O Jobs, Jobs, Were For Art Thou?

I don’t know if it speaks to the unemployment rate in the Tampa Bay area, but I put in a job application today that I had to make an appointment for. I do believe it’s the first time I’ve ever had to make an appointment to put in an application. I expected the room to be full of applicants, but I was the only one there. That bodes well. Or it means I missed the rush. Either way, they scheduled an interview for tomorrow morning. Everything that can be crossed on my body is now crossed.

At this point I find myself wishing that I was a young, blonde headed girl with large breasts. Is anyone else getting work? I’m painfully aware that I’m 44 years old, overweight and have long hair. Not to mention the fact that it seems that I’ve excluded myself from the ranks of the employable by not holding a job at a major corporation during the last three years. Apparently they frown upon someone who has made a living from eBay and freelance work for a sibling. Even the trucking companies are turning their noses up at me. Since I haven’t driven since 2007, it appears that I’ve removed myself from consideration. I’m not sure how much they think I could have forgotten about truck driving in the last three. Has it changed so dramatically that I wouldn’t know how to drive a tractor trailer now?

I’ve put in so many applications at this point that I’m being surprised to find that I already have profiles on the web sites of some prospective employers. It helps to suddenly discover that all of your resume information is already available there, and that you don’t have to put in reams of information again. But really… ya’ll didn’t hire me the last time I was here. Why am I hoping that this time it will be different?

I’m beginning to think that a major paradigm shift is in order here. I’m not getting as much as a nibble from the dozens of applications I put in every week. It’s possible that part of the problem is that even though many companies want you to put in an application online, you’re little more than a number in a database if you do so. What I think I need to do is start knocking on some damned doors. We can’t afford for me to roam the countryside looking for work. We couldn’t afford the gas. But I know where the thickest concentrations of industry are at. Maybe instead of putting in applications on these companies’ web sites, I need to walk into their offices and say, “What up?”

I have a job interview tomorrow morning. Well, I think it’s a job interview, anyway. The nice lady told me today when I put in my application that the man I needed to talk to wouldn’t be back until tomorrow, and that I should come back then. Who knows? I might walk in there tomorrow morning and walk out as a productive member of the human race again. If not, I’ve already identified a dozen or so businesses in that area that are going to hear from me. If nothing else, I’ll drop off a business card.

Something’s gotta break sooner or later. I refuse to believe that I am unemployable.