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Thursday, August 13, 2009

"Let's Get Ready to Rumble" (WWF)

Originally, I began this blog to discover what other people's experiences have been, while interviewing, and working. Frankly, I wondered if other people have had the same or similar beefs/complaints as I did. After watching some YouTube videos about work stress, a few of which you can find in the lower left column, I remembered: EVERYONE HAS WORK ISSUES! It was right then that I decided to take myself a little less seriously, and just make this a let's-just-sit-back-&-relax-&-try-to-find-a-decent-gig-&-take-comfort-in-the-fact-that-somewhere-out-there,-there's-someone-more-miserable-than-us site!
Net Positive:

Recently, I discovered that some recruiting practices that I had believed were unfair, actually are commonly accepted norms. Specifically, I had thought that networking was a biased way to recruit. (Don't get ticked off just yet. I know that many of you got your jobs by networking. I'm not judging. I'm just jealous. Apparently, everyone's doing it (except me)!
[Note to self: GET SOME FRIENDS! ... Yet another good reason to join the socialnetworkingosphere (Note to you the reader... I've got 1st dibs on that 23 letter word. I'm hereby coining that one... I think that I'll also take this moment to coin socialnetosphere, & blogovoyeur: someone who watches, or follows a blog. (Not to be confused w/blogojovichovoyeur: someone who likes to watch Roddy B. make a fool of himself.))]
Net Loss:

Over the years, I've had several jobs, and thus far only one career. Little of this employment had anything to do with my aspirations, or education. Despite tailoring resumes to literally thousands of employers, to begin my CAREER, I have always had to take work wherever & whenever jobs presented themselves. However, my acceptance of part-time, temporary, contract, and project work did not scream, "Here's an industrious person!" Nor, did it lend comfort to recruiters, (even those at temp agencies!!!) who seek continuity of employment, and solid references from candidates.
Regarding the aforementioned, "career work"... I just fell into it; by (unintentionally/ironically) networking. It's frightening now, when I look back, to see how many times it happened that I had been offered a job because someone knew someone I knew. Anywho, at that network-derived one-time career firm, our executives worked so hard (around the clock), and were so productive that we were named #1 in our field. Unfortunately, the competition--a big fat conglomerate--bought our company's assets to garner the firm's reputation; the conglomerate hired the CEO, gave him a big fat salary & a non-compete, & left the rest of our "team" out in the cold. We had worked ourselves right out of usefulness (You might think that there's a UNION story in there somewhere... but there's not.) This company had been started during the Internet boom years, and we were all really eager just to be a part of it. We'd signed on as, "independent contractors" to be hired full time, if after three months we demonstrated worthiness, and a commitment to the firm and the work. Three years and a multitude of abuses later, we were all accepting the reality that the stock options we'd been promised didn't exist. We were just wondering if we would even get backpay; and, forget about getting references from someone who screws you.

Bottom Line:

I'm not sure that I have ever really been against networking; apparently, I've benefited from it; I just have been against careless treatment of workers. For example, when good employees can't get (& wouldn't dare ask for) references from a bad employer. Or, when "connected" employees exploit their social proximity to management to the disadvantage of their co-workers.

Moving right along... It's not been all bad. I have learned a lot about numerous fields, and my experiences have afforded me worthwhile, and transferable skills, and insight about a variety of industries. Further, the recent recession has shed light on the vulnerability of most individuals, and entities: public, private, non-profit etc., & across all sectors. So, there is some sympathy/empathy for people who have gaps in their recent employment histories, and networking has been proven to have its limits. (E.g., there are plenty of Wall-Streeters collecting un-employment, and pounding the pavements, despite having more influential friends than, dare I assume, do the rest of us.)

Setting aside the current economic turmoil and concomitant sympathy, for me, the recession began many years ago. Upon graduation, and ever since, I've tailored resumes to literally thousands of employers; dressed appropriately; and asked & answered questions professionally, but consistently came away empty-handed.

Ultimately, I learned two perplexing FACTS: 1) The adage, "It's not what you know it's who you know" is true! (Or, as the wife of a friend once revised, "It's not what you know, it's who you know, and how you use them."); and, 2) Potential employers check your credit to make hiring decisions; student loans can heavily imbalance your debt to income ratio, tanking your credit, thereby, making it essential that you locate career employment immediately--within the 1st 6 months of graduation--during the grace-period for your student loans.

(Whew... that was a mouthful... or, a run-on sentence. Whatever! We're all FRIENDS here RIGHT?! ... In case you missed it... that's my 1st lame attempt to lull you into a false sense of familiarity. I.e., I'm attempting to social net work you.)

Anyway, if you come from a family that could not pay for your schooling, and you endeavor to work odd jobs, do work-study, and take student loans to complete school; but you are not "connected" then you may be relegated to a status of permanently non-creditworthy-&-unemployable (more fun w/words & punctuation (when you're a kid, that's genius rearing it's illusive head, now it's just ... WRONG. Ah youth!) The aforementioned is my status (the permanently thing, not the genius one... but you knew that).

So, perhaps, you can see how this blog serves, in part, as a therapeutic outlet for my own job/work issues.

However, & seriously, it is my greatest hope that this forum, will serve as a place for candid comments, and constructive advice for everyone (whether currently employed or not) to improve their work experiences. To that end, I should remind you that I have held many jobs, and that I have a lot of experiences from which to draw, for those who give a ... toot, hoot, what have you.

Alternatively, you can come here to shake your head about my newest rumblings, and take a jab at work, with a grain of salt, or, "talk amongst yourselves" (SNL).

(Thanks for playing everybody.)

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A Jab At Work Poetry (Poetry about Work)

“Work” by AJA-B, 08/30/09

The life I live is full of Joy,
But fool of sadness have I been,
If rumblings uttered prove us coy,
Then, truth be told both where, and when,
Was once a pair that teetered then,
O’er brinks or hills,
That they could scarce,
Find liquid, bars of salt, but bills,
And toil, though notice paid none dare’st,
To sweat, and pack, and tape, and wrap,
To call, and quest, rebuffed for cost,
To drive five states, and back, for gas
Traverse, from here to there to drink,
While aching back, and sweat-soaked shirt,
Proved naught the laborers’ worth, but stink,
And why should hecklers, wreckers blurt,
And hurl insults until they hurt,
While hypocrites sit conditioned in,
Till out a pair sent all they’d earned,
To others seeking extra, win,
‘gainst those that taught themselves, and learned,
Volumes, nearly choked and burned,
As plumes of hate, and stacks of smoke,
Sparked flames, which brinksmanship, did stoke,
Hellacious fires that GOD awoke,
& Smote the devils’ flames whose’ fire,
Could not the heights of clouds aspire,
& Up the pair in now a shell,
found seeds to plant that vines did swell,
Fat, filling, fruit and tasty cheer,
Revealing teeth, “from ear to ear,”
Now brimming, happily forgiving, hope,
Refilling cranial stores to find,
Surviving, counts for little more than sustaining life, and wasting time.

Digressing now though more is there,
I advise you work, but ne’er care,
Hard work, and success are not the same,
But without the first you’ll reap the blame,
For being weak, and seeming lame,
To end I wish you all the best,
Catharsis exhausts, I needs must rest,
Good luck, “You’re hired” I hope you’ll find,
To ease your cares, and soothe your mind.

© 2009 AJA-B

A Jab at Work Survey

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