Adventures in Job Hunting

I’ve been sending out applications for any type of job that I think I can do that is related to the library environment or writing/editing. For the past three years, it’s been dribbles, and hopefuls, but mostly a lot of dead ends. Just before the pandemic hit, I had a face-to-face interview for a Customer Service Representative position with a company in Richmond – it would have been a long commute but I was willing to put up with it if I had landed the job. Before I heard back, shelter-in-place orders were implemented throughout the province.

And I have been really struggling ever since. I’m hanging onto my apartment by a thread. I’m stuck in that catch-22 of moving somewhere less expensive – it turns out that moving itself is expensive.

Misfit Job Number One

In December of last year I got a job with a payday loans company. The employer said he wanted to hire me but he only wanted to try me out for two days. It annoyed me because if he wanted to hire me, he should just hire me – I thought that was what probation was for. After two days, I was let go. The day he told me not to come back, he explained that the person who trained me was leaving and I was his replacement, but I wasn’t  learning fast enough.

He then mentioned that the CSR who sat on my right had caught on very quickly the first week she was hired. Yeah, I guess I am slow on the uptake, because it took me several days to wonder why the boss didn’t designate her as team lead and let me learn at my own pace.

Misfit Job Number Two

My next misadventure occurred in late winter of this year when I landed a job as an Office Assistant. I have to admit, upon leaving the in-person  interview, it occurred to me that it wasn’t an ideal fit – the employer listed several programs I was unfamiliar with, but said that additional training would be provided as required (she lied).

I was trained on one of the programs I had never used before by the woman who I would be replacing. it seemed to go well. But once the old Office Assistant had left (and with good reason as it turns out), the Office Manager turned out to be a living nightmare. She wouldn’t answer any job-related questions; said she knew nothing about the property management program but when I was on the phone with technical support, she’d sometimes come over to my desk and give me the answers before the person on the other end to the line did; and I wasn’t allowed to do the aspects of the job I was confident in such as answering the phone, opening mail, and filing.

She repeatedly made racial, derogatory, and demeaning comments  about my co-workers, sometimes while they were in the room. After a month and half of not really being allowed to learn or do my Office Assistant duties, I quit. If I had stayed, I would have file a formal complaint with Human Rights.

Again, it took me a while to figure out that it wasn’t just her her toxic, but the others, including the boss, were too because they were enabling the Office Manager’s toxic derogatory behaviour.

Misfit Job Number Three

In February, I sent out a batch of customer service applications. A couple of nibbles but no face-to-face interviews. Then, one afternoon, I received  a call from a seating and mobility solutions company. He told me that the job of Customer Service Representative had been filled, but another position had opened up that he wanted to interview me for.

Once again, during the in-person interview, I wondered what part of my initial application made the interviewer I was a good fit for this job. But when he hired me, I ignored the little voice in my head based on several things including he hired me and I trusted his judgement (I shouldn’t have).

After two days I was let go. At that point I only had had one full day of training. I hadn’t even been assigned a computer yet. I as told the first day I was there that I would be given logon info (and I wasn’t). This one broke my heart – I liked the people; I liked the place where I would be working (it was a warehouse but the office area was bright and pleasant); and I really liked the boss (yeah, I’m not a good judge of character). I also had been looking forward to actually doing the job – it was multi-layered and interested me.

Life is Like That

I walk around the apartment humming “If I had no bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.” I hope something breaks soon. Something has to break soon.