Epic title, I know.
It is hard though, when you get right down to it, to find a job in the career that you want with people you think you would like working with to the level of professionalism that you have come to expect and think that you deserve, while adding in a dash of "they're actually using me for something useful and my work life will make a difference to someone somewhere" and still feeling like they're utilizing your abilities while actually LIKING what it is that you were hired to do.
So let's just say that I'm having a slight grapple with the whole job search thing.
"What is it that you want to do?"
I get asked that a lot. The short answer? Move far away, travel, film things.
But the right answer for my needs right now? Be able to afford life. By any means necessary. That's not to say that I won't be very happy where I end up working and be one of the best employees you've ever had. On the contrary. I love to be utilized. I love DOING something everyday. I like helping other people. I always have. A major people-pleaser is what you would have on hand if you hired me.
"What are your skills? What experience do you have?"
You name it, I can probably relate to it. My father is slightly the same way without the people skills to go along with it. I'm a very quick learner. I know a lot of people say that, and it's a bit of a cliché at this point and I wish people would stop saying it because it makes the rest of us look bad. Example? I'll just lay this last week out for you:
Yesterday - Crocheted a scarf (no, didn't knit, but I can. taught myself. also taught myself to whittle. I LOVE to learn new things. I'm a bit of an autodidact). Didn't like it so pulled all the yarn back out and will probably redo it today.
2 days ago - Cleared out the DVR a bit and managed the heck out of some Sims. It was Sunday, what do you expect?
3 days ago - Took metal siding off an old house. Had never done that before in my life. But showed up, asked, "hey, does this need to come down?" then found a ladder and a crowbar and went at it. I'm not afraid of heights per se (it's the falling that freaks me out) or of getting my hands dirty. Though I now hate metal siding and fiberglass insulation.
ALSO, went to a callback audition for Chicago. We did a lot of things that I probably shouldn't type about it polite internet company. Suffice it to say that my legs are now more sore and that I've never seen or done so much sexy dancing without alcohol involved in my entire life.
4 days ago - Made giant packets of information with no supervision or training in about 20 minutes because the main office asked me to. I'm not one to argue and can figure out how to copy a packet. So I did it.
ALSO, went to an audition for Chicago. I'm normally the Stage Manager, so this was well outside my comfort zone. Ended up singing and dancing. I used to dance in high school... Let's just say I learned a few new things at that audition.
5 days ago - After talking with my mom a few days before about how her floor needed to be finished I go, "you know I could just finish it right?" She goes, "why don't you?" So that's what I did. I had helped my brother-in-law, once, lay wood laminate flooring and I figured that's what it was. It wasn't. They were huge laminate sheets of faux tile. Oh well. I got out the table saw (which I'd used once or twice before), tape measure, pencil, some sort of handy tool that does fine cutting (see? I don't even know what the tools are called but I can use them...) and got to work. I now have a love / hate relationship with rubber hammers.
I'll stop there. You get my point though right? I can do anything you want me to do. I'll just figure out how to do it. I realize that there are specific "interview" questions you think you have to ask. Like, "give us a specific example from one of your previous jobs where you had a task that seemed difficult and you overcame it" or "give us a specific example of a time that you messed up and the steps you took to go about fixing it." I get what you're looking for. You want to know that the person you are interviewing is going to step up to challenges, take responsibility for possible mistakes and not cower in situations where they need to have a backbone and DO the job you hired them for.
But I gotta tell you. I hate these questions. No matter how hard I try I'm never ready for them. I'm more of an off the cuff interviewee, which is probably why I don't do as well as other people in interviews. I would rather have a conversation with you. Most people that meet me like me. It's a very bold thing to say, but as I said above, I'm a people pleaser. Which is just as well, because I tend to get a bit more abrasive as I get to know you (I'm working on that, but it is a flaw of mine). But I just want to tell you what I can do for you.
There's really no easy way to do that. The best resume in the world isn't a book of experience and personality and an all out list of what it is they're looking for. Because you don't know what it IS that they're looking for. Not really. The important thing to remember is that THEY DON'T EITHER. They just know that they need someone, yesterday, who will do exactly what it is that they need them to do (even if they don't have THAT specifically in focus) and will get along with everyone else they already have in place. There's absolutely no way for them to know if they've found it in an interview. They hope they have. They have big expectations and no way to know if they're going to be filled. It's hectic. I know because I've been on that side (bottomless pit of random experience here, yes, I've been a manager of people, more times than I can count, and no, I can't give you a specific example. Jeez, I hate those questions...).
Moral? Job searches suck. The waiting is hard, the worry is harder. I just had a very promising interview? Should I keep looking for a job or wait to see how this turns out? Keep looking. It's SO hard to do that. What if I get a job somewhere else and then the ONE calls and offers me something? What would I do then??? Pick the one that's best for you and apologize to the other. You have to do what's best for you.
It's hard. It's so hard to do it over and over. Fill out, wait, fill out, wait, interview, wait, fill out, wait, interview, fill out, wait. You get the idea.
But in the words of the Greek Goddess of victory, Nike, "Just do it."
