Tuesday, June 24, 2008

My day in painstaking detail

For those who are interested in my job search prospects (mainly people who are related to me, are trying to find me a job, or are wishing that I would find employment just so I would stop bugging them during the afternoon) I’ve made some good progress this week. After my barrage of resumes over the past week and a half I have started to pick up some interviews and have also had the wonderful feeling of having companies reach out to me instead of the other way around. Still have no idea what is going to happen, where I may end up (both in terms of location and organization), or when all this will go down. But, at least I feel as though I have things moving in the right direction.

I’m still of two minds as to whether I will tell any potential employers about the blog. On one hand it is a great example of parts of my personality that do not appear on my resume. The creativity, the writing skill, and my dedication are all shown through the four years I’ve had this site up and running. On the other hand, the continued discussion of Star Wars and Lindsey Lohan along with all of my life stories are possibly not the best things to make companies aware of on day one. Oh well, I guess I’ll burn that bridge once I come to it.

(Oh, and my interview suit still fits. Which is pretty lucky for me given that I probably would be hard pressed to pick up a suit that fit in just two days. I could, and I know a tailor who owes me a favor, but I wouldn’t want to risk it. Now I just have to find out where in my apartment I hid all of my ties.)

Strangest thing I’ve had to put on an application: where I went to high school. I’m really confident that that fact isn’t relevant any more. True, my personality has been formed by my high school experience (as I assume everyone’s is) but how should that factor into my ability to get hired? Just seems completely bizarre.

As you can probably see, it is rather tough for me to think up topics now that I’m not working full time. I wish I had a better story for today but here is my daily schedule. Woke up (alarm went off at 9, got out of bed at 10), shower and shaved. Yes, I still shave every day even if I might not have anywhere to go. After downing a bagel I putzed around online for a bit until I decided to leave my apartment for a bit. Hit the record store and picked up the new Alejandro Escovedo and My Morning Jacket discs. Then I picked up some coffee trying to avoid the glares of the baristas who are incredibly pissed at my always ordering decaf even though I always tip.

Went back home, sat down at the laptop, and started scanning the job boards for new postings. Dropped off about seven resumes, including a few for jobs that I’m not entirely sure what they were but at least sounded cool, and then had some lunch (soup and a sandwich). Sent off a handful of emails to friends and took some calls from recruiters. Feeling sufficiently bored I decided to workout, putting in 3.6 miles on the treadmill while listening to “Challengers” by The New Pornographers.

Finished the workout, discovered that I now weigh 193 pounds (only 3 pounds away from no longer being overweight), and took a shower. Called back another recruiter who called while I worked out and then made dinner (chicken breast via George Foreman grill and a baked (ok, microwaved) potato). After some decision making I decided to take my laptop and some paperwork to a coffee shop to spend the evening drinking more coffee, listening to The Polyphonic Spree, and filling out applications. Then I went back home, ripped a few CDs and surfed some pro wrestling websites. I’m now writing the blog and once completed will watch my tape of Hell’s Kitchen.

So if you ever wondered what you do when you are unemployed there you go. At least last night I had dinner at a bar. Today I don’t think I talked to someone who I wasn’t either paying or trying to get to pay me. I’ll try to correct that in the future. Still, better than a day in a cube.

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