Good-bye

That time is here! This is my last blog and thank you for reading.

This morning,  I woke up and read a yahoo news article, that has summed my situation. The article said, I quote, "Hundreds of job opening listings posted on Monster.com and other jobs sites explicitly state that people who are unemployed would be less attractive applicants, with some telling the long-term unemployed to not even bother with applying."

These hiring managers should have something in mind for setting that as a reason.

How long has it been for me? 7 months of job search? I think I am in that long-term category already. And I am done looking.

If you have been in my situation, I wish you the best of luck in your search. I am sure you will get one. All the best!

Unemployment articles and my first interview

I have been reading unemployment articles from YAHOO!'s site for the past two days now. Two key ideas I read are these: (1) Long- term job-seekers has recently started giving up looking for jobs, because the unemployment rate has been rising. (2) "In 2010, someone unemployed for less than five weeks was three times more likely to get a job than someone unemployed for 27 weeks or more, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics."

I am in my 27th week as of this week! Woohoo!

It's okay though. At least on my 26th week, I got an interview through a friend's friend.

It was for an assistant position, and the person I was supposed to assist is only 2 yrs older than me, at best, if not younger.
Of course, having a Master's degree, - I thought- I could teach this person about film, but I still have to work for/ under him.

I thought the interview went so that I made it clear that I was knowledgable in my field.
I also thought I was interviewing this person for the position because I asked 5 questions to his 2 questions. I was very polite though.

But from the half-assed answers I got in regards to when-will-you-make-a-decision, I figured, they were going to keep looking.

The good outcome from the interview was that I impressed myself as to how knowledgable and great I am- a feeling that disappeared the year I started my Master's degree... Afterall, I thought, I could do this person's job; that's what I am trained to do...

If only dreams made money, bought my groceries and did the laundry...

Upcoming farewell...

Dear (mostly non-existent) Reader,

Thank you for following my blog about my misadventures in looking for employment after getting my Master's degree.

You will notice, I have not blogged for a while. This is because I have been doing a lot of thinking about my future, instead of writing. I have a few last thoughts and ideas that I would like to blog about before I bring this journey to an end, but I am not certain I will.

When I started this blog, I had guessed I would have a job by my 6th month of job-search, since that is the maximum amount of time anyone I know has ever had to look for a full time job. After the 6th month, my blog would be about my "employed" life.

During my 7 month-long job search, I came to realize it was not going to be at all possible for me to get a full-time job. There are reasons -I am choosing not to elaborate here- that I have discovered along the way. That is to say, I realized there might not be a "land of opportunity" for everyone here, after all.

This isn't to say I am going to stop looking for a full time job. But just that I think this blog should come to an end.

This is not my last blog entry; but the farewell is soon coming...


Alas, this blog has been a great journey of self discovery for this Educated Slave.

Thank you for your patiently following my journey.

All the best,

Educated Slave

Passion and Career Success

There have been three occasions this past week that I came across the notion of "success" and "passion."

One of them was at a film screening, where the director's advice to a room full of film students was "find your passion and run with it." He had a point. If you know what you want to do with your life (and you have recently graduated college) you are 50% there. I knew and I got a master's for it. So, I figure I am 75% there. Well, what's that last 25% depending on for my ultimate success, then?

The second occasion occurred when I was watching a foreign movie. You know how deep they can get...One of the characters was telling a story of a boy, who saw a picture of a location. The boy just kept staring at that picture for days. In his twenties, he moved to the city where this location was at. He immediately went to that location. At first, he started by cleaning the leaves in the garden and he repeated this again and again everyday. Everyday, until the location owner noticed him and hired him for this job as a caretaker. The boy- then a young man- had no place else to stay. But this location had only one small room that had the best view of the city. So the location owner gave this small room to the young man in return for him completing the chores in the location. The character who told this story ended up summing this up as, "to have the impeccable view out of your window, you have to work with passionately& hard at it."

So, that last 25%  of my success is dependent on working very hard at what I am passionate for.

Finally, third occasion happened when I was watching the trailer of Vanilla Sky- one of my favorite movies. The quote was "What is any life without the pursuit of a dream." I don't want to sound cliche and quote a main-stream movie for you, but it is just so applicable to my situation, that I cannot not quote it. I am passionate about the field I chose and I have been ( and am going to continue) working hard for it. I also am satisfying my life's purpose in pursuing this dream. So this sounds like, even if I might end up considering myself a failure, I will still have lived a life worth living, just cause I will have spent it in pursuit of something I have dreamt about for so long.

That makes me feel great about my life.

Now, I need to get back to work. Until next time, think about if your life's going to be worth doing it all over again, if it ended today.

Freedom, Free time, "Work" and Positivity

There has been three occasions in my temp assignments so far, where people showed some reaction to the fact that I have a master's degree- the highest level of education I can get in my field. The reactions were along the lines of, "you've got a master's and you're doing this?"

I have been feeling exactly that way - obviously- and have been complaining about it. But still, I couldn't stop taking those jobs. You've been my witness!

But recently, I think I have turned it all around. I declined work, because I have been "unavailable."

