Today, January 26, 2007, marks the opening day of Job Search III. Contrary to popular belief, the third installment in the series is neither identical nor derivative of its predecessors. No, if anything, this job search is both more complex, more nuanced, and more anxiety-provoking than the last two.
Like students the world-over, I started thinking about June on about the first day of school. However, unlike my ninth graders last year, I was not exactly holding my breath and counting down the days until I could burst free from the binding scholastic chains. No, I was already worrying about what I’d be doing to put a roof over my head and some food on the table.
I managed to fend off the anxiety for most of Fall quarter with the fantasy that I’d figure it all out over winter break, but New Year’s came and went without a job offer (amazing, considering that it came and went without a job application, either). The best laid plans …
So it is that in the third week of January, I found myself back in the resume-review process at the Career Development Center. Aside from a few minor corrections, my resume received top marks and the career counselor was all set to send me out the door with a smile and a pat on the back. Until I told her that I wasn’t actually sure I knew what jobs I would be applying for.
Over the next twenty minutes, she smiled brightly while recommending a career-determining personality test and noting that, short of being an artist or a musician, being a writer and a nontenured-college professor are two of the most competitive and unstable careers in existence. Finally, she reassured me that, though the average job search takes three to six months, given the nature of my interests, I should plan for six to seven at the minimum. Can I count the past five months of contemplation?
The meeting ended with a thorough tour of the CDC Library and I am proud to say that, after years of ignorance, I now know that “How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying” is, in fact, a real book. Or rather, an entire color-coded series.
To get back to where I started, today I had my first interview of the season. Though I think it went well, I’m still kicking myself for not shaking her hand at the end of it all. And so it begins…