I think if you've got a degree and want to work within your field or you're trying to advance your career, yes, it may take a while to get hired. But when people my age and younger (people with no set career path who basically need to just pay their bills and buy food) say they're applying everywhere with no luck, I get annoyed. Then I try to give advice, it gets ignored, and I secretly call them terrible, terrible names.
Maybe people who don't listen to me think I have it easy. Maybe they think I live in an exceptional area with more jobs than qualified applicants. The unemployment in Jacksonville was actually 10.6% in March while the national unemployment rate was 8.8% in March, so it looks like we have it a bit worse off than some places.
My nonexistent knowledge of statistics and economics aside, I think we can all agree that Jacksonville isn't a breadbasket of jobs, but I have a secret that lets me believe that, in all but the smallest of towns, I will always be able to get a job. The secret?
Every day in every place, people are being stupid.
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| I told you. |
Never underestimate the capacity for someone to shoot him or herself in the foot. Employed people are coming to work drunk, not showing up for their shifts because they decided to take a mini vacation with friends, or are doing any of the huge number of idiotic things employees do to get fired. Recession or economic boom, Obama or Reagan, Jacksonville or Tallahassee or Toronto, someone out there is screwing up a good thing.
Also, of course, people are always moving, people's job needs change, true, but I'm willing to bet on human stupidity above almost anything else, so that's what I count on.
The Conditions of my Job Hunt
I find myself without a job and back in a country where I can legally work, so I'm going to walk you through the process I go through to get jobs, each application and every interview.
I'm looking for entry-level service jobs, retail and waiting tables. My work experience is primarily within the realm of hospitality, as my last four jobs have been hotel front desk work. I graduated high school and have some college, and all the jobs in my official employment history are ones where I've worked at least nine months and have been adored by my bosses. Sure, you could say I'm starting off with an advantage, but how did I get my first, second, third jobs? Exactly how I'm going to get this one. Heck, I'm specifically looking to get out of the hotel biz for a while, so my experience doesn't directly translate into experience for what I'm applying, though there are similarities.
I have access to a car which gives me a leg-up on my search, but I'm confined pretty closely to this area since the car is Dad's. I'm trying to make my drive to work less than ten minutes so that whoever takes me to work only has a 20 minute round trip, saving gas and time. We have a good amount of strip malls and chain stores in the area, so that's where I'm going to focus my job hunt.
Who Should Care
What I'm going to suggest in this series of posts should be useful to anyone who can speak and write English well, has a high school degree or GED, doesn't have a shockingly bad job history or criminal past, can properly clean and groom him or herself, has a bit of cash to invest in running copies of a resume and an interview outfit or two, and who is looking for any entry-level customer service job they can get. Having the internet also appears important, because I'll post informative links to shed more light to topics, and to read them you'll have to have to be online. Then again, you found this blog, so you'll probably be alright.
Let's call this an experiment in putting my money where my mouth is, or, putting my reputation where my long-winded preaching is.
1 comment:
THIS IS EXCITING!
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