I guess I needed some kind of distraction from the “dip” in the stock market this past week, but I’ve been, um, 1-click applying as I scroll through my email.
It’s too easy! And harmless. I mean out of all the jobs I applied for in the last six months of 2021, 22 actual cover-letter-writing, resume-revamping, research-the-company applications, and COUNTLESS 1-click apply postings, I got four hits – meaning four sets of interviews, some having a few rounds, and one set turning into the not-so-great job offer I wrote about a few months ago.
Two out of four hits were from 1-click apply postings.
After I had decided to hunker down, stay with the job which actually doesn’t pay the bills, and get the MBA, I really did ignore all the emails from Indeed and ZipRecruiter. I did. For a while.
But after the holidays, and after taking the student loan to pay for school that my employer pays for but not the 37.5% federal tax on the value of the tuition, a tax code enacted in 2017, which is more than I can afford…oh lord, that was something I already talked about, too, but after THAT, I thought, what about those remote 1-click apply jobs that maybe I can work weekends or nights on????
Maybe I just want to feel wanted! Job searching is really difficult. So yes, I clicked a few.
I’ve been clicking on 1-click apply postings.
I even clicked on one while hanging out at my present day job to distract myself from losing one third of my newbie investor money.
I had put in $300, and this morning, I was down to $207.82! I think it’s the same feeling people who like watching horror movies get…it’s not a rush, but it’s a horrified fascination I feel as I watch my stocks, including crypto, go down, down, down. And I was tempted to add a hundred dollars to buy crypto low, but 1. I don’t have $100 baby to just throw out with my $300 bathwater, and 2. What if it’s the end for crypto? IDK.
I lost almost $100 on my self-led crash-course investing!
If we go to war with Russia, what will that to the market? What will happen to my ETH and DOGE?
Maybe I should buy a metal detector instead and hit the beach every sunset looking for gold…it might be a better investment.
All I can do is hang on.
Meanwhile, 1-click apply has yielded some emails, which I have yet to answer. I took it one step further, I applied for three positions within my organization, hoping to increase my income.
I got a hit! I had a three-person panel interview within DAYS of applying.
It was for a job much like my present dead-end job, but with an increased workload packed into the same amount of workday (so less inventing my own tasks and projects, which may sound nuts to you, but that’s how I roll – boredom is a silent killer – and it’s better than being told to do dumb stuff).
Not too exciting. Remember, staying within the organization is what is making the MBA possible, even if I did get slightly hoodwinked into taking out a federal unsubsidized student loan.
The interview went well, except for one, well, two, nagging things.
ONE. One of the three interviewers seemed to doubt that there is no career development in the department I am in. I tell you, dear reader, after talking with many people who have also left for another department, left altogether, or stayed for years, this is a dead-end job with a definite salary cap that doesn’t meet the cost of living, and the higher positions are hired from outside.
Well, I really liked this interviewer, but I super nicely and in the most positive way possible, told her that there really isn’t a path out of the job. This is one of the reasons I was willing to take a position in another department for the same pay: for an upward path.
WHAT DOES HER REPLY TO THIS MEAN?
And this is actually the “ONE” nagging thing: the interviewer told me THREE times that I should talk with my supervisor about career development within the building I work in. What nagged me immediately was this…was she telling me this to be HELPFUL, or was it because, subconsciously, she’d already decided I was a “NOPE?” I did relax a bit more, thinking that second thing, because then it just became talk about their interesting department and the good they do. I learned something new. Chatted.
TWO. I could do this job easily, but I don’t really want it. I want to be my own boss, and work on helping others get a leg up in this world and find financial freedom or relief! I’m not even sure if it pays more, I think it does, but I have a lot of freedom in my invisible job and everyone here is quite all right.
I’d rather get my side gig back off the ground, and if I take another job, it should be learning something that will benefit that goal, not more admin assistant chores. I should be hiring my own admin assistant in two years!
Kate Murray 