Post by Holodoc on Mar 13, 2002 9:46:30 GMT -5
The power to say that...
You have no idea how hard it's been to get a job here. I'm wondering whether the one I had for three months last yr even counts.
I'd been looking seriously since the week of Endgame's broadcast in May 2001. I'd begun casually since Sept 2000, when I could start walking with a cane (long story). What I couldn't understand was that I couldn't even get some lame temp jobs filing while something significant came along. I was either "overqualified" (a word I've learned to despise and come to mean: I know you'll leave us when you get offered a big paying position which may most likely never come, so we won't bother hiring you) or didn't know everything (I could do eleven of the twelve things they needed), or I never had an official position (if I never worked under the title of "Administrative Assistant," I could never get hired as one, regardless of what responsibilities I had taken on in past jobs).
The agencies all said the same thing: we were in a Job Recession. They thought my resumé was impressive and felt they could get me something for the range of salary I requested, but I never heard from most again.
Only one agency actually sent me out on interviews, and most of them were in Queens. I became quite proficient in using public transportation to reach areas unknown and uncharted. One in particular stands out in my mind, because it looked like post-apocalyptic doom. One could imagine packs of wild dogs roaming the rubble between factories, and this of course was the co. that wanted to see me a second time. I told my rep I wouldn't dare go back to that area.
Then, 9/11 hit. I never heard from ANY agency again (none were downtown btw). There was so much on TV about getting the displaced back to work, so the throng already trying to get work were tossed aside. It was that time that I thanked my lucky stars that a company with some customer svc call center had accepted me.
But that was shortlived. Thanks to 9/11 and the junked economy, we barely took orders except right before Thanksgiving and Xmas. On Dec 31st I was let go, with no plans for anyone to take my place (I had apparently filled a void when someone took a two month medical leave).
So I'd been trying ever since, except not a single agency returned my call or sent me anywhere. The ads answered were about one every three weeks from the firms themselves. Two weeks go, things picked up, and I started getting two interviews per week. I had branched out into taking interviews in (ulp ) Brooklyn. That's desperate!
But, somehow fate took a good turn. A job I really wanted called me back this past Monday, and I start next week in Email tech support for an online membership program. The irony is that the person who hired me, almost had the job I had last fall, but was hired here before they could call and give her the news. I had HER wouldbe job then, and now that position was gone. I'll be she's happy where she ended up.
You have no idea how hard it's been to get a job here. I'm wondering whether the one I had for three months last yr even counts.
I'd been looking seriously since the week of Endgame's broadcast in May 2001. I'd begun casually since Sept 2000, when I could start walking with a cane (long story). What I couldn't understand was that I couldn't even get some lame temp jobs filing while something significant came along. I was either "overqualified" (a word I've learned to despise and come to mean: I know you'll leave us when you get offered a big paying position which may most likely never come, so we won't bother hiring you) or didn't know everything (I could do eleven of the twelve things they needed), or I never had an official position (if I never worked under the title of "Administrative Assistant," I could never get hired as one, regardless of what responsibilities I had taken on in past jobs).
The agencies all said the same thing: we were in a Job Recession. They thought my resumé was impressive and felt they could get me something for the range of salary I requested, but I never heard from most again.
Only one agency actually sent me out on interviews, and most of them were in Queens. I became quite proficient in using public transportation to reach areas unknown and uncharted. One in particular stands out in my mind, because it looked like post-apocalyptic doom. One could imagine packs of wild dogs roaming the rubble between factories, and this of course was the co. that wanted to see me a second time. I told my rep I wouldn't dare go back to that area.
Then, 9/11 hit. I never heard from ANY agency again (none were downtown btw). There was so much on TV about getting the displaced back to work, so the throng already trying to get work were tossed aside. It was that time that I thanked my lucky stars that a company with some customer svc call center had accepted me.
But that was shortlived. Thanks to 9/11 and the junked economy, we barely took orders except right before Thanksgiving and Xmas. On Dec 31st I was let go, with no plans for anyone to take my place (I had apparently filled a void when someone took a two month medical leave).
So I'd been trying ever since, except not a single agency returned my call or sent me anywhere. The ads answered were about one every three weeks from the firms themselves. Two weeks go, things picked up, and I started getting two interviews per week. I had branched out into taking interviews in (ulp
) Brooklyn. That's desperate!But, somehow fate took a good turn. A job I really wanted called me back this past Monday, and I start next week in Email tech support for an online membership program. The irony is that the person who hired me, almost had the job I had last fall, but was hired here before they could call and give her the news. I had HER wouldbe job then, and now that position was gone. I'll be she's happy where she ended up.
