Status report: Two months in ...
Gone are feelings of despair, but will I find meaningful work before the savings runs out? Will seasons change before my employment status does?
To be honest, I was never despondent after my job loss. For a few weeks, I mourned for a job that I had enjoyed and that I was good at; a magazine I had produced; a group of creative, intelligent beings with whom I enjoyed communicating. Also, I’ll miss my former coworkers, or most of them.
I was disappointed my routine was interrupted. I had been there for a quarter of a century (minus the five years I returned to grad school). Loss of one’s medical insurance post-50 is no picnic either.
I made the search for employment my job for a number of weeks this summer, until the same job ads started to recirculate on the online sites I used. I thought, maybe they never found the right person? Or maybe employers are “just fishing” to see who applies? Or perhaps online job ads are just one big scam? The job sites are starting to feel like the online dating sites I stopped using a couple of decades ago.
As time progresses, more and more layoffs are occurring, so maybe at some point we all will be vying for the same few jobs that keep swirling round-and-round, much like those aforementioned dating sites.
Automated messages appeared in my inbox. One said: The position for which you’ve applied had been put on hold. Others said: While you are qualified for the position, we chose to hire someone who is not you. (Well, different wording, same sentiment.)
Unfortunately, I failed to respond to one important email in time and missed an opportunity to schedule for a pre-screening interview. For that, I can kick myself; however, I’m not to blame for the negative outcomes of the 50+ jobs I’ve applied for in the last two months.
I spent time on other sites, like Linkedin.com, and couldn’t help but notice all the comments from other job seekers, many of whom have multiple advanced degrees and no job prospects. Many post often about how online job sites are scams. In fact, many write with complaints about Linkedin or the recruiters lurking on the platform.
Every so often, however, newly hired individuals post about their newly acquired positions, using brightly colored graphics to encourage others to help them celebrate their good fortune. Everyone wanting to be seen congratulates the freshly hired leaders, perhaps hoping to find themselves in their good graces.
Summer has come and gone. My friends’ children return to class in a matter of days. The local university begins in a couple of weeks, which will bring regular semester traffic to the city in which I reside.
After all these sweltering weeks (thank goodness for my functioning window units), I’m still unemployed, but I’m hoping that I, too, will be one of those individuals on LinkedIn who will be announcing good news. More than likely, it will be for a position I learned about from someone I know, instead of from the many online sites I used all summer long, but whatever works is fine by me.
