Monday was the beginning of week 4 of "Intern Chick the Bum" and I'm restless. I've been restless since the 2nd half of week one. I'm lucky if I find one job to apply to per day, and if you do the math, that's not a lot of jobs I can be considered for. No one has called me back. Well that's a lie, one place called me back...they said I'd need to cook and do laundry, I was still on board until they said I'd need to walk the CEO's dog. Yea, right.
This afternoon I applied for a job that my "alma mater" (ha that feels good to say) had sent an e-mail out about. I figured it was another e-mail address that I'd send my resume to and it'd get lost in the black hole that is the job pool. It was for a management company for some music that I'm totally not into, but can we really be picky in this economy? I'm gonna vote no. Today must have been my lucky day, I was able to apply for that one and an even more useless sounding job afterwards. Two hours later, someone from that management company called asking if I could interview tomorrow or Friday. Heck yea I can!
So my interview is Friday afternoon, I'm expecting a classic disaster, Intern Chick style, but we will see how it goes. Okay so it's not my first interview but can't we pretend? I mean, it's my first "real job" interview!
Labels: career, interview, job search, management
My dad is a mad scientist. He loves science like I love music and even though they're on opposite ends of the spectrum, I can understand a love that strong for anything. When my parents graduated college the economy was about as bad as it is right now and the job prospects were, well, non-existent. My dad, like myself, had a specific degree with a specific field in mind. You don't go through 4 years of college to take just any job. The problem with knowing exactly what you want to do (unlike most of the world) is that there's little room for improvising.
People keep asking me why can't I just take any old job while I look for what I really want. I refuse to do this and no one understands this except, of course, my dad. When he graduated college, he was married to my mom and unemployed. People asked him the same thing. Why can't you just get any job while you look? And he refused. He knew that by taking whatever job came his way, even if it wasn't what he wanted to do, he would never do what he was setting out to do. He held out for a long time, waiting for the right job, and while everyone shook their heads in dismay, he kept looking. Because he knew no matter how long it took, he wasn't going to get to age 50 without ever having a job, the odds are just never that bad.
And that's where I'm at right now. No, I will not go temp for a car rental place or assist a CEO who wants me to cook and do her laundry because I didn't bust my ass for 5 years learning about the music industry to do those things. I'm not settling.
Labels: job hunt, unemployed
So its been over a month since I promised a Part II to "Things You Should Never Do," but better late than never!
A few months ago while in class, a guest speaker came to talk about his work in the music industry. As he spoke I noticed that he was doing something very similar to what my friend, Jacob* wants to be doing. Jacob also just so happened to be sitting next to me listening to this guy talk. The whole time I was thinking about how excited he must be that the career gods have planted this industry professional into our classroom for Jacob to connect with. At the end of class, as Jacob headed for the door, I had to stop him. Normally I mind my own business, but here is this huge opportunity to Jacob to make a contact in something he wants to do but doesn't know the right people to get started!
I asked him if he was going to talk to the speaker. He looked at me blankly, not understanding why I would ask such a thing! Then I looked at him blankly, not understanding what there was for him to misunderstand! So I said it bluntly, "Why wouldn't you talk to him?! He is the perfect guy for you to speak with, and he might be able to really help you." He still stared blankly at me and said he wouldn't know what to say in the first place. I fed him a couple of lines to say to the man and nearly pushed him in the guy's direction.
I watched from the door as Jacob attempted to approach him. He stood there awkwardly, with his hands in his pockets, half waiting for the guy to start up a conversation with him. Then I watched Jacob let the man walk right out of the classroom, still standing there with his hands in his pockets. We left class and I asked him why he did what he did. Jacob seemed annoyed, probably upset that he'd let the opportunity go by and just told me he didn't need that guy anyway, what was he going to do for him?
Please, all my interns and aspiring interns, never underestimate what network one person can bring to you!
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