It is the truth! Instead of dead-end jobs, I have been working on the list of things I have been meaning to do ( especially during my master's) but I hadn't gotten a chance to. I am now catching up on all the books I wanted to read, all the films I wanted to see and other things I wanted to put on paper. And for a moment there I wondered, who really spends days reading and watching films and call it work? After all, you can work a real job (ie: reception) AND read or watch movies when you get home, right? Wrong!

At this time, I realize it truly was a waste of time to work for the minimum wage. I have been so emotionally drained, doing all sorts of crap work, that all I'd do when I came home was eat and go to bed. May be, I'd check my emails, if I felt up to it.

Now, I feel I have more time to spend. I have more energy. I am more positive. Probably because I no longer commute, or answer phones. Suprisingly, I haven't gotten bored (yet) - considering my personality, I could have. I keep my eye on the prize: my satisfaction with the limited time (limited, because I hope to eventually get a job) that I have free.

I have been worrying though: does that make me lazy? For a couple days, I thought so. Then, I started a notebook where I listed all that I have accomplished for the day. It has been a whole a lot. And now, I don't think, not working a lame gig makes me lazy. I am not making that 5 bucks an hour (after taxes) but I am investing that time for my future. And I think that is one of the greatest satisfaction one can have in life.

The Half-Truth

I took this temp gig for two days. Or at least, so I was told it was going to be two days.

I get to this company to work on time, even a little earlier. I start working, thinking it is going to be a full 8 hours. It turns out they called me in about two hours later than when everyone actually started working. But I didn’t care much since I figured what they were having me do would go longer than their regular business hours…

I can be so naïve sometimes. In four hours, they told me they didn’t have anything else for me to do. They wanted to sign my time card. What am I to say at that point? “No, I was promised 8 hours?” Of course not. Do I even have that right? Well, I let them sign it and  ended up literally wasting the best part of my day, working for the minimum wage.

Then, I went back the next day. I was still hopeful that my first day was just coincidental. But NO!! They worked me another 4 hours and said, “Thanks for coming, it was very nice meeting you.” That was, indeed, all they needed me to do. They just called me in the peek working hours and paid me minimum wage for that work. Wow!

At the end of the assignment, while I was hoping I would get 16 hours of work, I ended up getting 8 hours and I spent 2 days for working those 8 hours.

You’d think, now that I’ve a master’s degree, I’d be smarter. May be not.

Who do I blame? Of course, the temp agency. If they had told me it would be a total of 8 hours, I would've declined. But oh well. I should know better to see the temp agency's too trying to make money off me, so of course they'll tell me the partial truth...

For the next time, I know better.

The Job Market

Officially, six months since my graduation and nothing! Not even an interview!!

Recently, I wasn’t the only temp at this one assignment I took, so I chatted up with other temps to see what their story was. It turned out they were all at the same age, if not a little older than me. They have been laid off during the financial crisis within the past two years and were looking for a fulltime position at that time. Wow.

Many people I meet at these jobs –temps- are often quite honest about their financial situations. Most are aware they deserve better, but also accept that they need to be paying bills too. So that’s why they temp.

I have started questioning the worth my master’s education every day. Was it worth it? Is it going to be worth it? My “competitions” have at least 3-5 more years of work experience. I have a master’s degree and some experience, but still at least 3-5 years less than theirs. Will this Master’s degree help me earn more in the long run? If at all?

Thus far, I seem to think, my master's wasn't worth it. May be it would have been different if I had done a MBA.

This is not to say I am going to give up on life though. I might be giving up on finding a stable job, but I think I am going to come up with ways to start my own business. I have already started brainstorming. Afterall, who -with a master's degree- would like to work as a receptionist anyway???

Your Values versus Your Job

Ever had to do a job that was against your beliefs?

I wondered about this on (last) Monday, for no reason. I had no clue I would be applying for such a job on (last) Tuesday...

I don't mean, "prostitution" when I say against a job your beliefs. That line of work could have moral replication for a religious person. But what I mean is more like "would you challenge your own ethical and moral values, just so you can score couple bucks, or hundreds?"

I guess, for "thousands of $$", some people do, because there is no other explanation for greed of some.

But would you work for, say, the republican party if you were a democrat? Or work for the Serbs if you were the family of a Bosnian victim?

On (last) Tuesday, I actually applied for a job that required a skill I have ( that many don't. Let's call it 'juggling'.) And I left a message to this person saying I am a great juggler, that they should call me back if the job's still available. And as soon as I hang up the phone, I realized this job was for a we-don't-like-jugglers-society.

Oops. Luckily, nobody called me back, which means the job has already gone. But I wondered if any other jugglers -people who have that one skill I have and others don't- have chosen to do the job, for pay. Then, I kept thinking how far would I bend my ethical and moral values for money.

Of course, none of this this would have been a problem at all if I had been doing the line of work/career I had chosen for myself. This was a great wake up call for me. A call that said, I have been doing ridiculous-jobs for money for way too long. I think I need to bring the focus back on what I love doing and am set out to do.

MY FIRST CALL!!!

Yep! Finally. After 5 months of resume submissions, I got my very first phone call today. The lady on the phone wanted to ask me some questions. Was this a good time? It was 2 minutes until the end of my lunch and I was washing my hand in the restroom before I went back, but sure it was! This position is 9-4 with an hour lunch and paid 10 bucks. Was I still okay with it? It's not worth my time, but Yes! Would I be able to immediately start or would I need a two weeks notice? Well, I commit to this job for this week; so the interview would have to happen next week... and I also need to buy some work-attire since my work-wardrobe only lasts me for a week, with repeating... I'd need two weeks notice for the temp agencies.

