Why I Love The Internet

by Mush on February 27, 2007 · 7 Comments · in Social, Travel, Work

In which it turns out that complaining does do you some good.

Yesterday I felt all shitty and marginal and rejected and sorry for myself, so I wrote a big old whiny post about it. Within an hour of posting I’d had two heartfelt private emails and a long IM conversation aimed at helping me work it all out. That’s why I love the Internet.

No good news today on the job front. That last place isn’t going to hire me, I can feel it, so I’ve applied for a few jobs in Iowa City: one position at the University, a couple of cool jobs off of craigslist, an office job through Kelly Services.

The problem, I think, is that I have to rein it in during interviews. No one wants to know how smart I am. No one wants me to ask them why they chose the questions they use, nor do they even want me to answer their clever interview questions honestly. (When they ask me for my five-year plan, I will say I want to still be working for their organization). No one wants to hear about my work philosophy or that I’ve engineered myself out of jobs in the past. No one wants to hear personal anecdotes that take more than 15 seconds to tell, and no one gives a shit about what I’d like in a job.

Iowa City’s only an hour away, so I can easily drive up there for interviews. I might go up there this week and register at Kelly Services in person, maybe take their skills tests; maybe they can get me some temp work immediately. (There aren’t any temp agencies with actual work in Fairfield or Ottumwa; I’ve already tried that angle.)

I can’t move very far away because I haven’t got enough money to achieve escape velocity, but I could get to Iowa City. I like it up there, it’s a college town, there’s coffee and books and jazz, and there’s work. It has it’s own craigslist (where I saw three dog-friendly housing situations!!!). I even know a few people up there, one of whom told me to apply at the University — for the second time — in yesterday’s comments. After a stint there, I could escape Iowa altogether, if that ever seemed necessary.

In other news, my dog has a big old lump on her side. It’s driving me nuts. It came up rapidly, isn’t affecting her appetite or digestion or behavior, and doesn’t hurt her, but I hate it anyway.

 
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7 Responses to Why I Love The Internet

  1. Jim@HiTek says:
    February 27, 2007 at 8:02 pm

    Lumps on a dog, that may not cause pain (don’t have expirience with any that do cause pain), can be cysts. No biggie. Let it go until you have resources to deal with it.

    *sigh* Okay. -m

  2. naomi says:
    February 27, 2007 at 8:09 pm

    🙁 i wish there was something i could do to help. university might be a really good idea, or perhaps one of those technical schools that you could get a certificate from and get working using it within a year.

    i’m thinking of you.

    I can’t go back to school, I have $40k+ in outstanding student loans as it is. I wish I could go to school forever. -m

  3. one3y3 says:
    February 27, 2007 at 9:43 pm

    I found a lump on my mom’s dog one summer. It progressively got bigger and bigger, and he would lick it alot (it was on his abdomen). I told my mom about it and she took him to the vet. Turned out to be some kind of parasitic worm that burrows under the skin.

    Here’s hoping your pooch doesn’t have a burrowing parasite 😉

    I just tried to leave a really intelligent, wonderful comment at your site but comments were being all bitchy. Gah. -m

  4. Shigeki says:
    February 27, 2007 at 10:27 pm

    I couldn’t comment on the post the other day because I didn’t know what to say. But it looks like there is a way out in Iowa City (I had to google it to know exactly where it is). I am relieved to know there are opportunites you can get. 🙂 I hope things will work out this time in Iowa city. Sending you good thoughts. Peace.

    Aw, thank you. *hug* -m

  5. ~pj says:
    February 28, 2007 at 6:22 am

    Glad you found the encouragement you needed. I was helpless because I was thinking the same things about myself. “Utterly directionless” ~sigh~

    I was so impressed with the job interview post because I so suck at interviews. Even the pretend interviews I’ve been forced to endure at community college.

    But you’re right, they don’t want someone better than them, or someone with high aspirations. They all want good little cubicle monkeys.

    Is there a community college there? From my experience at my sorry school, you could be the queen instructor in anything.

    ~pj

    Good little cubicle monkeys. Christ. Why in the holy hell is the world set up like this? DOES THIS MAKE ANY SENSE?!? -m

  6. soy vuboq says:
    February 28, 2007 at 8:58 am

    Good for you. It’s a really good practice to go back and analyze your interviews. Don’t forget to focus on what you did right, too! I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you!

    *hugs*

    Thank you. You rock. -m

  7. Jim@HiTek says:
    February 28, 2007 at 9:33 am

    In ‘How to take an Interview’ courses, they always suggest that you call the company a few days later and ask about their decision, they did tell you they would be calling you after all, and if it’s negative (who knows, that storm might have knocked out their power for a few days), you can ask them why. Since they went by the book during the interview, they’ll expect that call, and you’ll learn something.

    I generally end interviews by asking when they’re closing the position and when they’ll be deciding. I also ask them to let me know their decision either way. Then I call back the day after they said they’d decide. I’m more worried about being too aggressive than about being under aggressive. -m