Dear Reader,
Today I applied for another job--this one as a library tech, not a full "librarian". I think that's okay. I don't think DH (dear husband) is as thrilled about it, but at this point if I can just get a decent job--preferably in my chosen area of expertise--I can get my foot in the door. It doesn't hurt that I know a bit about the area in which the job is located and it would be a pretty nice place to live. Plus I'd be near my best friend (another limbo-runner, IMO--more on that another time), and my big sister. All in all not too bad. There should be plenty of opportunities in that area for DH to get a job (crossing fingers). He's a computer tech and can do anything from programming to repairs to networks. So in pretty high demand anywhere there is a decent-sized population. I'm feeling good about this. I probably won't get an interview, mostly because it is just a tech job and I'm not from that area.
There's another sticking point for us young unemployeds. Many of us are fairly mobile, especially if still single and/or childless. That means we're pretty flexible when it comes to seeking employment. Sure, there are some places we'd rather live, but in the bigger picture the job itself is the bigger deal. We hope that if we can get the work experience now, someday we can move to (or back to) the place we really want to be. People posting professional jobs are used to hiring out of area and often pay for the trip to interview. Sometimes they even pay moving expenses. However, if we try to get professional jobs, we simply don't have enough experience to compete on the level. So an alternative and one way to get the necessary experience is to get a paraprofessional job and work in it for a while. If we're lucky, a professional job may eventually open up within the organization and we are then in a better position to move up. Unfortunately, people hiring paraprofessionals prefer to look within their own area and are not at all interested in paying to import talent. Consequently applications of job seekers from out-of-town are frequently chucked in the waste bin without serious consideration because who in their right mind would spend hundreds of dollars traveling cross-country to interview for a so-so job?
I would. Especially if they are in one of my target job-search areas. And I bet there are plenty of others who would as well. What about you, Dear Reader? Would you travel cross-country and foot the bill for a moderate-paying job that you might not even get?
Until next time,
--The Limbo Runner
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Experience? What's that?
Dear Reader,
Welcome back. I think in my last post I sounded pretty motivated. Sometimes I am. The truth is, I'm extremely ambivalent. Some days I'm all charged up, ready to take on the world and go out there and make my own destiny, but more frequently I feel like I have to force myself to get going.
I try not to think about politics or the economy too much, because when I do I feel simultaneously enraged and defeated. I try not to get my hopes up too much about employment, because it feels like every time fate throws me a bone, it's really just a rubber chew toy attached to the end of a string and I'm being jerked around.
I have submitted dozens of applications over the last 8 months, and lots more over the last few years. I have had....ohhh, maybe 10-12 phone interviews at this point. I have gotten 3 second-round in-person interviews in different states, traveling thousands of miles in the process. I've given presentations, walked all day in the rain in heels and a skirt, been subjected to hours oftorture interrogation interviews, and met lots of new people. The net result? Constant, continual rejection.
Am I too perky? Am I not perky enough? Am I too young and inexperienced? That I can't do a whole lot about. It's hard not to take it all personally. After all, if I were good enough surely someone would have hired me by now. My mentors tell me I'm smart and capable. My shrink tells me over and over again to look around me, it's 2011. Nobody's getting jobs. But it wasn't until I traveled into the deep South this past month for the latest job interview that the reality of the economic downturn (let's be honest--the New Depression) started to sink in.
As a rule, the rural South has been the nation's poor dumpy sister pretty much since the fallout of the Civil War. Even so, certain areas tend to be more stable than others, holding up even through the leanest of times. The town I visited was one of these more stable areas, supported both by the industries of higher education and the military. And yet fully 1/3-1/2 of all of the non-chain stores in the town proper were either closing down or had already closed. Houses were being rented out all over the place because people had given up on trying to sell them. Brand-spanking new entire condo buildings were being foreclosed on. Outside of the city limits was even worse.
