A New Year

Tomorrow marks a new year for me, and one I wish would never have come. I start substitute teaching again with a gig for the 2009-10 school year at a charter school in Mesa. Frankly, I had hoped that by now someone, somewhere, sometime would tell me that they liked my resume, wanted an interview, and wanted to hire me. I mean, I've only been networking and sending out over 1,100 resumes since March, 2008 for a job after college. I started my job hunt with a nationwide search for political jobs, and now I'm sad to report that I'm not only no closer to a job in the field which I love, I'm also having trouble finding anything even at a retail level. I've tried everything from calling in favors to making sure to show up at events to get my name and face out there to propective employers, to going to career fairs and seeking help from the Arizona Department of Economic Security. I've tried to market my way into the US Navy, Major League Baseball, Congress, the Arizona Legislature, PR and marketing firms, and grassroots work. I've handed out resumes at restaurants, grocery stores, office supply stores, big boxes, mom and pop's, theaters, equipment managers' offices, and gas stations. I've spoken to Chiefs of Staff, Vice-Presidents, hiring managers, HR operators, placement service representatives, and resume experts. I've placed myself on Facebook, LinkedIn, Career Builder, Monster, Jobing, Conservative Jobs, and Snag A Job. I've answered ads from newspapers, magazines, websites, billboards, sandwich boards, and notices on doors. I've felt happy, crushed, depressed, frustrated, distraught, crazy, content, understood, annoyed, and worthless. I've had jobs for one day, three weeks, and two months at a time, and volunteered numerous times. I've had people say that they'll call me back and never do, and others tell me that they want to help me, yet never take any actions. I've been both helped tremendously by my family, and yet also at times had my joblessness used against me by them, and I've been given enough contradictory and paradoxically confusing advice from friends, family, friends' parents, and complete strangers to last me a lifetime and then some (almost none of it very helpful). I suppose the gist of all this is just to rant a little bit and disassociate myself once more from a moment of weakness on my part for showing emotion at all about the subject. Isn't it funny how people always seem to assume the worst whenever a chink shows in your armor? Like right now, I imagine you're sitting there reading this and thinking to yourself "wow, this kid sounds rather manic depressive, a little bipolar, and slightly off his rocker." Fear not, dear reader, I'm actually perfectly calm, and I find it rather enjoyable actually to just let words flow from my brain into the keyboard and onto this screen. It's almost theraputic complaining online: no one to give you those sad, pitying stares; no petty conversation about how "the economy will get better, and you'll find something soon;" and definitely no more advice. I suppose it's a little paradoxical in and of itself that I'd be putting feelings like this into a paper-and-ink format, so to speak. I'm looking for a job, likely one that's going to require some knowledge if not expertise in social media and communications, and yet, I'm blogging about my struggles in the job market to the very people who are probably going to be reading this to hire me. I hope it's a characterization of my writing ability more than it is a snapshot of my mental frustrations. In reality, I'm a very loyal people person with a love of books, writing, and an appreciation for the finer things in life, such as the arts, fine dining, the semi-arrogant aire of 1950's high society. I'm old school conservative, closer to John Locke than to Ronald Reagan, yet not Libertarian enough to fit in with much of the pendulum-like extremes we see conservatives declaring themselves to be in today's world. I'm a hard worker, preferring the performance of tasks during the workday to idle chat and gossip, and I adore learning. I'm typically a team leader, a fast and accurate worker, and a decent typist. I get bored easily with overly repetitive tasks, but throw in a little variety, and I'm good-to-go. I love being outside, yet hate the heat of Arizona's summers, so give me either winter here or another state's cooler climes. And I am anxiously awaiting changes in my life to enable me to seek out some of the things I've been missing for 24 years, like a serious relationship, the ability to have my own apartment and car, and the opportunity to explore some of the things I enjoy as hobbies, like cooking, hiking, and writing. If I sound like the type of person that you need for your business, or you know of someplace where I might fit in, please contact me. My email is in my profile on the right-hand side of this screen. Until my next post, dear readers, I remain a bloodhound on the trail of the ever-elusive recession-bound job.