The Job From Hell: Beginnings

Post interview I head home to much excitement and congratulations though everyone is feeling a little rushed. I guess that's what being an adult is all about.

I spend Wednesday night preparing myself for the real world and reflecting on my last adventurous summer.

My first day was just like the first day of classes used to be. General information giving. No real work getting done! It becomes immediately apparent to me Princess S is a control freak. My cubicle is wall-papered with charts and diagrams explaining all the elements of the company. Hierarchies of people, maps of our locations, etc.

I also get a GIANT binder of what my job will entail. Fixing unemployment problems. According to Princess S, the person in charge of handling unemployment claims before me really screwed the company over. Her husband was employed by the company as well and when he was fired, she did all she could to show the company she wasn't happy with it. She hid unemployment claims, falsely responded to her husbands claim, etc. long story short, when I started, Company E was paying roughly $60,000 a month in unemployment compensation... That's a lot of dough!

Without having to get too much into employment law. Basically I'd be getting the unemployment claims, researching why the person quit or was fired and rightfully appealing the claim if it was not a legitimate reason to collect benefits. Example: If a person is fired for failing a drug test, and the drug test was lawfully administered, they are not eligible for benefits.

Easy enough! Kind of fun sounding! How could this possibly go wrong??

The Catch 22

It's taking me a while to get in to the meat of my Job From Hell posts. I don't know if it's laziness, frustration with my still dull life, or that even though I reflect on my time at Company E on a daily basis it's still not something I'm ready to put into exact words.

Whatever the case, I'm in the middle of my own catch 22 at my current job. It goes something like this. I graduated with a BA in communication. Did my degree help me get my job? Yes, absolutely! I really don't think I'd be here if I didn't have a degree. Does my job require said degree? Absolutely not! A monkey could do my job and what's worse, I get pays more like a monkey and less like a college graduate.

Just stuck.

Restless

I have been so restless lately. I just can't help feeling like I'm doing something wrong. Like I'm not living the life intended for me!

I keep telling myself that once I'm married I'll be able to sort things out. I'll be able to devote all my time to figure out life and career paths. I hope I'm right because I don't like these feelings.

The Job From Hell: Should I Thank You or Blame You, Craigslist

I remember the day I saw the posting for Company E like it was yesterday. It was a Monday morning that started like any other mornings of unemployed life. I headed over to the only corner of the room where I could access Internet. (My parents still live in the stone age and refuse to use anything but the direct phone line to access the Internet.)

Anyway, I started browsing those trusty craigslist ads, and one caught my eye... "client seeking motivated individual with strong research and communication skills to work as part of HR team"

I'm motivated with research and communication skills. But "client", what does that mean?? And HR, who really wants to work in the most dreaded department. But with nothing to lose I decided I HAD to apply!

The call came the next day... "this is E with Employment Pros [great, a temp agency], our client is extremely interested in meeting with you. Can you come in tomorrow for some tests here then we'll send you to the client for your interview?" "uh, sure!"

Wednesday, I head to the temp agency where I spend three hours taking aptitude tests and filling out paperwork. Three is not an exaggeration. By the time I sit down with he recruiter I am exhausted and barely listen to a word she says. Something about unemployment, lots of writing, submit my time sheets every week, blah, blah, blah.

Beaten and battered from the mental marathon, I hope in my car and head to Company E. The interviewers name is gender ambiguous and I don't know if I'll be meeting with Samuel or Samantha. I enter Company E and am immediately overcome by the feeling that it's going to happen, I'm going to work here. I've always had this weird intuition with jobs and I have successfully predicted the outcome of every interview I've ever gone on.

Already knowing where this is going, I introduce myself to the receptionist and wait for S. Emerging from the spiral staircase leading to the upper offices is a blonde female about my age in an adorable sweater dress. I don't like many women to begin with so I'm thinking we're not going to be friends when I get this job but maybe I'll prove myself wrong and we'll go to happy hour together... (ha! Yea right!)

She asks me a few standard questions and then tells me she wants me to start tomorrow. I was the only person she wanted to bring in based on the resumes she got! Flattered. Very flattered. But tomorrow??!!??

Ultimately I accept and in a matter of 72 hours signed my life away with no real time to say goodbye to my childhood.

Oops.

Well that whole daily blogging thing fell apart. And I realized a picture a day is just way too boring to commit to.

In other news wedding planning is stressful.

And I'm ready to move on and be something. This was an actual conversation I had yesterday...

Coworker: didn't you go to college?
Me: yes
Coworker: how many years?
Me: 4
Coworker: and how does it feel to be here doing what you're doing?

Wow! Way to sum up every reason I consider myself a disappointment in three questions...

To bigger and better things!

Hellooooooooo February! (6, 7 and 8)

I am so ready for a break! Life has not slowed down for one second!

Monday I got my sample convertible bridesmaid dress in the mail and immediately tried to figure it out. Initially I loved the look but thought it was confusing and um, unsupportive... Up there... I passed it off to the MOH for a second opinion!

Yesterday was just miserable, I hate Tuesdays in general. But yesterday caused exceptional headaches! I didn't take any pictures because I spent most of the night "crying over the dishes". I am including a something I found online yesterday that attributed to some of my only laughter.

And today... Today I am consuming endless amounts of coffee and living by the words, let it be. We'll see how that goes!

The Job From Hell: The War on Job Boards

As previously mentioned, the summer of 2010 began by saying goodbye to the internship that provided the most amazing experience of my life. I was completely unemployed and as a recent college graduate who lived for summers, I had no real urgency to move on and find a job.

However, I was newly engaged, eager to move out of my parents house and had student loans fast approaching.

I spent the summer days combing the job boards and the summer nights living life up while I still could.

I tried in vain to make sites like monster and career builder my friend. I would submit my resume to at least 10 postings a day! That being said, I only managed one interview using these generic job boards. AND that interview was for a position that wasn't even open. Just something the company actively recruits for to have a reserve of job candidates on file...

It doesn't take a genius to figure out this was going nowhere!

I needed something with a more personable approach. I did the unthinkable... I turned to Craigslist!

SIDE NOTE TO JOB SEEKERS: although Craigslist is crowded with scams, if you have the patience to weed through, this is extremely valuable and worth your time. Aside from the theatre job board I frequent, Craigslist happens to be the only place I've consistently gotten interviews and job offers. My theory is the generally you are emailing someone directly not just getting thrown into some database in the middle of Indonesia.

I digress. Let's just say my fruitless searching was about to take a turn... Little did I know it would inevitably be for the worse.