At that point I think I realized for the first time, truly deep inside, that it's not all about me. I know that businesses are cutting costs, and in doing so opting to hire experienced workers who already have the training and who can jump right in without much support in lieu of bringing in new talent. Even for "entry-level" jobs, most ads require 2 or more years of professional experience. And when people are being laid off left and right, it's not hard to find someone with the experience willing to work for less pay. The problem for my generation, for us newbies, is that we can't get the required experience because no one is willing to hire us. It's not that we're not likeable. It's not that we're not talented. It's not even that we're lazy or untrainable. It's just plain and simple a matter of stability. No one wants to take the risk. And we are a risky investment. It's like trying to get a loan with no credit history. You may seem like a reliable person, but it's safer and easier to go with someone with a paper trail. Oh, and did I mention that they don't have to be trained? Never mind that many of us are self-training and very motivated.
So what are we supposed to do? Those of us who graduated at beginning of the downturn are terrified. We're afraid that the only thing we've got going for us in our chosen professions is our newness, our fresh points of view, our momentum and our invigorating attitudes. By the time people start hiring newbies again we'll be stale, and we still won't have any experience. We'll be passed over for the new new grads--the ones that won't be bitter, the ones that will still have all the professional ideals still fresh in their minds and hearts.
Dear Reader, it's hard to stay positive in times like this. I'm still waiting to hear about my last interview, but at this point I'm afraid to get my hopes up again.
Until next time,
--The Limbo Runner
Welcome back. I think in my last post I sounded pretty motivated. Sometimes I am. The truth is, I'm extremely ambivalent. Some days I'm all charged up, ready to take on the world and go out there and make my own destiny, but more frequently I feel like I have to force myself to get going.
I try not to think about politics or the economy too much, because when I do I feel simultaneously enraged and defeated. I try not to get my hopes up too much about employment, because it feels like every time fate throws me a bone, it's really just a rubber chew toy attached to the end of a string and I'm being jerked around.
I have submitted dozens of applications over the last 8 months, and lots more over the last few years. I have had....ohhh, maybe 10-12 phone interviews at this point. I have gotten 3 second-round in-person interviews in different states, traveling thousands of miles in the process. I've given presentations, walked all day in the rain in heels and a skirt, been subjected to hours of
Am I too perky? Am I not perky enough? Am I too young and inexperienced? That I can't do a whole lot about. It's hard not to take it all personally. After all, if I were good enough surely someone would have hired me by now. My mentors tell me I'm smart and capable. My shrink tells me over and over again to look around me, it's 2011. Nobody's getting jobs. But it wasn't until I traveled into the deep South this past month for the latest job interview that the reality of the economic downturn (let's be honest--the New Depression) started to sink in.
As a rule, the rural South has been the nation's poor dumpy sister pretty much since the fallout of the Civil War. Even so, certain areas tend to be more stable than others, holding up even through the leanest of times. The town I visited was one of these more stable areas, supported both by the industries of higher education and the military. And yet fully 1/3-1/2 of all of the non-chain stores in the town proper were either closing down or had already closed. Houses were being rented out all over the place because people had given up on trying to sell them. Brand-spanking new entire condo buildings were being foreclosed on. Outside of the city limits was even worse.
At that point I think I realized for the first time, truly deep inside, that it's not all about me. I know that businesses are cutting costs, and in doing so opting to hire experienced workers who already have the training and who can jump right in without much support in lieu of bringing in new talent. Even for "entry-level" jobs, most ads require 2 or more years of professional experience. And when people are being laid off left and right, it's not hard to find someone with the experience willing to work for less pay. The problem for my generation, for us newbies, is that we can't get the required experience because no one is willing to hire us. It's not that we're not likeable. It's not that we're not talented. It's not even that we're lazy or untrainable. It's just plain and simple a matter of stability. No one wants to take the risk. And we are a risky investment. It's like trying to get a loan with no credit history. You may seem like a reliable person, but it's safer and easier to go with someone with a paper trail. Oh, and did I mention that they don't have to be trained? Never mind that many of us are self-training and very motivated.
