the analogy

inspired by the terrible movie he's just not that into you, (because unemployment makes you watch a ton of terrible movies) i thought about how the job search is similar to the dating search.

in the beginning, you put yourself out there. you talk about your accomplishments and give the best version of yourself through cover letters and resumes by the hundreds through email, faxes, and walk-ins. every cover letter and resume is tailored to the specific job position and company. it's the courting process. you see something you like and you hope that it will eventually like you back.. and hopefully soon.

okay, so you've put yourself out there. every company has your cover letter and resume. and you wait. and you wait. and you wait. you wait for that phone call. the one that says you have a date. the interview. you sit by the phone day and night. it rings. it's your mom. it rings again. it's a telemarketer. you're constantly waiting for someone to get in touch.

finally, you get a call. the date is set for an interview. you get nervous, just a little bit. you think about all the great things you can say about yourself. you think of questions to ask. you try to think of all the questions they will ask you, but there's always that one that gets you -- it usually makes or breaks you. you wonder what to wear, how much makeup is too much, what shoes go with what outfit. frustrated with your closet, you go buy new clothes just for the interview hoping you'll finally land a job so you can afford the new clothes you bought.

the interview quickly approaches. you're nervous. you get there early not knowing what to expect. you've never met these people before. it's a blind date. you see several attractive people working and that almost makes you more nervous. finally, you meet the person who will be be doing the interviewing. he's not all that good looking. you're still nervous. you talk yourself up. you think that things are going smoothly. you ask the dreaded "so when will i hear from you?" question and they give you a time frame. you leave with a firm handshake, pleasantries, and if you're lucky, perhaps a number to call. on your way home, you replay every detail of the date. did you smile enough? did you answer their questions correctly? did you have something lodged in your teeth? could they sense how nervous you were? your mind runs wild and yet there is nothing you can do about what took place in the interview. it's over.

the next day, you repeat the beginning stages of the process. you hand out resumes for possible jobs and hope that the company you had an interview with will give you a call. you sit by the phone and wait. and wait. you're always waiting. it rings. it's a wrong number. it rings again. this time, to set up an interview with a different company. since you are still jobless, you take up the offer. what's the harm?

days and weeks go by without any follow up phone calls. they never called, just like all those other blind dates you went on before. they told you that they would call. they didn't. you call them only to leave a message. they still never return your call. you're unemployed and lonely. you've read every book you own and are quickly running out of money.

you're constantly waiting for that phone call only to check your email and find a rejection email. your spirit is broken. yet tomorrow, you'll put yourself out there again only to spend your days waiting for the one who will hire you.

and the job search continues

sometimes i wish that job postings would be more descriptive so you know what it is exactly you'll be doing for most of the time.

when i'm in toronto for festivals or events, i normally see greenpeace booths set up with opinionated youngsters trying to change the world one person at a time. people at the festival who have the time to do so walk up the booth and ask questions. that's what i thought i applied for.

instead, i applied to be an annoying person on a street corner yelling at people to join greenpeace. and not only do these people have to hear me talk about issues; they have to give me money in order to sign up. yes, 'donations'. you donate to become a member. well, shit. on my way to the interview, i passed by two people handing out flyers or yelling at me to come talk to them about things. of course, i walked by them with no eye contact because i didn't want to be bothered. if i take the job, i'll be on the other end of this scenario and hating every minute of it. even if i do get to talk to people about the issues i care about, i know i would absolutely hate trying to get them to give me money... to give greenpeace money.. in order to become a member.

the lady who interviewed me explained what i would be doing and i was immediately turned off from the job. politely, i completed the interview that had a bunch of questions i was never asked before in any interview. one of the last deal breakers was the fact that if the weather doesn't hold (if it's raining, thunderstorming, or 40 degrees) i don't work and i won't be paid for the day. and with the way the weather has been going lately, it seems like i'd work like twice a week. if they offer me a position, i should hear back in about a week and a half.

i still have yet to hear from any of my interviews. lanark dude, who said he was going to call regardless if i got the job or not has yet to call (and he wanted me to start this coming monday). adidas still has a week or so before they make a decision. build a bear workshop was supposed to get back to me yesterday and they didn't. i have also received no calls about any other jobs recently that i have applied for.

at least toronto was a good time and i saw some friends. next friday, i officially will get my degree handed to me and will have graduated. the week after that, i have to pay my tuition to seneca. that might pose a bit of a problem when i haven't worked for the whole month of may and so far the first few days of june.

