I'm somewhat discouraged. I heard back from one of the companies I interviewed with last week, the job I was more interested in. A very polite little note informing me that, as usual, while they liked me and my resume, they were hiring someone else.
I swear that if I were the paranoiac-minded type, I'd be putting this down to age discrimination. I can't figure out what else it might be. Both of the guys I interviewed with liked me. One of them especially was having a great time talking with me--we got onto books and I emailed him a couple of links to things I think he'd find interesting--so I did the "bonding" thing. My resume had plenty of the right kinds of experiences on it.
Sigh.
Anyhow. I'm supposed to call the other company back today. I guess I should do that in the next hour or so and add their rejection to my collection.
I've half given up on the idea of trying to find part-time or "holiday" work. I've had so many rejections that my confidence that anyone would actually hire me, even for lousy money and a part-time job, is fairly well eroded.
In household organizing-and-tidying news, I have a pile o'trash to take out. Aside from that, there's just the ordinary stuff to be done--mopping floors and whatnot. All of the major/unusual/interesting projects are pretty much done. That's kind of a pity. I haven't quite finished my holiday cards for the year (thank goodness I did all of the shopping for those before The Great Unemployment) so I need to dig those out, but that's about it.
Oh. Wince.
The hall closet. I nearly forgot. It hasn't been cleaned out in a couple of years, so it's 'way past-due.
The R.C. and I went out yesterday, just for the sake of going out, and I'm proud to report that I spent only $3! And that was on take-out Kung Pao Beef for dinner.
Frugality does not come naturally to me. I finally had to stuff my hands in my pockets to remind myself that I'm not allowed to shop just to be buying things these days. There were many things I needed. Scented candles, books, lingerie, socks, even a hat. Sigh.
We went to an actual mall yesterday, too, a thing we rarely do except in the frosts of winter or the sweats of summer. Yesterday was one of those rare days where you wake up to clouds and gray skies and they linger for most of the daylight hours. After our string of sunny and 70s days, it was yucky, so we wandered around Park Meadows for a couple of hours instead of taking an outdoor walk. Today we're back to blue and balmy skies.
Okay, what else is happening in my life?
Pondering.
Well, naturally I'm doing a lot of reading. I don't know how I got onto this kick, but I'm rereading Asimov's entire Foundation series at the moment. I haven't read it in fifteen or twenty years. Like most of the best-loved books of my childhood, parts of it don't hold up well under the eyes of the more mature reader, but some of the core concepts remain very interesting.
Fortunately I also have an entire pile of new books to read, thanks to the R.C.'s Birthday Generosity.
Still. I have to say that unemployment, without a hefty bank balance, is certainly beginning to pall. It's extremely discouraging to hear that even the last-to-admit-it nightly television news programs are starting to use the R-word. I've already suffered through the recession of the 70s. I'm not really prepared for another one now--especially when I'm trying to find a job.
I don't get it. Hiring you ought to be a no-brainer.... they're thinking too hard.
Foundation was the series that really opened my eyes to the connection between my SF upbringing and my history vocation. Ever read Asimov's short stories? He wrote hundreds, I think.
posted by: Jonathan Dresner on 11.13.07 at 01:09 PM [permalink]I have 40-50 Asimov books so while I don't claim to have all of his SF stuff, I'm willing to bet I have most of it that's been collected into book form. I was a huge fan of his writing when I was younger. (Well, and now too, of course.)
And, yes, you're right that it's the "history" aspect of the Foundation/Empire series that's really fascinating. As sketchy and simplistic as his worlds and cultures are, there's a scope to it--a fascination with watching the (selected) cultures evolve through hundreds and thousands of years.
Thanks for the kind words about the job hunt. I can't really figure out what it is employers today are looking for that I'm not able to provide. In my youth (i.e., any time five or more years ago) it wasn't unusual for me to be offered almost every single position I interviewed for. Clearly something has changed, but there's no way in today's litigation-happy society that I'd be able to sweet-talk any of the interviewers into telling me the truth about why I wasn't selected.
After talking to the R.C., I've decided to send a "feeler" email back to that company and mention that I know they're hiring for several positions and that I'd be very interested in talking with them about one of them. We'll see what happens....
(For what it's worth, I think you should find it very easy to get hired yourself. Your qualifications are obvious.)
posted by: Anne on 11.13.07 at 04:10 PM [permalink]I'm actually feeling better about this year's job hunt than last year's (I put a few applications in, and had some first-round interviews, but nothing more) because some long-delayed publications have finally come through. I have a publishing record now, so my research agenda doesn't look like fantasy (social science fiction).
It's tough to get straight answers out of HR people. The way I was taught to ask the question is "is there anything I could do to strengthen my application" (for other jobs, of course; you're not asking them to reconsider you.) and I've gotten some decent results with that. Though I admit that I haven't tried in a while: usually the answer is "publish."
I should know better than to ask the "have you read" question, because you're generally much better read than I am, except in history. Thiotimoline!
posted by: Jonathan Dresner on 11.14.07 at 02:50 AM [permalink]Heh. I actually loved that "paper"--well, story. A nice spoof of the "academic" writing style, but there's something about internally consistent gibberish that amuses me. It was like Asimov channeling Lewis Carroll. :)
I'm not that well-read, outside of SF/F and mysteries of the Victorian and Golden ages. Aside from those, I dabble in mythology, politics (recently), history, and philosophy. Some day, I'd like to be really well-read, but I'd have to lay aside fiction for a number of years to achieve that.
I like your HR question. I'd use it except that once a company has decided to reject you these days, they're so afraid of a lawsuit that you can never get them to say anything except, "we found a candidate who better suited our needs" which is useless. And generally you get rejected via email because no one has the courage (or the time?) to call interviewees and reject them personally.
I'm glad you feel good about this year's job-hunt. With freshly published papers under your belt, you should have everything anyone could ask for in a candidate!
posted by: Anne on 11.14.07 at 08:45 AM [permalink]