Applying myself

I just applied for four jobs. I should be getting ready for bed now, but I’m pretty wired. Although that might have been the chocolate-covered pretzels earlier. (I went to Costco last week and bought a bag of said pretzels. Unfortunately, it was a warm day and they spent several hours in my car before I went home. I opened the bag to have one, and came up with one naked pretzel and an arm covered in chocolate goo up to my elbow. Damn it. It was my watch arm, too. So I put the whole bag in the freezer, where it solidified into a chocolate-coated lump. Even defrosted, I now have to chip off uneven shards from the giant pretzel ball into a bowl. They still taste okay, but I have learned my lesson for next time.)

I’m sick of typing or writing my employment history on applications. It’s the same thing, over and over again. Months and years of employment. Starting and ending salaries. Name and address of company. Supervisor. Job duties. Reason for leaving. (Telling the same almost-truth.) You’d think I could cut and paste, but every application has its own format, and some can’t even be filled out online! I had to handwrite four pages earlier for one job; fortunately my handwriting is pretty legible, but I was terrified of making a mistake and having to start over (I think white-out on an official document looks tacky), and now my hand hurts from gripping the pen so tightly.

The accompanying cover letter is the hardest part, though. For each one, I have to envision working at that job, imagining what I would like about it, what I would bring to it from my previous jobs, submerging myself into the advertisement and job description so that I can tailor my skills list to catch the hiring manager’s attention. That means that tonight I have already been a grants person for a nonprofit, an assistant for a city visioning department, a library assistant, and a technical writer. No wonder I can’t sleep!

I don’t know if the Great Spring Depression of ’08 is finally coming to an end, or if I just got a look at the balance on my savings account, but suddenly I feel motivated to find a job. I have been fairly content to stay around the house all day these past months (although lately I’ve been trying to dress so that I could potentially answer the door or go outside—that means no sweats, pajamas, or bathrobes in the middle of the day), but I’m feeling better and I wouldn’t mind having somewhere to go in the morning. I say that now, anyway.

I’m most interested in the library job, although it would mean possibly working some evenings and weekends. I would love to be paid to talk about, touch, and be surrounded by books all day. Could anything be better?

Well, good night, dear readers. Send up a prayer to wherever you send yours, that I will find something quickly. And if it’s not too much trouble, something that I like and will look forward to doing every day.