job hunt = 1; amber = 0

i've always wondered why the restaurant and retail industry are so difficult to get into. one would think with my all of my years of customer service  and well, 'serving' the public, that i would be a perfect match for any type of retail or restaurant position.

during the summer of the recession, i couldn't find a job either, similar to many canadian university students in that time period. but i applied to numerous places. i did only have one summer of work experience on my resume; but i still applied everywhere i saw a posting. hostessing, dishwashing, serving, sales associate, stocker... you name it and i probably had a resume with that company. these places, however, only tend to look at resumes that have already had experience with those positions before. and since i didn't, they probably threw out my resume.

there are two summer jobs that i apply for every summer since i moved to niagara falls. one is for a tour desk person at either embassy suites or howard johnson. with a degree in tourism and environment, you'd think a job like that would be my calling. every summer, i add to my resume about all the wonderful education i have and how i've learned about niagara region tourism blah blah blah. i talk myself up quite a lot in these cover letters when there's a job that sort of relates to my field of study. and every summer, i get no calls or no emails from either of these places.

frustrated and fed up with these two hotels, i didn't apply for this summer -- and then i found out that someone else from my program (a friend of mine!) got an interview for the job, which she turned down. thinking that i might have a small chance this summer to get in with one of those hotels, i applied. i talked about how i'm now a graduate and my education was awesome. hell, i was a tour guide now. i even worked library reception for 3 years! i had tons of tourism and customer service experience. and yet, i still received no calls.

the second job i apply for every summer is with garage clothing; sales associate. yes, i don't have any retail experience. except for when i 'volunteered' for the christmas holidays at jones new york and when i sold glow items on clifton hill sometimes last summer. i'm charismatic when it came to those glowsticks; tourists are attracted to cute girls selling glowsticks. that's a fact. needless to say, i ruled at that aspect of the job. these newer past experiences are on my resume. jones new york is like 4 stores down from garage as well in the same mall. i expected at least this summer to get a call for an interview. but that wasn't the case.

in the end, i've decided to play a game with my job search. i have applied for several hostessing, serving, and bus girl positions without any experience. recently, i've added a totally fake work experience to my resume: hostessing during a summer of high school at a restaurant in blue mountain that doesn't exist anymore. i'm curious to see if i finally get a break and receive a call for an interview in the restaurant industry.

first post.

i finished my bachelor of arts degree in tourism and environment and now i'm off to bigger and better things. for the next three months, this will blog will be mostly dedicated to my post-graduation job search of which i have yet to land a job. in late august/early september, i'll be moving to the big city, toronto, where i'll be starting an 8 month post-graduate opportunity in environmental project management. what is that going to get me? i have no idea yet. hopefully something good.

this is my fifth summer living in niagara falls. i hate it here. there is nothing to do. and when i'm unemployed, there is even less to do. for the month of may, i sent out somewhere between 30 and 40 resumes in jobs in the niagara region and toronto. some of which pertain to the field of my degree. when you lack any and all housekeeping/serving/hostessing/restaurant/grocery/retail experience, the variety of jobs available in the niagara region are extremely minimal.

from those 30 or 40 resumes out there, i received 5 phone calls for interviews. the first was at a camp which i turned down. i have 'camp' experience. this job didn't start until july and also started at 6:30am. a legitimate reason for turning it down.  the second interview was for the adidas outlet store. this was part-time/full-time/whatever and he said he was going to take up to 2 weeks to get back to me. i had the interview last week.

the third interview was from plenty canada. a place that has something to do with my degree except that it's in the middle of no where. it's in lanark, the maple syrup capital of ontario. don't know where lanark is? good. neither do i. this job would have been perfect, as he said i was more than qualified for the position. except that it's in the middle of no where and you need to be able to drive and have a car. and unfortunately, i can't drive nor have a car. he's still supposed to get back to me sometime this week, but i'll more than likely have to turn the job down as there are no places to rent/sublet either in this glorious town.

the fourth interview was build a bear workshop. it was a group interview with 2 other girls and we were only asked 2 questions each. this was their first round of interviews and they will call back next week for a second interview if they think you're qualified.

the fifth interview is scheduled for friday in the big city with greenpeace, again, it actually has something to do with my degree. i'm pretty excited for this and i hope it goes over well so i can move to toronto sooner rather than later.

with one day left in the month of may, how many more interviews will it take for me to land a job for the summer?