Then, the happy mood in the air disappeared: "Sorry we need someone to start immediately."

I know what you're thinking. Stop it, right there! Yes, I did change my mind after I hung up the phone. No, I couldn't call back because it was from an unknown number. And yes, I know I can/should ditch a temp job in the middle for a permanent one. But too late. At least, I must've showed them some work ethics, that I am loyal and keep my promises...

Immediately after I realized that I f***ed up my first and perhaps only chance of getting a stable job this year, my mood immediately took a negative turn. People at the place I work must've noticed.

After I mourned the passing of my only chance to a premanent job, I realized, I'd bitch about the pay and the short hours anyways. I have a master's. It is rude to even ask me if I'm interested. Truthfully, no, I am not. I am just interested in the idea of a permanent job because temping makes me feel like a loser.

But oh well. Here's the lesson I learned: When it's an unknown number, let them leave you a voicemail!

"Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself" ~Sartre

I took one of those usual PA-runner gigs again. Everytime I take one, I hate myself for it. I cannot say no and I don't know why. Or at least, I haven't been able to say no and I didn't know why.

But my loser days are officially over.

A very annoying event has marked the end of my time with this place. I was sent on a run, that was supposed to take a good full 2-hours. I was expected to finish it in 1. And when I ran late, my immediate boss called me 4 times in 20 minutes to get the update on how close I was to being done. The fact that I was late had been 100% my boss' fault (because she gave me mundane tasks before she sent me on the errand) and at the end, she put 100% of the blame on me when a whole bunch of people were waiting for me to go out for lunch.

OK, may be I could've called 20 mins before I was expected to be back and had told them I still had another hour to finish the job. But still....Once she knew I was going to be late, she could've just stopped calling. 

I was put under stress and was very annoyed. Not only that, but she goes, "yes, this errand is one of the hardest part of this job." For fucking real? It won't tell you what the errand is but it is something everyone does on weekly, sometimes daily basis...And no, it isn't hard. And the fact that she said it was the "hardest" part of the job made me sound like a "loser," "idiot," " assistant." Listen honey, I at least know how to manage people since I managed 50-60 people at a time before. How many have you not micro-managed? 

And that was the moment, when the ropes went untied; when the fuse blew; when the lights went out.

That was IT for me. Yep. I decided, I wouldn't be back for one other day to that location. I thought to myself, "I have a master's. I don't deserve to do this shit, or take shit from anyone. Even if it might mean I end up broke and have to go back to my hometown to live with my parents, so be it!"

And here's why I thought that:

Sartre once said, a man is nothing else but what he makes of himself.

A man is what he makes himself to be.

I was speaking to one of my intelligent friends, who told me about how the popular kids in her college ended up making more money now; and she and her group of friends - the regular kids in college- became the working class. That has probably been because of the way the popular kids carried themselves; how they perceived themselves; how they "made" of themselves "something."

How you perceive yourself affects the way others perceive you. That will affect the jobs you get, the men/women you attract.

And I figured, by taking these shit jobs, I was setting myself out as the "person who will do anything; will not consider any task too small." True, I was that person about 3 months back. But now, my priorities has changed. I can no longer be the go-to girl for the half day gigs. I don't want to be the person with no-ego, who is just looking to network. It is fine, for a month or two, but not for 5-6 months.

I want to make something of myself. I want to be a person of status. I want to have a proper career. I don't want to suck up to a whole bunch of people to give me a job anymore. I want to only take the jobs I deserve. I don't want to work for free or for very little money.

Time is really money. It must be worth money. The job I do must be worth my time. I'd rather spend my time reading books and writing blogs than fill dishwashers. Cause guess what? Filling up a dishwasher isn't helping me network with anyone. Instead, even the assistants start pitying me or start pushing me around. F-that! If I read books, at least I would nurture my creativity, keep my sanity and the little pride I have left. That way, I might be poor, but at least with some pride and hope for the future.

So, "what now?" you might ask.

Immediately after I came to this realization, I have started writing down the list of things I am looking to accomplish either this year, or in this lifetime. A pattern emerged. I realized, I still need my time to check things off my list. So that is what I am going to do: check things off my list.

Since this decision, I have been selective with my gigs. I declined low-life gigs TWICE in the past week. I no longer worry about "if they don't call me back." Cause you know what? They need ME to fill that crappy assignment, as much as I need THEM to get me one.

Let's see if I can stick to my gut for a week and work on that to-do list!

Lame Happenings

I was going to stop taking lame jobs or at least stop whining about
them. It is impossible to do when lame crap keeps happening. Here are
two quick examples:

1. The man I was assisting left his dirty coffee mug and cereal bowl
on my desk when I was away at lunch to imply "take this stuff down to
kitchen when you get back". Seriously? I have worked for many
'executives' before and this thing is by far the rudest thing I have
ever encountered. My job description said "answer phones and set up
meetings" not "clean the dishes and tidy the kitchen". Especially when
there are 5 interns to do it instead of me. I suppose only in the film
business does a master's degree get you a maid's work.

