Having decided to settle back in Toronto for family the priorities were to find a job back in the insurance industry and a condo in Toronto as commuting from my families suburban home would be a nightmare.

Late October I called my old head hunter since 2002 just to touch base to see how the industry was as I was still applying to overseas teaching jobs and debating both scenarios depending on what turned up.

At first she said I need to decide if I was staying or not but that there were more openings in the industry now. After thinking about it I called back the next day. Her reaction was sort of 'why are you calling me' and she stated that 'nobody would interview me now' because I had been out of the industry for three years.

So she wasn't willing to put in any work as I wasn't an easy sell but I was bothered by her comment. Why wont anyone interview me now? People go on mat leave and stay home with their kids for a few years and come back. I'm not tied to the industry and allowed to do other things with my life. I was gaining relatable work experience not sitting at home like someone on mat leave or who had been laid off.

She also claimed the industry had 'changed so much'. I thought about that too. Don't they insure buildings anymore? Don't they have fires, don't they have snow and ice storms, slip and fall claims, floods and sewer backups, car accidents? Has it all changed so much that it was ecommerce and Data Insurance as she was trying to claim?

Basically it was ******** as she didn't want to do the work explaining me and selling me to a client and was just looking for easy commission by stealing people from other companies.

So I started applying everywhere seeing what response I would get but it was running into December and Christmas shut down. I messaged a friend at my old company who was now a unit manager. She said there was an opening in their unit which hadn't been posted yet so I could apply for that.

The timing was great as it hadn't been posted yet and my friend was the hiring manager. I didn't actually want to go back to my old company from 2002-2010 but just to get a foot in and some fresh experience on my resume I'd do it for a year and quit.

Another head hunter had called me for an interview so I scheduled both interviews on the same day. The morning interview with the head hunter went well. They agreed my three year stint overseas was unusual but not a problem if presented properly as I have a good background and interview well.

They pressed me to tell them who had said 'nobody would interview me now' when I had mentioned that. His brother is also teaching in Japan and ended up getting married there so can relate to my experience and didn't see it as that odd.

That afternoon I met with my old company. As the position hadn't yet been posted or approved by HR it was more of an informal chat with my friend and the branch manager. I think it went well but I had to go thru the HR process of posting it internally first. I thought with Christmas it would be quiet and my chances of getting in with nobody applying were good.

In the meantime I needed to look for a Condo in Toronto as commuting from the suburbs would be terrible. I had sold my last condo in 2010, left the money in investments, plus my overseas income. I was hoping to buy something with 60% down and keep a large chunk of my cash with a home equity secured line of credit for the rest based on my large down payment.

Financially I made a very viable case. Even if I didn't get a job I had enough cash to cover all payments and costs for three years. However, the bank guidelines are now so rigid that with no income they refused to loan me anything. Even if I said I would rent out the unit they wanted a tenancy agreement.

The bank staff were sympathetic to me as I was virtually no risk with a huge down payment but they were tied by their guidelines and there was nothing they could do to appeal or make a special case.

I was still waiting to hear back from my old company because if they did make an offer I could go back to the bank and get financing, but they were taking forever making a decision. I didn't want to push as it was my friend and she was doing me a favour.

Eventually just before the Christmas shutdown I heard back. After they posted the position four other people had applied and they offered it to another ex-employee that was currently working in the industry. My friend was disappointed for me and gave a good reference to HR for some of their other positions.

I also heard from my new head hunter. They had presented me to a client and despite their assurances to me that they would be able to market me the client declined to interview me based on my industry absence.

As Christmas came I just felt like I cant get an overseas ESL job, I cant get an insurance job, and a cant buy a condo. I didn't know if this paralysis was going to last forever, it I had made a huge mistake by going overseas, and if the head hunter was right that nobody would interview me now.