Oh Zen, I so relate. That is totally what I am scared of. All I can say is the Buffistas helped me see my value and also that I value you

Also, thanks others. I think I am ready to set a lunch date with my sister. She seems so eager. I cannot talk to my mom about this right now. I will never be ready to talk to my mom until it is a done deal, because she catastrophes upon me already catastrophising.

I'm sorry, Zen. It really is a lot from multiple directions. You really do have valuable skills and I hope you find a good option soon.

Thanks, guys. I only just now connected what I'm feeling now with what I went through back then.

I'm sorry Zen. Your brain is wrong. I'm confident that a great position is just around the corner.

It's a relief to hear my brain is wrong!

Maybe I need to tweak my resume to place less emphasis on the copywriting/proofreading and more on the process/project management. I'm a little concerned because directly managing people was never part of my job description, but I did it on several projects that my boss handed to me (because she didn't want to do them), and I'm not sure how to represent that on my resume without implying something that isn't true. Like, I never made hiring/firing decisions, I just... told people what to do? And made sure they had what they needed to do it. And sometimes loomed over their desks until they gave me what I needed. What, I'm tall.

I went back, and that is totally the script I went to. I was preparing to give up my cat and move in with my mom. Which was terrible, but what happened when I lost my job at 24. I am so grateful to Buffistas for snapping me out of it, but I don't know what I would do if I lost my job, so I feel for you.

Yeah, I'm trying not to go straight to the worst-case scenario. It's especially bad because there are a lot of jobs I can't do anymore because I can't stand or walk for long. I have to have a desk job.

Hm. My company calls stuff like that "leadership" and I should probably add it to my resume, too.Maybe. a "functional resume" would be helpful? Organized by types of stuff you actually did rather than chronologically by job title.

Zen I'm glad we are here to help. what you are describing -managing people without making hiring/firing decisions- makes me think about a recent Ask a Manager post. I think it was about resume writing and how to phrase that kind of position but I'm not sure. Ask a Manager is a really good resource for resume writing info and interview tips and how to transition to new jobs, etc.

Ask a Manager is pretty anti-functional resume, IIRC. It's normally used when there's a big gap in employment. But it's definitely a great place to check for resources.