2. The person I indirectly report to found out that I want a creative
position. She had a handful mundane tasks to get done: organizing the
kitchen cabinets, old documents, cleaning the supply closet ... Etc.
So when she's explaining to me what she needs me to do, she goes "I
need you to use your creativity and organize the cabinets and clean
the supply room". Really ??? You can't be serious. Wow. Getting
creative with the food supply? You're right. It is going to be a life
changing opportunity for me to clean your kitchen cabinets.
This is too much. I think I might be ready for a career change already.

Insane, huh? Stay tuned for more crap!!

A little peace of mind

I know, I have been slacking in terms of blogging but I have been working!! Actually, I took 4 days of work this week. Of course, I only made enough for may be 3.

This week, as usual, I took some crappy work, but I did it because apparently the company that gives me that lame-work, likes the way I do their lame-work. And I stopped caring about what I do on daily basis, because I officially upgraded my thinking habits; adjusted some of my life expectations and I was no longer unhappy. I sort of "raised above," if you know what I mean.

All I had to do was to stop trying to go against the current! Yes, I lowered my expectations and all I cared about work was how fast I did the lame-work or how pretty it looked at the end. Nothing else. I didn't remotely care what people think of me or how they spoke to me or anything... And that felt good.

I also did some background work. At that time, I came to a major realization that I love working long hours on sets. I do. At the end, I was physically exhausted, but happy and satisfied. I met about 4 to 5 people with whom I carried an average of 2 hr-long conversations, most of which was pretty interesting. A total success, in terms of socializing!

So, at the end of the week, I started considering background work a little more seriously. I don't like appearing on TV or movies, but I find I belong there better than I do in an office.

Next week, I am looking to take the whole week off from work. I need to focus on my wants, needs, wishes; work a little more on my plans for the future and perhaps, sketch-out a new work pattern so I don't feel so exhausted of frustration.

One of the most important New Year's resolutions I made this year was to "simplify my life." In  December, I figured there was just too many things going on in my life to remain healthy and sane. It is now May. I don't think I did a good job so far. But from now on, I am going to work harder at it. And here's to the new beginning!

Is it me or the temp agency?

Don't get me wrong. I am thankful that I can at least make 50 bucks here and there.

You know what they say, "beggars cannot be choosers."

A beggar with a master's...

The only reason I have been taking these jobs have been for a paycheck. And the occasional hope, that something temp might turn into something perm.  But I have been very unhappy with the temp jobs I take or the ones I am offered. A receptionist? A runner? An assistant?

Nothing permenant has came up for 5 months as of this month. That's almost-half-a-year of intense job search with ZERO interviews.

This week I came to a realization.

It is either my fault, that I put a higher value on myself than my worth, and so, I dislike the jobs I get. OR It is the temp agencies, who send me out to anything they get, because they figure I am (pretty) desperate ( for work, for money...etc) and that I haven't found anything permenant.

Either way, I always accept work and I am always unhappy with the outcome ( cause the money's never enough; the job's all busy work, too far out to drive...etc etc.)

Could it be that I am just too picky? Or does the temp agency ever look at my resume for my qualifications?
The answer, I don't know. But in the mean time, I find my pride stabbed and bleeding to death. I am also losing my motivation to look for work ( "I won't ever find anything good enough") or to simply work ("I'll just tell them I'm unavailable for the coming two weeks because I don't want to be the one taking out the garbage in the office").

Bottom line is, I am back to my "alternative" search. I am now looking for an alternative to make money which won't cause me to lose my motivation. Let's see what I can come up with!

How LOW will you go?

I had a strategy, right?Right. I was going to do my own thing. You know, go get 'em tiger. I am great and I deserve great and I can do so much better!

Well, I didn't stick to my gut, yet again. I took yet another lame gig as a receptionist. I should have said no. But, nooo!!! I still hate myself for it.

First and foremost, who doesn't ask what the compensation is? Well, I forgot. -Really?? And one thing I learned in this industry is that you ask about MONEY!! (Cause you could end up driving 40 miles one way and spend all that money at the pump! And who wants to do free work when you can drive that far to go to the beach and spend a calm day?)

The job (answering phones) wasn't as bad as the people I was surrounded by though!

The idiot receptionist:
Please apologize the language. But woman, do you know what being a receptionist tells me about you, at a firm like this?? That you're only good at answering phones and other receptionist tasks; that you probably don't have two degrees and that you have probably read less in your life than I did in a year!
But she'd beg to differ. She had so much to teach me. Man, all those faxes that might come in, and the emails... And sometimes, you get calls, and people ask you questions and you have to look the answer up from the computer. WOW. Tough shit!

As I listened, my mind raced: "OMG, why the fuck would I accept such a lame job, I'd rather live on beans & rice than get an education on the importance of transfering a line from the receptionist! "

Well, off she went to her appointment, and I thought I was at peace....But unique characters didn't stop there....

Let me clarify something for everyone: When I take the "receptionist" title, that doesn't automatically mean I am an idiot. Some people don't understand that. I suppose other temps have been idiots... Or this was their first time hiring a temp, may be? I don't know. But what happened was, I met this one woman - the boss- within the first 2 hours of starting my shift. She introduced herself ( let's call her Anna). 4 hrs into my shift, she came up to me and told me to let her know when her friend Matt got there. I said "okay". She said to call her, I said okay. She said, "Anna, Anna, my name is Anna"... And I was like "yes, yes, I know!!!"

