Getting things out of the way, part 1

Early January, 2013

I saw one of my former classmates recently at a holiday party.
"How's the job hunt going?"
"Meh", I said.
The next question she uttered with much hesitation.
"So, how many now?"
"845, as of this morning."
Her jaw dropped. "Oh... god.. I can't believe..."

She proceeded to go on how unjust that was, and how talented I am and how much I've done. And then said what everyone says about everything these days:

"You should blog about your job hunt".

I've thought about blogging about my job hunt since it officially began in June, 2011, but I feared I'd come across as a whiny, bitchy curmudgeon.
I didn't want to complain.
I didn't want to be negative.
I didn't want to author an entire blog about job hunting and how shitty it is being unemployed, only to have that blog uncovered by a prospective employer and the prospects be dropped.

But I figure after 18 months and over 850 job applications, I might as well. Hell, I'll even throw on some AdSense ads here and maybe even make money. After all, it's a new year, and if every person who was unemployed started a blog, and read the blogs of all the other employed folks out there, and clicked on the ads, we might get this economy back on track!

(Ha ha. That's a joke. Kind of.)

Oh yeah, the classmate at the party: I had talked to her about two months earlier when a job opened up in the department of city hall she worked in.
She'd gotten the job six months earlier, and I wondered if she had any advice on how to get my resume read.
She was sympathetic, but was bewildered as well.
There was simply no way she, as an employee in this department, could do anything to promote my resume in her office. (And I don't blame her, I've talked to lots of people, especially in government positions, and the tools to dissuade cronyism and nepotism as strong in the US. Anyone who tells you otherwise is full of shit -er, can't doesn't know what they're talking about.)

At the party, after a strong swig of hot buttered rum, she brings up the job I inquired about.
"Oh, and that job you called about. There were, like, 500 applications. The hiring manager was totally overwhelmed..."

So I thought I'd start a blog.
I really don't want a pity party, just to vent.

Overview and all that jazz

Is it possible to write this anonymously?

Attaching my name has all sorts of ramifications.
For starters, I'm usually an up-beat kinda guy, but I know writing about my job hunt will make me seem like a cynical, negative curmudgeon.

I'm also not looking for pity, just to vent.

And I realize that I'm not the only unemployed guy in the country. I'm not speaking for everyone who's unemployed, but just illustrate one person's experience trying to find a job.

7.9% of 155.6 million labor force means I'm not the only one out there.

Having said that, here's an overview of the situation. I'll try leaving out identifying details:

I graduated with a Master's degree in the social sciences from a large, prestigious state college in June of 2011.

I graduate with a Bachelor's degree in a different social science from a small and not-so-prestigious state college in 1996.

In between the two degrees, I worked mostly in public education, most of it in typical inner-city schools, often with "severely abused and disturbed youth".

I also "volunteered" extensively, so extensively that I was told by a recruiter not to call it "volunteering" ("that's picking up trash at the beach for an afternoon") but "unpaid employment".

I speak several languages, but only two of them at a professional level.

I'm a published investigative journalist.

My work in response to the 9/11 tragedies won a Human Rights Award.

I once ran for public office as an exercise in professional development. I recruited over one hundred volunteers, including a stellar campaign committee.
I somehow convinced over 300 people to donate to my campaign, yielding over $25,000 in contributions.
I knocked on over 15,000 doors, or an average four hours a day, five days week for three months.
I lost ;)

Mid-May Update

"Hard to believe it's already...."

That clique always makes me cringe, but oh-so true, especially when unemployed.
"It's already fucking MID MAY?!?!?"
Ugh.

I had five interviews last week. Here they are, from least to most exciting:

1: An entry-level job going door-to-door promoting renewable energy. A valiant cause and something along the line of my Master's studies, but... with a base pay of $11/hr and significant driving required around the area, I had to turn down the actual job offer. I think I just applied for an ego-boost, as I knew they'd offer me the job.

2: An entry-level job at a large social service agency that I'm trying to work for. They admit this is a foot in the door, and though only part-time, the base pay isn't bad. Actually, I don't know what the base-pay is, but I'll take it. The job is overnights staff at group homes for "underserved youth", and the interview (actually a second interview at one of the homes) was the product of months-long harassment assertion with these folks for me to work, volunteer or do anything with them. Slowly...

3: A mid-level job with another large social service agency helping people. The interview was also a second interview (after a weird double screening phone interview that was a month earlier), and was for two positions AND a couple temp positions. I really feel like a shoe-in for this one, and if I don't get it I'm going to beat down the door and ask why!  Fun fact: as we waited for the third interviewer to arrive, the main interviewer -my potential boss- asked me about my graduate school program! I tried hard to bite my tongue and say good things about it, but he kept on asking follow-up questions. Awkward!

Oh yeah, the job pays... not horribly (which I define as around $11/hr) but pretty poorly, especially considering my graduate fees.

AND, one last bit: it's a new program in a stretched social service agency and they've taken months to move forward on this, so I'd be surprised if I hear from them within two weeks.

4: A program director for a tiny non-profit organization, that calls itself an organization of organizations. I thought this was my strongest interview, though I got hung up on the term "capacity building". I really don't know how to assess the interview: the position is a little vague, and the office tiny.

I also asked my new favorite interview question: "What, if any, reservations might you have about me filling this position?". They received the question awesomely, and said "you have great experience..." and the reservations were some of the computer programs, adding "I don't think that is a big issue, they can be learned quickly".

5. Screening interview last week (side note: interviewers: it's VERY BAD FORM to conduct phone interviews on speaker phone, especially when the interviewee says "are you on a speaker phone? Cause it's really hard hearing you..."); in-person panel interview yesterday. Small social service agency, but I believe one of the few jobs that would actually pay me what most people think someone with a Master's degree and 15 years of experience ought to make. So I'm trying not to be too excited.

Again, though, this interview had its moments. They're so weird! They made me write an interview afterwards introducing myself to staff... PLEASE LORD INTERVIEWERS WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY? CAUSE I PROMISE I'LL SAY IT...

Sometimes I wish I were just  windmill.