I have been unemployed for four weeks now. I haven’t found any jobs in education so far (that I meet the requirements for). Instead, I have opened up my search to jobs that are outside of education. It seems my Diploma from my college is nothing more than something to hang in a pretty frame on the wall at home. It’s slightly less interesting than a family photo, and slightly more expensive than a painting from a modern gallery.
Here is a list of job I have applied at, sent a resume to, or made contact with an employer so far:
* The Mental Health Hospital that I already blogged about.
Found : From the local New Times
Contact: Actual people, by phone, on October 16, 2009
They supposedly wanted a teacher. I got to play a long game of phone tag with a bunch of different people, which was somewhat entertaining. At the end, one hospital wanted a teacher with credentials I do not possess, and the other wasn’t sure what it wanted, exactly.
End Result: There isn’t a job here for me
* Pre School Teacher
Found: Local Craigslist
Contact: I sent them a resume through the “reply to” link on the ad. I sent in on October 4th, 2009
This was for a part time job. They wanted a “fully qualified” teacher, and also wanted a certain amount of “ECE Credits”. I’ve no idea what age group they want a teacher for. The ad said “Please send resume if interested and you will be called for an interview”.
End Result: I have not gotten a phone call, or an email, or anything at all back from this employer. Is the job filled? No way to know.
* Switchboard Operator / Room Reservation Agent for a local Restaurant and Inn
Found: SLOJobs
Contact: Sent a resume through the SLOJobs site on October 6th, 2009.
They want to hire someone to answer the phones, and make reservations. It’s local, and seemed like it could be a nice place to work.
End Result: Other than the automatically sent conformation letter from SLOJobs, that let me know that they sent my resume to the Restaurant/Inn? Nothing at all from this employer. I’ve no idea if they read my resume and rejected it, or filled the position, or what. All I know is that they received my resume from SLOJobs.
* Bilingual Customer Service Representative at an Eye Care place
Found: SLOJobs
Contact: Sent a resume through SLOJobs on October 13th, 2009.
This is an eye doctor’s office that wants someone who can speak Spanish (as well as English) to assist customers.
End Result: Nothing at all so far, except for the automatically generated email letting me know SLOJobs sent the employer my resume.
* Front Desk Receptionist/ Concierge at an assisted living center.
Found: SLOJobs
Contact: I walked into the place with my resume. I filled out a four page application, and attached my resume to it on October 19th, 2009. It was handed to a real person.
This place is looking for someone to run the front desk, answer questions, and provide help for elderly residents and their families.
End Result: I’d like to think this one was “pending”.
This is the farthest I’ve gotten in my job hunt so far. I found a job that sounded like something I would want to do. The pay might be okay, and it provides some benefits to it’s workers. I handed my resume and application to an real person, who placed in in a file on her desk that had at least two other resume/applications already sitting inside it.
On the last page of the application, there were two paragraphs to read before signing my name underneath. One was the expected stuff, about how you agree to follow the rules, and that the information you provided them was accurate and truthful.
The other paragraph was one that gave me pause. It stated that this was an “at will” job, and that the employer can fire people without cause, at any time. This means that if I happen to get this job, the employer can take it away from me again, for no reason, with no warning, just like my previous employer did.
Right now, it feels like I could get this job, only to lose it again in less than a year. If that happens, and this job pays me less than my job as a paraeducator did, it will be a problem. Unemployment Insurance looks at your most recent job in order to determine how much you will get paid in benefits. I guess it doesn’t matter, though, considering that I doubt I’m going to ever hear from this employer, either.
Why can’t employers simply send out a mass email, saying “Thank you for your application/resume. The job you applied for has been filled”, or something like that? I hate that employers are allowed to keep people hanging on for no reason.
Tags: Craigslist, SLOJobs, Unemployment Insurance, work
Ha ha. That’s good – “conformation letter”.