Woman, get off my back. I have the list of everyone in the office right in front of me. All I have to do, when your Matt arrives is to dial your number and tell you he is here!!

Did I just spend half a million dollar worth of education so I can be answering phones at the reception?? SHOOT ME!

Oh and the mail boy... You see, I am innately a very friendly person. People who know me would agree. So when I am the first person to see everyone at the reception, I wear a smile on my face and say a hello to whomever comes in. This mail guy came in multiple times, so I was like "hello" once then, hello twice. But when you repetitively come in and out of the office, I am not gonna say hello all the time. So, I kept my smile for when he came in.

One thing you don't realize in Hollywood, is the hitting-on-you factor. Apparently, many people hit on each other. Or else, there's no reason a guy like that would get cocky. He must've thought I was hitting on him because after my second smile he started throwing me a dirty look. Dude, if you don't want me to greet you with a smile on my face, USE THE BACK DOOR!
I cannot believe, even the lame ass, right-out-of-college guy who sucks up to everyone in the office, gets to have that much pride in himself.

I am sorry, but I feel sorry for you.

But then, he has got the permanent gig and I don't!
------

After these people, I am yet again reminded of that initial feeling, that I should be selective about the jobs I take. It's not like spending a day as a receptionist will get me a permanent gig. It's not like I am going to meet some great people who will help me make my career move. SO WHY DO I KEEP AGREEING TO THESE JOBS?
I don't have a true answer for you. Sometimes, I cannot say no because I want the money. Sometimes I cannot say no because I just want to work. Sometimes, it is because my innate positivity hopes that this will be the route to that permanent job I've been looking for. Sometimes I am just afraid, if I said no, the temp agency would stop calling me and I'd be unemployed forever.

So how low will I go? Well, I am determined to not go too low. But I have not defined "too low" yet...

Changing My Game Strategy

I have been missing for a week, I know. That's because I got hired to work on a set, as a PA and I was working 15 hr days; was left hungry most of the time and was very underpaid and underappreciated. No, I didn't meet any worthwhile contacts. Yes, it was one of the worst experiences I have ever had...

No, this wasn't my first time.

Listen, I have done so much crap work until I got to this point - even until I got into my grad school, that I feel I have paid my dues. ALL of them. I earned my place, a higher place that I have been getting hired for. It is true! People who graduated the year I did, from college, didn't end up starting as low as I did. And while those people are getting paid a nice sums now (they have that "at least 3-5 year assistant experience" every job asks for) , I am wondering when my next pay check is going to come...

Is it my fault? Well, not really. Am I going to whine about how unfair it has been? Nope.

All this has been a combination of lack of opportunities on my way throughout years. I have also short-sold myself. I have been easy to take-advantage-off, because I was okay with free work for waaaaay too long. I love work, so instead of setting a standard for myself, I took anything.

All that has been a mistake.

But I woke up, so that's what's important.

All these negative things about my career taught me a one- big lesson. I came to a realization: I have the power to create/generate my own work. At the end, that's what matters to me. I need the money, but in the long term, I don't need to wait for anyone to hire and pay me.

This doesn't mean I am going to stop taking these short-term crappy jobs! I will take them, because you never know what positive thing might come out of them.
But while looking for a long-term stable job, I will not go insane and upset. I will create a game-plan of my own future.

And who knows, may be I will be successful at it sooner than I thought!

Employer Tricks for cheap/free labor- Part 2

This is part two of my two-part “employer tricks to slave you” observations. Such slaving could be for way too cheap or for free. I have observed this first hand.

The “Trial-Period”.

Did you know, some employers are smarter than the law? They can hire you for free and call it “trial period” make the same false promises of “if we like the work you do, this might lead to a job.” Guess what? You work there three months, with the hopes to get hired ( and no, you have not signed anything yet.) At the end of the three months, they come up with a lie about “the shape of the economy” and not hire you.

Oops. Just spend 3 months, working for free and didn’t get hired.

I don’t think you can even put that on the resume. What am I going to tell during my next interview? “Oh yea, that? I was a trial period, but I didn’t get hired because….” Okay. You know you’ re not getting THAT job! Noone cares about the “because” once you’re not hired or fired.

I am not sure how one can ethically justify this or morally. But those employers, they do it.

What I advise one in this situation? Don’t take it. Free labor is only for when you go to school and that is  to "make contacts." If you do it after school, you will seem more like a loser than a hardworker.

Employer Tricks to slave you- Part 1

This is part one of my two-part “employer tricks to slave you” observations. Such slaving could be for way too cheap or for free. I have experienced this first hand.

The “Internship”.

Did you know, some employers can actually hire you for free, call it an “internship”, make false promises of “this might lead to a job” and after they work you for the most heavy-load part of their working year, and say “sorry we are going to fill that opening with someone else?”

Dishonest? Precisely! But many get around it!!

