I worked in data entry and basic admin stuff for about 6 years. Nothing fancy but it paid okay and I was good at it. Then my company restructured last year and I got let go along with a bunch of others in similar roles.
I thought finding something new would be straightforward since I had solid experience, but now every listing wants you to know advanced Excel, SQL, or some automation tool I never touched. Even entry level positions list requirements that didnt exist when I started my last job.
Ive been applying for three months and either get rejected immediately or hear nothing. I tried taking a free online course but its hard to stay motivated when you dont know if employers will even care about a certificate from some random site.
The worst part is I cant tell if Im not adapting fast enough or if the market just moved on from people like me. I see younger applicants who already know this stuff from school and I feel like Im competing with a completely different generation.
Anyone else go through something like this? Did you end up retraining or just pivot to a totally different field? Im trying to figure out if I should double down on learning new software or if I should just accept that my old role doesnt really exist anymore and look for something else entirely.