Bitch, Bitch, Bitch

[delalluvia]

Del, I have had the exact same experience, and I have been looking for a year. I've applied for many jobs I know I could do well, jobs I feel way overqualified for, and not even gotten calls.

My theory is that there are so many people out of work that companies get picky and hire people who have experience in that exact narrow specialty. Not that those candidates are necessarily the most qualified, but that they at least have some demonstrated ability to do that specific thing, so they seem like a safer bet.

I felt a little better when I interviewed a woman the other day for an article I was working on. She's been out of work for almost a year. She's in product development. Prior to this, she was always in fast-track, six-figure jobs, traveling around the world, soaring up through the ranks, etc. She has had to switch jobs a few times before when she moved or her company went out of business, but never had any trouble finding new ones, even if in somewhat different industries. Recruiters calling, companies flying her around the country.

This time she has sent out, she figures, 250 resumes and had like six or seven interviews. She has even applied at retail shops at the mall for $8 an hour and not gotten called.

I interviewed another woman, an economist, who told me that for every job opening there are currently 6.3 people out of work.

Grumble grumble.

I hear you.  A guy on another board told me that when they posted a job opening last year, they got 15 resumes, this year they got 300.

EDITED TO ADD;  Well, trying to look on the bright side - kinda - is being happy you're not as bad off as someone else feeling positive?

A friend who got laid off 3 weeks after me with his back still needing an operation, a mortgage, a truck payment and a teenaged son to support, e-mailed me to say he was still unemployed, about to go into foreclosure but he had an interview coming up.  Problem was, he'd just fallen down the stairs and broke his foot.  He has no health insurance so he can't afford to go take care of it.  But he doesn't want to miss his interview either.  Jeez, things could certainly be worse.

[delalluvia]

A minor bitch this time.

I visit and am a member of many boards, so let me just clarify right off the bat that I'm not talking about this board.

On another board I visit I see these people post personal stories asking for advice and input, but they always preface their stories with such things as

"I'm posting here because I know you guys won't be judgmental"

Then they post a problem sooooooooooooooo entirely caused by their own stupidity or self-absorption or carelessness that you can't help but think things like

"Maybe if you'd listened to the advice you got, you might not have ended up where you are."
or
"Maybe if both of you hadn't been stoned out of your minds, you might not have gotten in the situation you are now."

But if someone even hints at this sort of thinking

"Well, neither of you were in a condition to make good decisions..."

Other people just rush in with

"OMG I can't believe you're blaming the victim!  This is a support thread!"

Basically, I think these people post this kind of stuff and then use that proviso to make sure that they aren't criticized for being brainless.  Probably they've already been lectured to and/or know they were stupid but are tired of being held responsible for their own actions and want to be coddled and told they are blameless.  IMO such threads are emotionally manipulative and it makes me feel like an enabler if I contribute to them, so I don't.

[delalluvia]

Jeez, such hostility and childish behavior that's exhibited by some grownups is just astounding.

On another board I visit, we're talking about women breastfeeding in public.

One women in the discussion openly proclaimed

So if I am at the mall, and I sit on a bench, and a woman sits next to me, and whips out her boob, I am going to ask her to do it somewhere else because I don't want to look at her boob

and when she was challenged on this, just because she didn't like it on a personal level,  she said that she felt perfectly within her rights to tell these women what she thought because their actions were offensive to her

What you do about it is your own decision. But if you do something I find unpleasant, be prepared to hear about it. That's all.

When this was pointed out to her as rude and childish (only children blurt out to complete strangers their personal likes and dislikes) for such an innocuous act, she replied

Personally, I think keeping your mouth shut when something annoys you makes you a weakling that is going to be taken advantage by others

And this is an adult human being.     A grownup who has no concept of manners or empathy or understanding of any way other than her own. 

So I suggested she travel to the east side of her city and find some gang members and tell them out loud she finds them offensive instead of picking on nursing mothers.   

[Kelda]

So I suggested she travel to the east side of her city and find some gang members and tell them out loud she finds them offensive instead of picking on nursing mothers.   

What did she say to that!?!

[Shasta542]

Personally, I think keeping your mouth shut when something annoys you makes you a weakling that is going to be taken advantage by others.

Geez---I think there'd be a lot more fights going on if people subscribed to that belief.

[delalluvia]

What did she say to that!?!

She didn't.  We discussed a little bit longer, where she compared nursing mothers to flashers asking 'what's the difference?' and when I called her on exhibiting childish behavior when she was accusing others of being childish, she put me on ignore.

She will therefore miss my post where I pointed out the irony of someone who can dish out criticism, but can't take it.     

[delalluvia]

Personally, I think keeping your mouth shut when something annoys you makes you a weakling that is going to be taken advantage by others.

Geez---I think there'd be a lot more fights going on if people subscribed to that belief.

Exactly.  Which is why I recommended her speaking out to people who were actually able to beat her up* instead of nursing mothers.  She didn't respond.

(*this is my version of the criticism against PETA who throw paint on rich socialites and super models when they wear furs but ignore bikers wearing leather)

[louisev]

Exactly.  Which is why I recommended her speaking out to people who were actually able to beat her up* instead of nursing mothers.  She didn't respond.

(*this is my version of the criticism against PETA who throw paint on rich socialites and super models when they wear furs but ignore bikers wearing leather)

do you have any evidence to show that PETA has a policy of 'ignoring bikers wearing leather'?  Because PETA has an aggressive campaign against beef production and beef consumption and has been proactively working with McDonald's to buy its beef from sustainable sources while at the same time conducting a campaign of "Unhappy Meals" which it will only withdraw when they are satisfied that McDonald's has done all it can to source its products in an ethical manner.  This would also be true of leather goods manufacturing - the goal of PETA is not to stop the world from using animals for food and clothing - it is to stop the unethical misuse, abuse, and mistreatment of animals under all circumstances.  So 'ignoring bikers wearing leather' is not in their mission statement.

and yes, I am a past member of PETA.  I am not active with them due to my objection to their selling my name in a mailing list swap with the Sierra Club, not because I object to their campaigns.

[delalluvia]

do you have any evidence to show that PETA has a policy of 'ignoring bikers wearing leather'?  Because PETA has an aggressive campaign against beef production and beef consumption and has been proactively working with McDonald's to buy its beef from sustainable sources while at the same time conducting a campaign of "Unhappy Meals" which it will only withdraw when they are satisfied that McDonald's has done all it can to source its products in an ethical manner.  This would also be true of leather goods manufacturing - the goal of PETA is not to stop the world from using animals for food and clothing - it is to stop the unethical misuse, abuse, and mistreatment of animals under all circumstances.  So 'ignoring bikers wearing leather' is not in their mission statement.

and yes, I am a past member of PETA.  I am not active with them due to my objection to their selling my name in a mailing list swap with the Sierra Club, not because I object to their campaigns.

The criticism of PETA in regards to 'ignoring bikers' was in not throwing paint on them for wearing leather like they did older women and supermodels wearing fur.

[delalluvia]

I was trying to save money, upset that I was looking more and more like Ozzy Osborne in my favorite sunglasses, I cut my own bangs...

Can you say George Clooney's Caesar cut?

 

Hair grows out..