This type, especially when you’re no longer in school, is 100% slavery. They don’t pay you for your gas, for your food and treat you like shit as they make you do their admin work of copying faxing data entry…etc. At the end, they wouldn’t even be a worthwhile reference to you…

Do I have any advice for anyone in this situation? Not really. I understand how you feel, buddy, but it won’t be worth your time at the end, so quit before you regret having wasted your time.

“I’m all booked but please call back in the future”

Another week without a gig and everyone can smell my desperation from miles away. I keep calling to be booked as a background because I am about to lose my mind out of boredom.

So I called in for this work the other day. The announcement asked for attractive ladies mid 20s to mid 30s. I figured, I am not so attractive, but I meet the age requirement. So I will try my chances. If I get booked, that’s great. If not, I won’t have lost anything.

The line kept ringing busy for about 15 minutes. I kept calling with 15-20 second increments. Finally, it rang. And rang, and rang. I must say, it rang for about a minute or at least, it felt like a minute. A polite lady answered. She got my information down, and checked my picture out. Then, she said, “I’m all booked now but please call back in the future.”

I must admit, I don’t do well with rejection. This rejection, I figure, wasn’t because it was booked, but because she was polite enough to not tell me I wasn’t attractive enough.

I always work very hard, so I most often than not, get what I want. But really, this time there was nothing I could work hard at to get that job. Generally speaking, finding a stable job has nothing to do with how hard you work. I have yet to figure out what it has to do with, though, besides a personal contact. Any ideas?

The Truth about Unemployment in America

I have NOTHING to do. No jobs to apply, no temp gigs to go, no background work. The employment tree has dried up, that's for sure. My patience has started drying up with it, as I celebrate my quarter-year anniversary of having graduated & being unemployed.

I figured I would read up about what's going on out there for other people. I was reading on other job-related blogs as well as some newspaper articles about education and umployment. And I was amazed to find out that there are a-whole-lot-more unemployed college graduates than I anticipated. On the positive note, I am a step ahead of them (hah! I've got a master's!). On the negative note, I paid more for my education and am much older for anything they qualify.

So I have spent two full days thinking ( yes! you heard me right, thinking) about an avenue out of this. What can I do to create a job opportunity for me? What can I do to find my own "path" so I won't have to compete for an "entry level" position that asks for 3-5 year assistant experience, along with a bunch of my classmates AND recent college graduates? Cause thousands of people are finishing college each semester and the competition pool is getting bigger and bigger. That means, having graduated last year will no longer be "recent" when the summer comes around.

Did I get anything out of my thinking? Nothing. Nope. Nada. So, I'm going to be taking another day or two to think some more. I have nothing better to do anyway, right?

Starved for a job...

Yesterday, I must have lost it. I didn't get off the phone between 11 am and 6 pm. I called in non-stop to be a background, because I noticed, my temp agencies weren't finding me anything. I don't know why, but I got overly ambitious getting an assignment this time and ended up becoming frustrated.

I think I am going to be paying more in telephone bills than what I have made this month.

After yesterday, I came to my senses though. Today, I limited my calls because I realized, this was becoming an addiction.

"Can you really be addicted to calling in for a job?" you might ask. Apparently, you can! It is probably because I am so starved for a job and that I need to earn more money. I just wish for a relatively longer assignment or a real job so I can get out of this job-search addiction.

Entertainment Industry has no shame!

Since I don't have any assignments today, I was applying for jobs until I ran into this listing. And I just had to share this:

"An immediate opening for an administrative assistant/floater. MUST have a minimum of 2 years prior experience"

FOR REAL? 2 years experience to be a floater? 2 years experience so you can distribute someone's mail, cover their phones for when their assistants are out, go on their runs? If I have done all that for 2 years already, do you really think I would want to go on a 3rd or 4th year doing it? Cause you might really want to be a career floater...

Live and Learn- Ways other temps will screw you over

If you ever have to work with other temps, DON’T! Okay, only if the other temp is evil, don’t.

I was at this one an assignment with another temp, who at first seemed very nice. But you shouldn’t judge a book by the cover… There were some things this temp did to specifically make me look bad and no, I am still not happy about it...

First, she had a task that required ¼ of the attention I had to give to mine. She kept loudly announcing how I was going slow. Girl, for real? Stick to your job and don’t try to exceed your title as a “temp”, will you?

Our boss seemed easily manipulated. So the temp purposefully repeated that I was going slow. Hopefully, the boss was intelligent enough to understand this other temp’s motivations behind her comments.

We were told, there would not be any overtime. So the options were (1) finish the work as quickly as possible, (2) don’t finish the work, (3) work the overtime but not get paid.

Of course, who would want to work overtime and not get paid, especially if you get a job every 2 weeks? So #3 was out of the question. #2 doesn’t fit my work ethics (but the other temp seemed real cool about it, “you can only do what you can do at a time given” she said. Well, that left only #1- to finish the work. So, I filled up my caffeine and brought on the snacks and focused all my attention to this work and worked through 8 hours with 30 minutes of break. I hardly ever left for the bathroom or any other break. On the contrary, the other temp slowed her pace down (X amount of work, which took her 30 minutes before, ended up taking her 2 hours) and took a longer lunch ( maximum you can take was one hour).

Our boss had to leave earlier. But she assigned someone else to sign the timecards.

