Journal

Since I'm writing about careers nowadays...

I applied for a job position a few weeks ago. And to be clear, as I wasn't in my last post, I apply for 1) anything that looks interesting to me and 2) anything where I think my degree/background could come in handy (and these are often more along the lines of jobs I wouldn't really want or wouldn't be my first choice, though they are usually more reasonable to think I'd get the position), as long as I might be able to live off of what the jobs pay. This position would actually fit both descriptions, for a change, or so I thought. Anyway, I applied and one day almost a week or so after I applied, I received a phone call basically saying they wanted to speak to me about the position. I didn't answer the phone when they called because I like to screen calls and no phone number showed up when they called, and it wasn't a good time for me to talk anyway. Ever since then, I have not been able to get in touch with the person who called me. I have called, not an excessive amount of times, but have left three messages over about the course of one week.

Now, this is the first time I'm mentioning the job to anyone in any sense because I hate telling people about opportunities and then consistently not getting them. I started wondering if maybe telling people was some kind of jinx, even. Plus, this was a position I was surprised to be called about, let alone thinking I'd realistically get it. If this employer is anything like many other employers in this field are, I'm not totally qualified for the position.

Well, I did a little more research on the job type, and it seems that oftentimes there's not really a salary--it's one of those commission deals, and apparently employees generally don't make anything starting out. Sometimes employees get a salary, but it seems like not usually. Other than that, the job seems pretty good and seems like it'd, more or less, suit my kind of background. Plus, the opportunity to make really good money is there, which is good as far as getting loans paid off quickly. So, the lack of salary would be fine if the job were in a location where I could afford to live without money for a while, i.e. somewhere I could just bum off family. That's not the case, although I could probably ask a friend in the area if I could stay with her for a while (which is nowhere near as comfortable an idea to me as living with family)--the main concern is that I'd be there too long. Now, I still don't know whether or not the place that called me offers a salary, and at this point it's looking like I never will.

A lot of things employers do nowadays frustrate me, and I now have this to add to the list: if the position is no longer available or you're no longer interested in a candidate, and they are calling, why ignore them? Unlike a lot of people, I understand that employers receive a lot of resumes and can't respond to each one. But once you've shown some interest, why then disappear without an explanation? I guess I ought to take this as a bad sign about the place itself, and probably as a good thing, too, if they don't pay a salary.  

Are career coaches a waste of money? I think they might be. Maybe it depends on the one. But I'm thinking their job description needs to be "to make money."

I had what I guess can be described as a consultation with one where I got a price quote. Now, I wasn't seriously considering using a career coach when I met this person, but I didn't think it would hurt to look into it. I sent her my resume and, of course, she ripped it. You're not going to get a new client by telling them their resume is fine. And saying it wasn't is fine, because I know it's probably not perfect and one of her points about it made sense. However, the resume is for legal jobs, and several people in the legal profession--people from career services at my alma mater included--have looked at my resume and said it's fine, to say the least.

It seemed like initially, the coach's criticisms were targeted more towards using that resume to get a job outside of law, and it's definitely not the kind of resume you want to use for that. But even after I explained to her the above two sentences and that I haven't used that resume for writing positions, she still had nothing but criticism. So this let me know that either she doesn't know the slightest bit about helping lawyers and/or she's primarily about her money. And even if it's just a lack of knowledge about how lawyers try to get jobs or transition--which I questioned her about and she didn't really answer--that's still a problem for me. That could mean paying her and still not being able to reach my goals. I know from personal experience that people with law degrees are treated differently on the job hunt, and not in the best way.

And like I indicated before, this is a person who, even during consultations, is not really answering questions or is treating them as politicians do. So, again, I'm thinking she's primarily concerned with money. I believe a good resume is important, but it's just not going to help with employers who want years and years of experience in a certain field or who want you to have a degree in a certain area--and that seems to be most employers. And she ignored those questions/concerns. Besides, why would you pay someone to work on your resume only? You can find so much help with that online for free. Writing resumes is not, in my mind, what a real career coach should solely focus on, and at least for right now that's all she cares about. If she can't even answer a couple questions for me before paying her concerning what use the resume would be, then why should I think any of this would help?

And this is a pet peeve of mine--she also didn't really seem to be listening to what I was telling her. I could give several examples, but I don't feel like going over all that. But needless to say, someone who is not listening to you can't help you. And it doesn't seem like good business to talk to someone before they've agreed to work with you and not listen, not answer questions and just comment repeatedly in different ways how they need your services, because that's a sneak peak of how things would be after money changes hands.

Another thing that let me know she doesn't totally get it, especially with respect to law and today's economy, is she asked why I'm applying for jobs I'm not not interested in. Hello? How out of touch do you have to be with everyone in this nation today to wonder why people apply for/work jobs they're not interested in? One of my friends on DS and I have talked about this before. For those of us not running our own businesses and coming up with ways to get money out of people, it's a little more essential to work jobs we can actually get that pay real money than to just chase dreams. Sad, but true in America. Otherwise, half of us would probably be in Hollywood or New York City trying to live it up right now as an actor, musician, writer, model or whatnot. I bet all of us can count on one hand the number of people we know who are working jobs they actually want and like. It's first and foremost about making a living. And working as a lawyer right now will allow me to make the money I need before working as a writer would, and even for low-paying public interest jobs as a lawyer at least I can get loan repayment assistance. You don't get any help for low-paying writing positions. 

Geez, I would just be amazed if people fall for her scare/aggressive/political tactics.