I decided sure, let’s open this up. This situation is bigger than me and my clients. I understand men were disproportionately affected by the recession, but I decided to focus on women, who were more willing to share … and eager to be seen and heard.

By providing a space to express themselves, I also got submissions from women who felt secure and perfectly happy with their choices. Soon it wasn’t all an exercise in despair. In fact, the site morphed over the years into something that celebrates all the different ways we work. And that makes me really happy, having built a community of women who support you when you’re down … and applaud you as you rise.

That’s how my site “Career Girls” was born. Now that you’ve heard my story, let me share some of my favorites. I’ll start by introducing you … to Mary.

Subscribe to read “Mary” next week!