Slap in the Face
Yup, I just got one today. A slap in the face that is, not a job. I called in about the museum job... Yes, he'd gotten my follow-ups, and no, he's not hiring me. Turns out he met with someone with extensive experience in just this type of thing who can "offer him things he hadn't even thought of," or something to that extent. Plus, this person speaks Mandarin Chinese. How am I supposed to compete with unimaginable skills and Mandarin? This was an entry-level position with a low salary and a ton of work... if there are people with lots of experience applying for these jobs, what does that leave me?
I think I may be subconsiously preventing myself from being hired. On the surface, I am trying my hardest to find a job, but at my core, I don't want one. Actually, it's not that I don't want a job, but I don't want to wake up at 8, get on the subway, sit at a desk for 8 hours, and get home at 7, every day. And that's what a job is. I guess I don't understand why these job descriptions list a B.A. as a necessary qualification. One doesn't need a liberal arts education consisting of thirty-someodd classes in a variety of academic departments to sit at a desk and make spreadsheets or answer a telephone. One would think that such a "mind-expanding" experience would be counterproductive in forming an individual streamlined for spending 40 hours a week at a desk. I know, I'm just bitter and I'm ranting. But Peter Gibbons brings up an interesting point on today's work environment from an evolutionary perspective, "Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day." Okay, so he wasn't speaking in terms of evolution, but think about it that way, at least it'll give you something to talk about at dinner.
I think I may be subconsiously preventing myself from being hired. On the surface, I am trying my hardest to find a job, but at my core, I don't want one. Actually, it's not that I don't want a job, but I don't want to wake up at 8, get on the subway, sit at a desk for 8 hours, and get home at 7, every day. And that's what a job is. I guess I don't understand why these job descriptions list a B.A. as a necessary qualification. One doesn't need a liberal arts education consisting of thirty-someodd classes in a variety of academic departments to sit at a desk and make spreadsheets or answer a telephone. One would think that such a "mind-expanding" experience would be counterproductive in forming an individual streamlined for spending 40 hours a week at a desk. I know, I'm just bitter and I'm ranting. But Peter Gibbons brings up an interesting point on today's work environment from an evolutionary perspective, "Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day." Okay, so he wasn't speaking in terms of evolution, but think about it that way, at least it'll give you something to talk about at dinner.
posted by jaggd at
15:32
1 Comments:
re. the requiring a BA thing: (this isn't going to make you feel better, and maybe I'm taking your post way too seriously, and maybe you feel differently at this point anyway, but...) for one thing, if it's an entry-level job requiring a BA, it probably has the opportunity for eventual promotion to a more interesting position with more responsibility and thinking involved? plus, I would guess college graduates just make better employees in general regardless of the difficulty of the work involved because they should have better problem-solving skills and might do a better job with regard to whatever the bigger picture of the work might be (and you can usually find a bigger picture even if you're organizing papers). so if the employer can afford to require a BA, then of course he/she's going to, and hopefully there will eventually be something in it for you, the smart college graduate (like connections, ability to move up, get a better job somewhere else having had this work experience, etc.).
It's also interesting that you mention 'subconsciously preventing yourself from being hired' - I think it's probably true that, unless you're a very good actor and can make yourself believe that you want something you actually don't, what you really think can sometimes come through to an employer, so if you think you're too good for a job, it might be coming across on some level in an interview. I don't know. I guess my only thought on that (which I'm sure you also already know) is you have to decide if you do want these jobs, or could at least see yourself doing them and getting something out of them - but if you don't think you would even would want the kind of job you might get promoted to after a while, then maybe it's good that you're preventing yourself from being hired subconsciously :)
Anyway, here's a different topic that may have a better shot at helping you feel better: I'm applying to medical schools for Fall '05 right now, have had several interviews this past fall and still have not been accepted anywhere. Of course, I still feel pretty confident that I will get in somewhere and that at this time next year I will be a medical student, but being waitlisted at one school and having my application "held for continued review in the spring" at three others is not really helping my self-esteem right now (although quite honestly, it's good for me to have my ego taken down a notch every once in a while). So I've made myself really think about what i would do if I didn't get in anywhere, which I hadn't before, and I'm pretty sure that even though it would suck and this is uncharacteristic of me, I would apply again next year because I want to do it enough, and I would figure out something to do for my added time out of school and it wouldn't be the end of the world...
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