12:22 pm. I would far prefer, for my readers’ sake, to present a wholly cheery picture of my optimistic, upbeat, highly motivated self just charging into the job search full speed. (Any other clichés I can use?)
Turns out that might not be wholly honest. If folk are to have an understanding of how difficult the job search is, and why so many people balk at it, then it may be necessary to talk about the dark side also.
I had planned all along to begin with a certain supermarket that I knew to have one location within walking distance both of the shelter and of my church. Turns out they have a second location very near the church also. I used to shop often at their location in Barclay, and really liked it. Part of my approach is, “a great place to shop must be a great place to work.”
Now I access their jobs portal, and see that they use Taleo (a job applications management system; there are different ones.), and I just want to turn away, find a cave to go hide.
I have lots of background with Taleo, and other systems, from my previous stints of looking for work. Taleo, for the applicant, is the pits. It puts innumerable needless obstacles in one’s way.
In general, you can’t just type in your information; you’ve got to fill in all these little fields. Just right.
There is a contrast with the systems in use for example at most of the major hospitals. At Johns Hopkins Hospital or University of Maryland or Mercy Hospital, to submit my first application, I would have to complete one online application, which might take 90 minutes. Then that is all stored in a database, and is all automatically attached to any subsequent application I might submit. Click, click, click, and then “Submit.” Simple.
If I recall correctly from my background with Taleo, it allows no one such a capability. Every single application is going to take 90 minutes. Applying for two different titles at the same store will take 90 minutes each. Applying for the same title at two different stores will take 90 minutes each.
I was praying just this morning to become a taxpayer. I dream of seeing myself buying groceries with cash, not food stamps, for reason that it means I will no longer be eligible for food stamps. Maybe you can dream of me that same way, too.
Related: What a homeless man dreams of
Postscript, 13:54. Saints be praised, they’ve changed their system. I finished the first application at 13:22, and a second one just now. It’s not as completely simple as the ones at the hospitals I mentioned, but it’s vastly improved over the past. The second application took me about five minutes.
It feels great to imagine myself actually working!
Next post: Job search diary 04/27/16 – 05/03/16
Originally posted 2016-04-27.
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