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LIFE/WORK/BULLSHIT

Was Job Hunting Always So Demoralizing?

There’s something terribly wrong, and it’s not with me

Sherry McGuinn

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Image by alainim/Flickr.Com

Today, I expended an indecent amount of time and energy applying to three jobs. Two freelance copywriter positions and the third at Target, for whatever low-level task they might hire me for.

I have zero retail experience, Nada except for a brief stint working at a head shop in my teens, which I loved, and where I may have utilized the five-finger discount on a couple of items but don’t tell anyone. To this day, I can smell the incense that permeated both the shop and my hippie-dippie attire.

Oh, I also toiled at a Venture Store, which was a discount chain founded in 1968 and closed its doors thirty years later. I recall lying about my age (fifteen) but managed to snag a position stocking shelves. What fun we first-time workers had grazing with impunity in the candy aisle!

I let the memory of those simpler times comfort me as I take ass whipping after ass whipping “applying for work.” In the here and now.

Fondly, I can recall the olden days, when throwing one’s hat in the ring known as “gainful employment” necessitated a well-written resume and accompanying cover letter. And that was it.

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Sherry McGuinn
Sherry McGuinn

Written by Sherry McGuinn

Long-time writer and big-time dreamer. Screenwriter. Cat mama. Red lip aficionado. sherrymcguinn@gmail.com

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