I did as I was told. I was done right at 8 hours and was exhausted. The other temp managed to still have some work left, though. Not only that, but the assigned someone wanted to leave early too so she got her timecard signed blank. Oh wow! And that thing about not getting overtime vanished right there!!!

I sometimes wonder how successful I could have been if I could pull off unethical behavior in the workplace… Wouldn't you agree?

Youngsters in the Workforce

The biggest disadvantage of getting a Master’s is, when you end up working at a job, your bosses often turn out much younger than you are. You see, most often than not, they are incapable of managing anyone else but themselves. You figure, you can do a much better. Yet, since you’ve been spending your years getting a – at this point, useless- degree, you are working for them, instead of with them.

How unfair, isn’t it?

Your usual office gig isn't the only place younger people have flooded. Remember that alternative job I am doing? Most of the background actors I meet is often younger than me. And I will admit- I am not THAT old. The other day, when she found out that I had a master's, this 20 year old said "you must love school." Back in the day, when I was 20, I admired those who got a master's degree, not criticized them. But oh well. At this point, I need to start getting used to being old, don't I?

With the younger people in the workforce, the expectations in the maturity level got lower too. But I suppose, as long as the work gets done quickly, right?

It seems to me like all the temps are older, but permenants are younger. Could that observation be true? Anyone?

Camera Shy

Finally, I did something to get paid!

On any other day, I would be picky about the work I take. But I haven’t gotten anything for over 2 weeks, so I figured, whatever I take will help me buy groceries.

I became a background actor and acted as filler on this one show. A show, I would NOT watch. This was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. I was getting paid to appear on TV, but I really didn’t want to appear. The whole day, I was afraid to be caught by the camera; worried someone I know might see me on the show and contact me via facebook -or any similar social network- and announce their discovery publicly.

I made sure to watch that show on TV later on that day, to make sure I didn’t appear on it at all. Like I had a right to edit it, or something. :) Well, lucky for me, I didn’t appear on it and my facebook nightmare didn’t happen.

At the end of the day, when all my expenses (lunch, gas, initiation fee) were deducted, I was not left with much, but I was happy to have made my initiation fee back ( cause I was convinced this was a useless expense.) When I got home, my feet were hurting like hell and I had twice as many wrinkles – because of the sun-. Oh well. Just a small price to pay for groceries...

New Avenues

You might wonder why I have not been blogging. You might have also figured it is probably because I have not gotten an assignment in the longest while. If you guessed so, you were right.

Truth of the matter is, my luck hasn't been this dry in my lifetime. In the past 2 to 3 months, I must have sent out more resumes than I have ever had in my career. I haven't heard from a single person. Statistically, that doesn't sound right. I mean, I have Master's degree, right?The total net worth of my education is a quarter million dollars, right? If I am not getting a job, who is filling those positions???     Well, apparently it happens.

The wonders aside, I figured, if I weren't getting any jobs ( permanent or otherwise) that I would start looking for new avenues to make a living. YES! No stopping in this game. This must be the survival instinct...

And I found one. And I immediately signed up with an encouragement of couple friends.
So at this new gig, I paid a small amount of money to sign up- which I am told, I make back on the first time I work. This sounds so wonderful, doesn't it? Well, it turns out, getting the first gig isn't as easy as it sounds.

It is background acting. So first, you must fit into their criteria ( and I mean, the criterias are quite ridiculous- mostly about your physical look/abilities). Then, you must be willing to drive to where the work is ( with $4.09 /gallon of gas, you really don't want to drive too far if it isn't worth it). Finally, you must commit your whole day and perhaps another, but you wouldn't know that until the day you're working.

Too many unknowns, too little need for a master's degree.

I am going to be honest: I am really not so excited about this new avenue. But you know, it's a matter of survival. So I will keep calling. Perhaps I will get something soon and at least make back my initial fee, right?

A Life Lesson Remembered

Most recently, I was lucky enough to get one day of assignment again. I say “lucky,” because although I am told that the economy’s getting better and more people are hiring, I haven’t been able to benefit from that.

So, I was a runner for that day. You might wonder why take that job, especially you have roughly a quarter million dollar worth of education... Well, you’ve got to do, what you have got to do! This business is tough and I take what I get.

During this assignment, I was sent to multiple locations to run the company’s errands, like deliveries.

For one of my errands, I had to make a delivery to this place where I used to work at. That didn’t feel good. And we hadn’t part our ways in harmony, I must say. I left there tear-eyed and bitter and everyone else was sad that I was going, but still cheerful that they were staying. After that job, it took me many months to get over and see the blessing in disguise.

So I got back to that same workspace and all the icky memories came back. Even the door attendant was still the same. Of course, he didn’t remember me, but I did. And of course, I pretended I didn’t either. But instead of the bitter feelings this time, I appreciated the chance to have left that place for a better future. That was indeed a blessing in disguise because if that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have gotten into a field I have a passion for and gotten a master’s education!

Now, you might ask, “what good has that done to you?” Well, as one of my good friends says, patience is a virtue. Who knows, I might get a call tomorrow for that permanent dream job! But until then, I am going to practice patience.

The Office Rivalry

It is not spoken, but it exists...the office rivalry. The assistant's assistant, or the office assistant, is worried about getting fired. The assistant (one above him) is worried about losing  his/her job to the bottom one. The assistant's boss (3rd from below) is worried s/he won't get promoted and s/he will need to look for a new job. The boss of them all doesn't give a shit about any of this at all.

