A New Life? Unlikely.

So I'm currently juggling moving to a new apartment with my job search, which sounds hellish. However, I'm only somewhat busier. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on you view) the dozens of resume I sent out last week have not garnered many responses. Aside from the interview earlier this week, I have only one more scheduled, at an art gallery, next week. I was told to allow an hour and a half for the the interview process, which includes a writing test. A writing test? You're joking right? I already wrote you a nice eloquent cover letter, and I have several writing samples from press releases to academic research papers. Apparently that's not good enough, and I have to write something especially for the gallery. This sounds suspiciously familiar to my current project...

The interview at the market research firm went quite well. I definitely think I'm getting the hang of interviewing. This firm conducts research for a variety of high-profile clients, from prominent politicians, to prestigious publications. The position for which I interviewed was in magazine cover research, taking sample covers from a magazine, and setting up surveys to determine which is best and why. Pretty cool stuff actually. However, before I get to interview with the director, I have to write a report on some data from a sample survey. I was handed about 75 pages filled from top to bottom with columns of data, taken from a fast food survey about "Brand X", though it take about 30 seconds to figure out who Brand X is. Now, I'm working on this report, which is a huge pain in the ass considering all this is just part of the interview process. I'm not sure if they are just trying to weed out the people who wouldn't even bother with the numbers, or if they are legitimately expecting a conclusive report. Bear in mind I've never written one of these, and it's terribly dense stuff. Then I got to thinking that these places are just listing fictitious jobs, and getting applicants to unwittingly work for no pay. If I ever found out this was the case, these places might find some rotting fish in their ventilation systems a few months from now. But if they are just trying to scare me away with this report, it ain't gon' work, 'cause I ain't skeered o' nuffin.