Saturday, February 01, 2020

Crickets, Crickets, Crickets

Have you ever interviewed for a job where you walked out thinking “You know, that went well. By the way the interviewer was talking, I feel like I aced it.”?

Well, that was the case for me last week. I was actually called in for an interview and I thought it went well. As I was leaving, I was told that if I didn’t get a call by Friday, yesterday, that the position was filled.

They didn't call me.

The job really wasn’t a big deal. Just a part-time gig with more stability than I’m seeing at my current part-time job. And what I mean by that is there have been major changes. I feel that it’s just a matter of time until a change occurs where it involves someone telling me that my services are no longer needed.

I worked out of Wake Forest, NC and it was great. I could expect to work at least 3 out of the 4 days that I told them that I was available. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the people. I learned how to hook up trailers. Then someone made some cuts and changes. I was one of the cuts.

I was offered to keep my job by working in the office on the phones. It took me and them one week to realize that it wasn’t going to work. In my defense, I wasn’t really given the materials needed to understand what the hell I was doing. Customers had questions that I didn’t have answers to. I actually had to tell a customer, “I’m sorry. I don’t have an answer to that question. And I don’t have a supervisor around to help me find that answer.”

As you can imagine, I got a bit of an earful from that customer even though I offered to call them back with an answer. At that moment, I felt like nothing was actually being done to help me transition into that position. Since changes were affecting them in the office as well, they were a little green too. I was so frustrated that I nearly said “Screw this noise” and walked out. But having worked for Jack Murphy and the Murphy in the Morning show, I knew that I could carry on. I just had to get over my frustration of not being fully prepared by people that aren’t fully prepared for the roles they’re now in.

Thankfully, someone realized that I wasn’t cut out for the office and put me back in the field as some kind of clandestine driver. They put me there because things were backing up because of the overall changes. I was back to a happy place, but the hours were lacking.

I’ve been applying for full and part-time jobs since September of 2017. I’ve only gotten three responses for interviews. It’s very disheartening knowing that I have experience and possess the knowledge to do lots of things but I hear only crickets when it comes to callbacks. And keep in mind, I must have applied for over 200 jobs. So, 3 out of 200??


I keep applying and I keep hearing crickets. And now that a BIG CHANGE has occurred, the boss of the area was offered the immediate opportunity to pursue other employment options, I feel that my job will eventually be phased out. I’m the roach in the darkness and when the light hits what I’m actually doing, I’ll be snuffed out under a boot heel.

Right now, I’m good. I’m needed. Some major things are backed up. But I feel that it’s just a matter of time. I’m not panicked. There’s no nail-biting or loss of sleep. It’s just a feeling. And I could be wrong.

I think that my radio background keeps people from taking me seriously. But there’s not a whole lot that I can do about that. I’d like to use my skills by working from home, but it takes money to buy the necessary equipment. I just don’t feel right relying on the wife to bankroll my efforts since I’m only making a dent in the family expenses.

But on a happier note, the podcast is shaping up. I’m just waiting on a couple of pieces to fall into place to get it rolling. I’m very excited about the podcast. It’s gonna be a lot like this blog, but I’ll be riffing more. It’ll be more like a standup comedy routine because I’m better at telling stories than writing them. And I’ve got TONS of crazy stories to fall back on along with my daily observations. I hope everyone will give them a listen.

And it’s not too late to get onboard with sponsorships!

Sorry, I gotta find a way to monetize my podcast.

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