The best part of not having a permenant position - if I had to be positive now- is that I get to visit different offices and see different practices. Here is one practice I most recently ran into:

A secretary/receptionist has tried to scare the office assistant, the intern and the temp away, saying that the boss doesn't like to see them hang around. Why? No reason. This secretary/receptionist says, the boss has this thing about lo-lives ( s/he didn't word it that way, of course) and that the boss just doesn't think these people are necessary...

So, who is necessary exactly, at the work place? Does this boss think the crap-work would get done if any of these people were absent? Would the boss do all the work by him/her-self?

Of course, it doesn't require a PhD degree to figure out at some point, that this secretary/receptionist was trying to get the lo-lives out of sight, so s/he would seem to be doing all the work. But his/her scare tactic has worked! The intern, the office assistant and the temp- all got out of sight, at least for the time I was working there. And s/he "seemed" to spend 10+ hours a day doing all the work.

The lesson? I think the competition happens because people at the workplace feel insecure about their future, or they think pulling the mat under one's feet is the way for them to move up. Also, I think sometimes the tasks at work overlap. Finally, the society's standard of 15 hour work-days , define "successful," so everyone strives to look "successful."

The solution? I don't have a definite solution for this since I find that some people are competitive by nature. But when I have my own company, I will make sure to  (1) define & design every position's work/task load, (2) value "efficient" time management (3) appreciate and show appreciation for the employee -so they won't feel insecure and try the scare of the lo-lives. If I could, I would also (1) punish the ones who play an unfair game.

Who knows? May be I could be the owner of  one of those " top companies to work for"!

Get to know your temp- they are humans too

Now, I don't ever get why one would want to ignore the temp they hire on purpose. You're paying someone the minimum wage to catch up for the work that you - or people who work for you /you work with- slacked for; or as a replacement for someone who didn't show up; or whatever the reason it might be... Temps are the bottom of the food chain. They have no way to compete for anybody's title. They're just like that one type of fish you put in your aquarium who cleans up all the seaweed that grows on your aquarium glass.

As you might be able to tell, that has happened to me. Actually it was worse. But it's okay. Somebody else's mistake taught me a lesson.

When I own my own company, I will make sure to get to know the interns as well as the temps- whomever is working on the premises. Sometimes, the least important people also need some appreciation, beyond the minimum wage. That's the least one can do- to acknowledge the existance, a basic human respect.

The Intern vs The Temp

You know what is soooo weird?
When you are an intern, you are treated so well that you are thinking, "man, they will hire me". Then, they don't. You're disappointed.

Months later, someone else hires you for the minimum wage and those figure, they can torture the life out of you, since you're getting paid. Even the interns around you see themselves as a kings and queens, at that point... The funny thing is that the interns probably know less than you- the one with a Master's degree and gazillion prior internship experience... But still, you're getting paid, hence it justifies you getting pushed around, doing the crappiest of the jobs.

The intern vs the temp differentiation is not only in the attitude, but also in the tasks they are given. When I was an intern at many of my internships, I actually was given serious projects to carry on. There was a sense of accomplishment at the end. When I became a temp (the duration of the assignment was just as long), I spent more time photocopying, filing, lifting boxes and cleaning work-spaces (and otherwise) than ever in my lifetime. Again, justifying my point of, paying you must mean "owning your soul", right?

As I said,  I find all this very awkward. The hierarchy doesn't really have a logic. All is can say is  "tough economic times, man"...That's how I justify why I do this type of work. No shame in my game.

When I have my own company, I am going to spare 30 minutes to meet every intern and temp -if they wish to meet me- to let me ask me any work-related questions they want. I want to make sure I acknowledge their existance and show them I appreciate the work they do for me. After all, I don't want to spend hours photocopying while I can do something better with my life, like having lunch meetings and going out to social events, right?

Why Blog? Why now?

Why Blog? I must remember what I have been through to appreciate where I end up.
Why now? This is just the beginning. The journey will be long and hopefully worth it.

I have recently graduated with my Master's from a relatively prestigious school and am currently looking for a full-time position that will make me feel like all the time, money and the effort that has gone into my multiple degrees have been worth it. Is it a dream to find that job? Thus far, it seems so! But I am still hopeful.

This blog is my journey to get to that point: the full-time position and then some.

I am not sure which is worse: to be umemployed with a master's degree or to be overqualified for every short assignment I end up taking... Either way, I fit into both these categories... I have recently taken up an assignment where everyone in the company were as pleasant as one could ever want. So pleasant that the -insert your adjective- things you are asked to do ( washing the dishes, cleaning/stocking the kitchen, running the errands...etc) seem bearable. Have I mentioned I have a master's?
But then, I ran into one person in the same company who, in-between-the-lines, spoke: "slave the girl, that's what we're paying her for." Suddenly, all the good things I was thinking came to an end. Not that I care much about what she said, since I was only there for a few days. But really now, who wants to be underpaid and be pushed around at the same time, when you KNOW you can do so much better?

So, in short, I once again understood how well to treat people working beneath me. I always have been kind, but from now on, I will make sure to be extra kind. Cause you never know who's working for you...