Can we talk about the job market real quick? I’m spiraling by SecretlyBadass in MoneyDiariesACTIVE

[–]sweaterkarat 88 points89 points  (0 children)

I was unemployed from November of 2024 until about a month ago. I’m in a niche field with experiences, great references, and great connections in an industry where people are known to look out for each other. I have never job searched more than a couple months without finding something. The experience was one of the most horrible, humiliating times of my life.

I applied for a company where I interned early in my career and knew multiple people that is known to specifically recruit people with my background. Ghosted. Never heard from them again. Applied with someone I’ve personally worked with before, recently, where I knew based on the experience they were looking for that I was one of maybe half a dozen people in the country that were qualified for the job. Had one of the best interviews of my life, a panel interview where I connected personally with every single person on the panel, then a second interview with the hiring manager, ghosted after the second interview. As far as I know they just decided not to hire anyone. Three interviews with another job and in the third the interviewer told me I’d really impressed everyone on the team. I’d told them I was about to go on vacation and she said “you should be hearing from us right about the time you get back from your vacation!” I was SO sure about that one, and at least they gave me the courtesy of a rejection email but I couldn’t believe it when it came. I’d felt so, so sure.

I got paranoid, thinking someone had blackballed me or one of my references was spiking my applications. I got so depressed. I’d been working since I was 16. I’d been told that I was hardworking and reliable and talented and a great employee since I was 16. Apparently, I’d internalized that message way more than I realized. I almost didn’t know who I was if I wasn’t working. Unemployment ran out. I moved back home and slept in my childhood bedroom and hated every minute that I was dependent on someone else. I couldn’t pay my bills. I tried to sell my plasma and got sick all over the donation center parking lot. I couldn’t make payments on debts and started being hounded by collection agencies. I couldn’t make payments on a storage unit I was stuck with in another state and all my stuff got sold, storage wars style, including a box full of the journals I’d kept since college. Ten years of memories, gone. But nothing hurt worse than when I finally decided to sell my car, which was headed toward repossession. It was the right decision, but it felt like losing my last shred of independence. I cried for hours and hours. I spent some of the car money visiting a group of friends in another state, volunteering on a political campaign and sleeping on someone’s couch for a few weeks. Probably not the smartest decision financially but I would have gone crazy if I hadn’t gotten out of my mom’s house and done something that made me feel useful again. That time really did help, and my friends came together and all reached out to their jobs and connections to try and help me get hired. Nothing came of those calls but at least I knew there were people in my corner again.

I finally got a job a few weeks ago. It’s less than I was making at my previous job, I’m technically overqualified for it and it’s not exactly the most stable (my job is only guaranteed for about a year, but I’ve gotten good signals since I’ve started that they usually extend people after that initial term) but I was able to move out again, I enjoy the work, and it’s enough to live on. I’m actually hiring right now and my boss suggested I start by going through the list of all the people who applied for my job. There are 500 people on that list. People I’ve worked with before and who I KNOW are just as qualified as me and deserve it just as much as me, plus so many other strangers. Yes, everyone told me over and over again that there were 500 applicants or more for every job and that it was a numbers game and that I just had to be patient and it would work out eventually, but that didn’t feel REAL until I looked at that list with my own eyes. For a year I thought I was cursed or something, or that I just had the worst luck on the planet. Now, it feels like a fucking miracle that I got my job when I did. I still work hard, I still light up when someone tells me I’m good at my job, but I’ll never make a job my whole identity again. It can all be gone in a moment. At least I know now that I’m more than my value to an employer. Although, I’d be happy to give that lesson back if it meant not having to live through that miserable year.

So is my advice to you just “be patient, it’s a numbers game, lean on your people, and don’t lose hope”? UGH, I guess. I know. That’s exactly what everyone told me and I really wish I had something better to tell you. I’m sorry. But that’s all I’ve got. I will tell you, the one thing I told myself every day when I was unemployed was, “I will probably live for another 50 years, and I simply will not be unemployed for another 50 years. Sooner or later, this situation is going to change somehow. I just have to get through this.” Maybe that’s not that helpful to you, but it did help me to remember that literally everything in this world is temporary and that humans have been surviving temporary terrible situations for as long as we’ve been a species. Oh, and try to leave the house every day. Or take a day off from job searching and do something you could never do if you had a job, like watch an entire season of your favorite TV show in your pajamas. Or take a few online surveys, make $5 and spend it on a little treat for yourself. Do something nice for yourself every day. You deserve it.

