The Job Hunt

Last March, I finally turned 18 and entered the adult population of the United States.  When I graduated school and ran off to college, I told myself that I would find a job and spend most of college working off my debts.  Throughout high school, I was constantly busy with theatre, speech, cross country, and being incredibly lazy, so I never really had much work experience outside of volunteer work.  But every once in a while, I would decide to search for a job.  It usually went pretty well.

Yeah, I looked for like two hours, sent in one application, didn’t follow through on the application, and then was “surprised” when I didn’t get the job.  Don’t worry, I’m an expert actor and everyone was none the wiser that I really didn’t want it in the first place.

In fact, I didn’t even really start searching for a job on campus until April started.  I managed to sneak into a position filled by my now-graduated friend, so I’m totally set for next year, but there’s kind of the whole summer season in front of me right now, and I happen to like getting money.

As we were parting ways, my friends and I were all talking about what we planned on doing over the summer.  David was going to work at Arby’s, like he had throughout high school.  Ivan had an offer at a golf course.  Joe was going into yardwork and construction (he’s Mexican so we felt particularly bad about laughing at his job, then felt a little better as we found out he was making way more money than us anyway).  Everyone else was getting offers and applying everywhere.  When it got to be my turn to speak of my summer plans, I had one definite mantra:

And this time, I would be dedicated!  I would be determined!  I wouldn’t slow down until I had a job!  I walked, drove, searched on the internet, did anything possible to get applications and interviews.  I was willing to take anything, from fast food to being a bank teller.  Anything to get a little coin so I could have a little car for myself.

The process was relatively easy and stress-free, too.

But I kept at it, despite my morale and ego spiraling further and further down the figurative drain in the metaphorical shower that was my life.  Relentlessly, I sent out applications, as if my life depended on it.  It also didn’t help that my parents were suddenly in “GO MODE” for home repair and were threatening to make me work…outdoors.

I cringe just thinking of the sunlight and hot temperatures, I really do.

Weeks passed (like a whole two and a half), and I wasn’t going anywhere.  I had an interview here or there, but apparently the mythical summer job is either a thing of the past or never existed in the first place.  That, or I wasn’t qualified, or over-qualified for the position (which is quite possibly the worst things to hear as someone who hasn’t had a constant paycheck their entire life).

I was devastated.  Angry.  Confused.  Every night, I would hole myself up in my bedroom with my only true friend…a can of Orange Crush, turn my phone off, curl over, pull the covers over my head, and think of creative ways to have the entire employee population mysteriously become unable to work.

The problem with having a creative mind meant that none of my plans, which included both an army of skeleton bookcase zombies that shot poisoned works of fiction and the ever-entertaining “rocks fall, everyone dies,” actually worked.

It was about last Tuesday the inevitable happened.

Tuesday and Wednesday I spent mostly on my butt, surfing the internet and playing Minecraft.  It’s amazing how much one can accomplish when faced with crushing disappointment at how unemployable one is.

On a side note, I hear that professional Minecrafting is actually a pretty luxurious business.  But you probably need work experience for THAT, too.

Then, yesterday at about Lunchtime, when I was at my lowest (and also highest, I’m helping build a city in the sky on my server), the unthinkable happened.

I had a job offer!  I would be working 20 hours a week as an intern for my local church, the place where I did most of that volunteer work back in high school!  So I decided to go for it, and next week, we’re going to set up my schedule.  I start in the first week of June, and for once, things are actually going my way.

And I also think I’ve learned a valuable lesson with this whole situation: