Mar. 29th, 2005 03:17 pm
Fuck you, Bush
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
textualdevianceWell, thanks to the fact that the economy sucks, my getting employed, even on a temp basis, just became harder.
Apparently, even though I'm probably smarter and more qualified than the vast majority of general office temps, because my official work experience in that field is over five years old, I'm not hireable.
wtf?
So this agency shuffles me over to their "creative" division, since my most recent experience is in web design and content production. Problem is, since my skills in those areas are not all that technical (basic HTML and a lot of copy writing) there just isn't anything available for me. If I could code, if I knew graphics software other than PhotoDraw, if I had a portfolio, I'd be in better shape. But since any idiot can write and throw in a few tags here and there, and there's a huge glut of people in this area with those skills, as compared to the job market, there just isn't anything out there.
Apparently, having a degree and 20 years of experience means diddly if you go too long without someone in a suit handing you a paycheck. Because heaven forbid anyone ever operate outside the rigid constraints of cubefarms and time clocks.
I imagine that if I were looking for a full-time regular position, I could probably find one. I probably wouldn't get hired in most entry-level positions, though, because I'm overqualified. HR people tend to not hire people with too much experience for low-level jobs because they know they'll be bored with the job and leave.
So basically, I'm stuck in this nasty middle spot. Too advanced for the simple stuff, not advanced enough to make $30 an hour writing help files or designing online brochures. Jesus. I just want to sit on my ass and do data entry for a few weeks to have pocket money to buy action figures and to keep myself from being bored out of my mind this summer. How fucking complicated does this have to be?
Apparently, even though I'm probably smarter and more qualified than the vast majority of general office temps, because my official work experience in that field is over five years old, I'm not hireable.
wtf?
So this agency shuffles me over to their "creative" division, since my most recent experience is in web design and content production. Problem is, since my skills in those areas are not all that technical (basic HTML and a lot of copy writing) there just isn't anything available for me. If I could code, if I knew graphics software other than PhotoDraw, if I had a portfolio, I'd be in better shape. But since any idiot can write and throw in a few tags here and there, and there's a huge glut of people in this area with those skills, as compared to the job market, there just isn't anything out there.
Apparently, having a degree and 20 years of experience means diddly if you go too long without someone in a suit handing you a paycheck. Because heaven forbid anyone ever operate outside the rigid constraints of cubefarms and time clocks.
I imagine that if I were looking for a full-time regular position, I could probably find one. I probably wouldn't get hired in most entry-level positions, though, because I'm overqualified. HR people tend to not hire people with too much experience for low-level jobs because they know they'll be bored with the job and leave.
So basically, I'm stuck in this nasty middle spot. Too advanced for the simple stuff, not advanced enough to make $30 an hour writing help files or designing online brochures. Jesus. I just want to sit on my ass and do data entry for a few weeks to have pocket money to buy action figures and to keep myself from being bored out of my mind this summer. How fucking complicated does this have to be?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
I'd feel more sympathetic, Ms.A - empathetic even, as I'm in a somewhat similar boat myself - but for the fact that there are many women (and men) scrambling for low-paying data entry jobs and the like so that they can pay the rent and put food on the table....
As for boredom, I've been bored out of my mind for the past week and a half, looking to have reasonable work again *after* this week, for the next 4-5 weeks but no inkling yet beyond then. But my boredom is due to my lack of general inspiration at the moment; I know there are tons of things I can and should do, but can't be bothered to do 'em at the moment. Once I've got a better handle on what work will be coming in, that apathy will, I suspect, fade away; and in the meantime, I can feel secure knowing that Chris makes enough so that my inability to contribute to rent, food, etc., for the next little while doesn't mean we'll be evicted or starve or anything....
no subject
Yeah, I know. Part of the reason I haven't been working all this time is because I haven't needed to, and I wanted to leave the jobs for people who needed them. When the economy was better, and they were scrambling to fill positions, it was a different story. But the last five years or so, it would've just been redundant for me to be taking jobs like that. Knowing how badly I needed those jobs when I was in that kind of situation, I didn't feel comfortable taking them.
It's kind of an odd feeling, really. There's the sense that if I'm not bringing in an official paycheck, that I'm just being a lazy sponge, and then there's the idea that if I am, I'm just being ostentatious. So I feel crappy either way. ;)
We are trying to figure out how we're going to pay for my classes, though. Especially if I have to go out of town, which means renting an apartment for a year. The total is probably going to be about 15-20k, which we don't really have laying around. I'm hoping I can get student loans, at least.
The thing that worries me about this current snafu is the idea that if Mike suddenly couldn't work for some reason, or, heaven forbid, he wasn't around anymore, I apparently would be in a shitload of trouble trying to support us/myself. I hadn't thought it was a big deal-- I figured I could always go back to call centers if it came down to it-- but there's just no way I could support us both on that, and now it's looking like I couldn't even get one of those jobs again if I needed it. So in a way, temping for a few months is probably important for me to do anyway, just to make sure I have that emergency option if I need it. If I have something to point to to say that some schmuck in a suit thought I was worth giving money to, it gives me a lot more options later on if needed.
no subject
This is where long-term disability and life insurance come in handy, much as one hopes never to need it of course. Chris and I are both covered under his work benefits, so that if he was unable to work for a long time due to illness or injury, he'd still be getting something like 2/3 of his regular pay, enough to keep us going (though we couldn't take trips, etc., then again we wouldn't want to if he was ill). This is important because I'm never going to find a "real" job here, because I'm not fluent in French. (If Chris died, that wouldn't actually be an issue 'cause I'd move back to California probably.)
no subject
no subject
no subject