--A little over two weeks ago I started looking for a job again.I hadn’t planned on it, but I basically took the summer off
from that horribleness.And now
here I am, right back at it.Sigh.
Since Job Search 2.0 was launched, I’ve probably sent out
twenty-five resumes, wasted time with a cigarette and bourbon-voiced
“recruiter,” attended three so-called career fairs, and spoken to
one actual human with hiring power on the telephone.
The human was very friendly and positive, and gave me hope.He called me, which
is a miracle right there, and seemed to have truly spent time with my
resume.He had nothing to offer
at the moment, but said my experience is “very attractive,” etc.
etc.He volunteered his name
and number, and urged me to call him if I notice any pertinent job
openings on their corporate website.And
he seemed to mean it.
When it comes to this kind of thing, I’m not accustomed to friendly
and positive.Therefore, I’m
kinda skeptical.I don’t want
to be, but am.Is that crazy?
The first career fair I attended was a fiasco that ate-up three or
four hours of my life.After
hanging around waiting rooms, and sitting through several
“screenings,” I learned they were offering, for all intents and
purposes, Dairy Queen wages.
The second one has led to an honest-to-goodness interview, scheduled
for next Thursday.So there’s
hope there, as well.It’s a
Large Company We All Know, offering a full smorgasbord of kick-ass
benefits.Including – get
this – the option of working the traditional five eight-hour days
per week, or five nine-hour days, with a half-day on Friday.Or, and this is the one I’d like, four ten-hour days, with a
three-day weekend all the freakin’ time.Oh
yeah.
They didn’t mention the plan my previous employer insisted upon:
five eleven
-hour days if you’re lucky, and if that’s a problem you can go
fuck yourself.
The third “fair” included a full-on job interview.Usually companies use these events to collect resumes and weed
out the shitty.They sit
down with you for a few minutes, and make a decision on whether or not
it’s worth their time to schedule a real interview on some future
date.
This place however, another Large Company We All Know, apparently cuts
out the middle-man.I don’t
know.But I was taken to a
small room, and peppered with a standard interview-grade round of
questions.I wasn’t mentally
prepared for such a thing, but believe I did OK.I guess time will tell?
For the record, I hate all this; it makes my sphincter wink.I’ve still got several months of severance remaining, but the
end is now close enough to cause me the tiniest twinge of stress.I’m
fairly confident everything will work out OK, but not completely
confident.Ya know?
--A couple of related items
I’d like your opinions on…
At the third job fair, the one where they sprang those big ol’
interviews on us, there was a guy who signed in right ahead of me
wearing baggy jeans with underwear jutting out the top, skater shoes,
and a University of Scranton t-shirt.Nobody
seemed to bat an eye at this, but I couldn’t believe it.He was interviewing for a white-collar corporate position, and
dressed like he was at a Nickelback concert.
Do you think this counts against people?I’d have to say yes, but I might be out of touch.As far as I could tell the dude was treated with the same
amount of respect I was, and I’d wedged myself into a pair of fancy-pants.Do clothes make much of a difference, or is it all about the
things you say during the interview?
Also, when I was attending those seminars in Allentown, back when I had my own “career counselor,” they insisted we send
thank-you notes to everyone we interview with.It’s SUPER-important, they repeated, over and over again.
I’ve done this, for the most part, but it makes me a little uneasy.Thank you notes are a tad, you know, poofter.Sure, they’re nice and everything, but I’m not really
comfortable sending oneto
another man.Know what I
mean?
Is this an unfounded hang-up on my part, or do you see my point?
...Hello?
And to close out the category…During
that full-sized job fair interview last week, the guy asked:“What other companies have you applied to?”Is that a legitimate question?!Nobody’s ever asked it before, and I didn’t really know how
to respond.What’s your
opinion?I don’t think I care
for it.In fact, I know I don’t.
--And I’ll leave you today
with a Question the oldest Secret is currently pondering.On Monday everyone in his class is expected to turn in, and
read aloud, an original metaphor (or simile) about life.It’s supposed to be along the lines of the Forrest Gump quote:
“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re
gonna get.”They have to say
what life is similar to, then explain why.
Care to help him out?He
doesn’t seem to like my ideas (Life is like a cross-country car
trip, you just can’t wait for it to end... Life is like a bucktoothed
girlfriend, it’s a lot of fun until somebody makes the first horse joke...).He said he’d
probably be sent straight to the
counselor’s office, and, in fact, doesn't really understand the
second one...
Use the comments link below, if you’ve got anything on this.And I’ll see you guys on Monday.
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