So what are we supposed to do? Those of us who graduated at beginning of the downturn are terrified. We're afraid that the only thing we've got going for us in our chosen professions is our newness, our fresh points of view, our momentum and our invigorating attitudes. By the time people start hiring newbies again we'll be stale, and we still won't have any experience. We'll be passed over for the new new grads--the ones that won't be bitter, the ones that will still have all the professional ideals still fresh in their minds and hearts.
Dear Reader, it's hard to stay positive in times like this. I'm still waiting to hear about my last interview, but at this point I'm afraid to get my hopes up again.
Until next time,
--The Limbo Runner
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
To Life, To Life
Dear Reader:
Let me tell you a bit about my self. I'm a late twenty-something female, Generation Y (or generation MTV, whichever you prefer), got a bachelor's degree in Psychology and a Master's in Library Science. I'm married, no kids, and have had a total of 0 full-time professional jobs so far. Yippee-ki-yay.
I think I'm fairly representative of my generation. Like so many of you, whether you have kids, whether you're married or single, I'm still waiting on Life. Somehow growing up I always thought I'd do something with myself. I had a vague plan: grow up, go to college, get a job, get married, have a kid or two, buy a house, and live happily ever after. I got the degree (check!). I got married (check!). And somehow I got stuck here in limbo, moving from part-time or temporary job (or both simultaneously) to the next, moving from one apartment to the next, even going to grad school to get a degree that was supposed to get me out of this rut. And yet here I am, 3 years later, still stuck.
What has happened to us? A huge chunk of a whole generation, just stuck, going nowhere. I know, the economy collapsed. Online social networking took over "real" networking. For those of us lucky enough to have found someone--and stuck with them--the desire for stability overtook the desire to reproduce. So we're constantly running in circles, just trying to keep going, but never getting anywhere. It's beyond frustrating. No wonder there is so much social unrest. How are we supposed to make something of our lives if we can't even get or keep a job? We spend our time just trying to get by. Who has the chance to even try to get ahead? We're a generation of uncertainty, of restlessness.
It's time. For what? To give our lives meaning. To get out of this stupid rut, this pernicious limbo. It's time to Live.
Until Next Time,
--Charly Tuna, The Limbo Runner
Let me tell you a bit about my self. I'm a late twenty-something female, Generation Y (or generation MTV, whichever you prefer), got a bachelor's degree in Psychology and a Master's in Library Science. I'm married, no kids, and have had a total of 0 full-time professional jobs so far. Yippee-ki-yay.
I think I'm fairly representative of my generation. Like so many of you, whether you have kids, whether you're married or single, I'm still waiting on Life. Somehow growing up I always thought I'd do something with myself. I had a vague plan: grow up, go to college, get a job, get married, have a kid or two, buy a house, and live happily ever after. I got the degree (check!). I got married (check!). And somehow I got stuck here in limbo, moving from part-time or temporary job (or both simultaneously) to the next, moving from one apartment to the next, even going to grad school to get a degree that was supposed to get me out of this rut. And yet here I am, 3 years later, still stuck.
What has happened to us? A huge chunk of a whole generation, just stuck, going nowhere. I know, the economy collapsed. Online social networking took over "real" networking. For those of us lucky enough to have found someone--and stuck with them--the desire for stability overtook the desire to reproduce. So we're constantly running in circles, just trying to keep going, but never getting anywhere. It's beyond frustrating. No wonder there is so much social unrest. How are we supposed to make something of our lives if we can't even get or keep a job? We spend our time just trying to get by. Who has the chance to even try to get ahead? We're a generation of uncertainty, of restlessness.
It's time. For what? To give our lives meaning. To get out of this stupid rut, this pernicious limbo. It's time to Live.
Until Next Time,
--Charly Tuna, The Limbo Runner
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