Looking through jobs posting (being [f]unemployed as a friend says) is a frustrating experience. Anyone who's followed/read/etc. any type of employment news knows that there are very few full time positions and fewer which pay a realistic wage. Further, most of the jobs postings are in retail or hospitality. Retail just doesn't pay enough to be worth it and I have no (or disastrous, depending on how you look at it) experience in hospitality.
Here's the thing: I am smart, a fast learner, educated, super hard working, and a huge score for whoever I work for. I've always been underpaid because I have always been so good at my job and so efficient that I clean up after other people, take on tons of side projects, and add to the overall discussions on vision and direction. Sorry, it's just the truth. I can do whatever is thrown at me, take good notes, and am not afraid to ask questions.
HOWEVER, my best skills are somewhat intangible (that's the last paragraph, folks), and any interesting posting wants you to have direct experience in that specific field. AND, since I've been on a self-imposed break from full-time employment (mostly any employment), it makes it doubly difficult.
I'm in a great position where I only need apply for positions I feel would benefit the company and myself. I am seeking an organization whose mission statement dovetails with my own. So, it's not as if I'm applying to 20 jobs a week and not getting calls, but it is frustrating to see that there are not 20 jobs out there that I'm interested in. I'm not sure if I'm setting the bar too high - that there are just not that many companies that I feel aligned with, or if they are really not out there as jobs (just as volunteer positions?).
I read an article (Times?) some months ago that talked about how people who were unemployed were not hireable because their skills had gone soft. I'm not buying it. Since I've been unemployed, I've been writing, designing/sewing/art-ing, managing projects including outside personnel, taking the odd shift in retail, volunteering, recovering (truth), reading, blogging, swimming, and other such tasks. If anything, my writing skills have improved, I am more focused and together, better able to handle stressful situations, and was still dealing with negotiating and wrangling multiple strong opinions against one central vision.
Sometimes I'll look at the stats for my blog and think, wow! 4 people read my blog today. Okay, I'mma gonna get some sponsors and advertising soon and I'll be a writer, or some such other ridiculous idea such as: I can make wedding dresses (definitely not because I'd likely kill myself or the bride) or I'm gonna write a novel (I know, get in line). Sometimes I look at my family and think, shoulda been a teacher, I guess. There are a lot of those in my family.
So on this Labor Day, I salute those who work to better the system, those who have found meaningful and positive-impact work, but I also salute those who work some shitty job for less pay then they deserve or at a boring, mind-numbing job for a huge corporation who keeps outsourcing as much as it can (and those people are probably working today). I salute those who are looking for a job or a second job and will take anything to help pay their ever-mounting bills.
I'm going to continue to hope for a position which will utilize all my strengths. One day, my new organization and I will ride off together into the Making The World A Better Place Sunset.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment