From College to the Library

by Tom Faulkner

I recently went through two months of involuntary unemployment. I was fresh out of college and naïvely thought that I would find a good job relatively quickly. I had all the things an employer should want. I was eager to work, had graduated with honors, and had a prestigious internship on my resume.

I had my first interview right after graduation. My girlfriend’s roommate referred me to the company where she worked. I thought the interview was a slam-dunk. Ultimately, though, they went with someone who was a “smooth talker.”

That was the first and last job lead referred to me personally. Two months later I was still unemployed. I emailed and snail-mailed so many cover letters and resumes that I lost track of how many I’d sent out. I made follow up calls when I could. Usually though, there was no name or number given to follow up with. Occasionally I would receive a postcard acknowledging the receipt of my application. The summary of the postcards was, “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

I realize that I am fortunate. Unlike many others, I had the financial safety net of my family. They were happy to have me home and pay my few bills as long as I was seriously job hunting. My girlfriend was also very supportive.

Despite the financial and emotional support, my situation was difficult. I had feelings of uselessness and worthlessness. I am an independent person; so it was difficult for me to concede that I needed help. Boredom was also a problem. After I had exhausted the new job postings, I did not have much to do while family and friends were at work. I could not afford to go anywhere to spend time (or money!). That left me waiting by the phone. I eventually became a fixture at the local branch of the public library -- thankfully borrowing books is free.

My stroke of luck came to me while at my girlfriend’s place. The smooth talker who was hired in lieu of me apparently did not fit well with the company. The company was now looking for his replacement. I told my girlfriend’s roommate that I was still interested in the job.

The next day I received a call from the company. “Would I be interested in coming in for a ‘second interview’?” I went in and they hired me on the spot. My suspicion that they hired me in desperation is a little humbling, but by that point I could not have cared less.

I am very grateful that I have managed to get a good job. I know that there are others out there who are talented, smart, and well-qualified but just can’t seem to find work. My heart goes out to them. If you are one of those people, you should know one thing. It may feel like you are alone, but you are not. Don’t give up hope.

Comments

[Al Doyle]

Congratulations, Tom. Hope you enjoy the job. The hunt for work becomes a real chore when you pass 40.

I'm 48 and self-employed, but looking for more income. I can't even get hired as a hosptial custodian.

No, I don't look like a freak, and I bathe. Like you, getting any repsonse on an application or resume is rare. The competition is fierce for anything besides burger flipping and Wal-Mart these days.

[jm]

I'm in the sanme boat. I'm "older", had a decent-paying career, but now I'm in a "paycheck" only job. It's getting harder to get by on my low pay, and the longer I'm out of the "real" world, the more useless I seem to real employers!

You are NOT alone!

[Rodger Johnson]

Tom, much like you, I faced similar unemployment. Fortunately, after graduating college, I had a job lined up for me at a small town newspaper, thanks to people who knew people. That job only lasted three months, and the second one lasted only two.

For me, I was doing the wrong thing. Being a reporter was work that just didn't work.

I'm in a stable job now, thanks to refocusing my career in a different direction. Now, instead of writing about the news, I make it.

[Michelle Paster]

At 26, it is not just the "older job seeker" who runs into snags, but a qualified college graduate as well. Not many people talk about your twenties, where you are first out of school (after 18 years if you include Pre-K through senior year of college), and are looking to establish your career, while still following your passions. (This is something America provokes: earning a steady, livable income while enjoying what you do.)

So I've mainly worked in the film industry, in college, and since 2002 graduation. It's the summer of 2006 and the way I see it I had three choices: (1) Work really hard to once again find a job in the film industry; (2) Be satisfied with a 9 to 5 job, so I could write screenplays in my spare time; or (3) Find a part time job, so I could fufill my true goal of making an independent film before returning to the film industry. I went with 3.

But it took me 6 months to figure this out. Looking back, it felt like 2 years.
FIRST INTERVIEW: I interviewed at a Beverly Hills socialite magazine featuring Eva Longoria on the cover. To be considered for the Managing Editor position, with great hours of 9:30AM to 4:30PM, the interviewer, about my age, asked: "Are you emotional?"

Brief pause, and my reponse: "No." If he interviewed me now, I would've said: "Yes, are you?" But I sort of wanted a job at the time.

If I was a man would he have asked the same question? Doesn't this borderline on anti-discrimination laws? (http://www.spb.ca.gov/civilrights/discrimination.htm)When I asked him if I could interview him as to why I didn't get the job, he said no because he was concerned about how I would edit his words together.

SECOND INTERVIEW: This was at an after school tutoring club to teach math and english to elementary-aged kids. The interview was going normal - the usual questions - do you have experience tutoring?- what is your employment history?. Then at the end, the owner pulled out a white sheet of paper with bullet points on it. The intro read: "tutoring and mentoring, UPHOLDING TRADITIONAL JUDEO-CHRISTIAN VALUES while RESPECTING all persons regardless of . . . religious beliefs." Isn't that a contradiction? It got worse with: "a willingness to serve the Lord, even when it means sacrifice." Isn't this a violation of the anti-discrimination law?

The list of bizarre interview experience goes on from photography internships to mocking the system with a Bed, Bath, and Beyond interview. They wouldn't process my inquiry to interview without my filling out a Sterling Testing Systems survey answering (1) for "totally true" to (5) for "totally false" for statements like: "I still switch prices on products to save a little money." I felt like a washed-up valley girl.

In conclusion, the absurdity to well-qualified job seekers, not being able to find work they want, let alone work at all, needs to be dealt with in this country. So, as a filmmaker, I decided to do something about the world of jobs. I'm currently producing and directing a documentary film, JOBS FOR RENT, about the "jobs we ignore" in Los Angeles.

From drudging through an assembly line warehouse so well-to-do women can wear their make up products to swinging apartment for rent signs to learning the art of concrete masonry on a construction site, JOBS FOR RENT brings LA together one job at a time.

Do these workers wake up every morning and love what they do? Did they choose their jobs or did their jobs choose them?

Upon researching for this film, I learned of Barbara's "Nickel and Dimed," so I thank her for inspiration.

The film also includes footage of filmmakers and actors to see what strange jobs they had before they were well-known. Footage includes: Director, GREASE-Randal Kleiser; Director, CLUELESS and FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH - Amy Heckerling; Director, LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN - Uli Edel; Screenwriter,
STIGMATA - Tom Lazarus.

[fedup]

Do these workers wake up every morning and love what they do? Did they choose their jobs or did their jobs choose them?

That's quite a valid point.

Once you've had a "real job", it's hard to go back to survival wages - even if it's just to "survive.

In the meantime, you're branded. "What did you do while you weren't working?"

"I was looking for work?" That doesn't seem to appease potential employers. So you tell them the dirty, nasty truth. I collected unempoyment, I did a stint in a mailroom - thinking it would lead to an AR position, I did a receptionist position - even though I can't use a multi-line phone system. I babysat my friends kids, I helped them paint their house!? Anything to make a few bucks while I was staving off madness!

Anything till I got a real job!

It's a dog-eat-dog-world!

[Gloria]

I have pretty much given up on having a "real job," that is, one that allows me to use my skills and talents. I started out as a reporter at a small town newspaper, then, thinking that three years there was enough, I thought I'd get a job at one of our dailies in my hometown. It didn't happen. After decades of crappy jobs, last year I hit bottom. I delivered phone books and drove an ice cream truck until I got a job doing delivery for a national big box store. I am 42 and honestly don't see myself retiring from this job, which involves having to lift extremely heavy refrigerators and front loading washers, and having to get them down narrow stairways into basements. However, I do have a second job and I'm glad of that, but as I get older, I am terrified I will be stuck in a job I hate and that might physically harm me, because I will be too old to find anything else. I think my brother is facing that right now at age 51, and that is less than 10 years away for me. Times are bad, and they are not getting better. For those of you who had a "real job" at least once in their lives, be lucky that you did. For me, it's been nothing but crappy, low-paying jobs since I graduated college in 1992.