Okay, so I'm out of a job currently (which is a topic for another thread, in fact there's an ongoing one I'll update when there's something to update with).
This has lead me to enjoy the suckage of job hunting. Let me regale you with the suck.
Going to dozens of job interviews, thinking it's going well, then never getting the job.
Two weeks ago I was having a job interview go really, really well. Then at the end they go: "Wait, you're in the National Guard, this job requires some weekend work, won't that interfere?" My response "I have read all your agencies policies, you give military employees X days of military leave per year, which should be plenty, I won't ask for anything outside your existing policies." Their reply "That's all well and good, but we need people we can count on and this place has to be staffed at all times, even when you're at drill so we can't hire someone if they're in the. . .(long awkward pause as they realize what they are saying is probably highly illegal). . .we COMPLETELY support you being in the Guard and Thank You For Your Service (TM) and we'll be in touch with you!" as they immediately get up to walk me out, and I get a form e-mail rejection by the time I get home.
A job interview with the Postal Service last week went really, really well and at the end, she was explaining her agencies hiring policies. They have to interview at least 10 people for every opening, they have to give the job to one of the people with the 3 highest qualifying scores on an exam, and only if all 3 refuse the job can they give it to anybody else. The job interview is just there to weed out people, and no matter how well I interview I won't get the job unless I'm not one of those 3 with the highest test scores because one of the 3 always takes the job.
I actually had the Postal Service offer me a job. . .and I wasn't able to take it. I was applying for every postal job in commuting distance. When I got there, they told me that the job required me to use my own vehicle to deliver the mail on rural routes. The job required having a vehicle with bench seats so I could sit in the middle of the seat, drive with my left hand on the wheel and left foot on the pedals and put mail in the boxes with my right hand as I drive down rural roads. The problem is, my car has bucket seats with a large center console. There's no way I could drive like that. . .so I couldn't take the job because my car wasn't compatible with the job.
Back in April I had my two week Annual Training with the National Guard. I had two jobs that were willing to do a phone interview with me while I was gone, since I couldn't go to their office when they were doing interviews. I had one that seemed like it went really well, with the interviewers on the other end of the phone saying things like "good answer", "you said it." "right on" and such and seeming to agree with me and saying I was nailing the interview. Never even heard back from them with a rejection.
I had a friend on Facebook ask me "why not look for jobs in the private sector?" My response? Because there's no way to find jobs there, my previous attempts to find private-sector employment lead to many months of trawling Monster and Careerbuilder trying to get a job and finding nothing but scams and dead-ends, and right now I'm making as much money, or more, on unemployment as I'd make at a call center or retail so I've got no reason to apply there when it would be a net pay cut for me right now. I know that there is no real employment opportunity in the private sector beyond call centers, retail and fast food for people who don't have IT credentials or business degrees.
Because even though I have a clearance and experience that could get me an okay private sector job in DC, my wife makes 36k a year at a job she got with no degree and no experience and she got that by a favor from a friend so she couldn't get a job to replace it if we move so we'd be out her income (and with her health problems & allergies, many lines of work are closed to her). Also, she has joint custody of her child from her first marriage and is under a court order that she can't move out of state without a Judge's permission because of child custody/visitation rules. So it would have to be one heck of a job for me to be worth moving out-of-state.
If I was a single man, yeah, I could take that contractor job at Bolling AFB for $50k a year, but $50k isn't enough to raise a family on in DC. That kind of money would be party time and dancing around here, but not in DC.
This has lead me to enjoy the suckage of job hunting. Let me regale you with the suck.
Going to dozens of job interviews, thinking it's going well, then never getting the job.
Two weeks ago I was having a job interview go really, really well. Then at the end they go: "Wait, you're in the National Guard, this job requires some weekend work, won't that interfere?" My response "I have read all your agencies policies, you give military employees X days of military leave per year, which should be plenty, I won't ask for anything outside your existing policies." Their reply "That's all well and good, but we need people we can count on and this place has to be staffed at all times, even when you're at drill so we can't hire someone if they're in the. . .(long awkward pause as they realize what they are saying is probably highly illegal). . .we COMPLETELY support you being in the Guard and Thank You For Your Service (TM) and we'll be in touch with you!" as they immediately get up to walk me out, and I get a form e-mail rejection by the time I get home.
A job interview with the Postal Service last week went really, really well and at the end, she was explaining her agencies hiring policies. They have to interview at least 10 people for every opening, they have to give the job to one of the people with the 3 highest qualifying scores on an exam, and only if all 3 refuse the job can they give it to anybody else. The job interview is just there to weed out people, and no matter how well I interview I won't get the job unless I'm not one of those 3 with the highest test scores because one of the 3 always takes the job.
I actually had the Postal Service offer me a job. . .and I wasn't able to take it. I was applying for every postal job in commuting distance. When I got there, they told me that the job required me to use my own vehicle to deliver the mail on rural routes. The job required having a vehicle with bench seats so I could sit in the middle of the seat, drive with my left hand on the wheel and left foot on the pedals and put mail in the boxes with my right hand as I drive down rural roads. The problem is, my car has bucket seats with a large center console. There's no way I could drive like that. . .so I couldn't take the job because my car wasn't compatible with the job.
Back in April I had my two week Annual Training with the National Guard. I had two jobs that were willing to do a phone interview with me while I was gone, since I couldn't go to their office when they were doing interviews. I had one that seemed like it went really well, with the interviewers on the other end of the phone saying things like "good answer", "you said it." "right on" and such and seeming to agree with me and saying I was nailing the interview. Never even heard back from them with a rejection.
I had a friend on Facebook ask me "why not look for jobs in the private sector?" My response? Because there's no way to find jobs there, my previous attempts to find private-sector employment lead to many months of trawling Monster and Careerbuilder trying to get a job and finding nothing but scams and dead-ends, and right now I'm making as much money, or more, on unemployment as I'd make at a call center or retail so I've got no reason to apply there when it would be a net pay cut for me right now. I know that there is no real employment opportunity in the private sector beyond call centers, retail and fast food for people who don't have IT credentials or business degrees.
Because even though I have a clearance and experience that could get me an okay private sector job in DC, my wife makes 36k a year at a job she got with no degree and no experience and she got that by a favor from a friend so she couldn't get a job to replace it if we move so we'd be out her income (and with her health problems & allergies, many lines of work are closed to her). Also, she has joint custody of her child from her first marriage and is under a court order that she can't move out of state without a Judge's permission because of child custody/visitation rules. So it would have to be one heck of a job for me to be worth moving out-of-state.
If I was a single man, yeah, I could take that contractor job at Bolling AFB for $50k a year, but $50k isn't enough to raise a family on in DC. That kind of money would be party time and dancing around here, but not in DC.
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