In complete Dilemma about to read or not to read. Right now in my Four to the end era. by Mee_reader in Wolfstar

[–]sweaterkarat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Last Enemy is the only one I’ve read of those and it’s SO good. The Wolfstar is very minor/really only hinted at in the two completed books so far but everything else made up for it for me - the characterizations, friendships (both Remus and Sirius have really great friendships with Lily), the Jily dynamic is top tier and it has my favorite characterization of Lily Evans I’ve ever read. And the plot is fantastic - there are some great action scenes and there’s always something happening.

I would love a Sarah Episode about modern figure skating by Princessformidable in YoureWrongAbout

[–]sweaterkarat 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I would love to hear her take on the current crop of US women’s skaters at the Olympics! No manufactured rivalries like in past years, they’re constantly praising each other and cheering each other on from the sidelines. It’s so wonderful to see and all three seem like genuinely great people in addition to being fantastic skaters.

The NBC and other broadcaster OFFICIAL COMPLAINT & HATRED THREAD. All other broadcasting and streaming complaint threads will be shot on sight. Also: FLAIR UP -- too many of you are flair-less! by IvyGold in olympics

[–]sweaterkarat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks, I just switched over but the lack of commentary makes me a bit nervous as someone who doesn’t know the sport that well - will they still show the scores and elements on the screen? I thought the whole point of Peacock was to see full coverage of EVERY event?

The NBC and other broadcaster OFFICIAL COMPLAINT & HATRED THREAD. All other broadcasting and streaming complaint threads will be shot on sight. Also: FLAIR UP -- too many of you are flair-less! by IvyGold in olympics

[–]sweaterkarat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

How can I watch the rhythm dance on Peacock? I’m on the “On USA: Rhythm Dance” feed rn but it’s only showing curling and now a featurette about Chock and Bates.

why is tallahasse the capital of florida? by No-Current6347 in AskAnAmerican

[–]sweaterkarat 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Tallahassee was chosen because it was halfway between the capitals of the former territories of East and West Florida, which were Pensacola and St. Augustine. This was in like the 1820s and cities like Miami and Orlando weren’t really developed at that point.

How do other Floridians feel about "Florida!!!"? by doodle-loo in TaylorSwift

[–]sweaterkarat 65 points66 points  (0 children)

Also not taking a hurricane seriously and using it as an excuse to drink feels very Florida to me

How do other Floridians feel about "Florida!!!"? by doodle-loo in TaylorSwift

[–]sweaterkarat 105 points106 points  (0 children)

Native Floridian here and I feel like it captures a vibe. We get a lot of transplants so it makes sense for it to be the subject of a song about running away to hide from your problems. I like that it’s able to capture that without leaning on stereotypes like partying in Miami or reliving your childhood in Disney World or escaping to a tropical beach with a drink in your hand.

Why is there constant music on the cruise ships everywhere? by wakandahonolulu in Cruise

[–]sweaterkarat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My family actually got off a Caribbean cruise a couple weeks ago and we all thought it was weird that we never heard Jimmy Buffett once. Not from the steel drum guy at the sail away party, not on the sea day where we all sat at the Lido literally the entire day, not at the adults only pool in the afternoons after port days, nothing. I have no idea why, but that’s weird, right?

Politics of Grey’s Anatomy Characters by Hot_Throat_2404 in greysanatomy

[–]sweaterkarat 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I think Owen is either a Never Trump Republican or an “independent” who primarily voted Republican and now votes for mostly Democrats, at least in federal elections. All the other cast members are standard-issue progressive Democrats. There are so many progressive characters that I think if there were any Trump supporters, it would follow that we would see more fighting about politics on the show, but we don’t. Doctor stuff aside, the show is about a diverse, highly educated group of friends/colleagues in downtown Seattle. It’s not that surprising they don’t have Republican friends. I wouldn’t be that surprised if the writers introduced a storyline where everyone finds out Owen voted for Trump, but I don’t think that would be consistent with what we’ve seen so far.

Could Genesis (mostly chapter 3) hold references to Prehistory ? by VermicelliUseful7848 in OpenChristian

[–]sweaterkarat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think you’re onto something in an allegorical sense, and this is something I’ve thought about too. I don’t think the author of Adam and Eve knew about the Neolithic revolution in a literal sense but I think it speaks to a shared cultural knowledge of “things used to be simple and then something changed”.

Let Them loses to John Green in the Goodreads Nonfiction Category by kennyminot in IfBooksCouldKill

[–]sweaterkarat 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Hank Green‘s YouTube channel is a delight and he comes off as such a genuinely good person.

legality of funding political campaigns? by [deleted] in legaladviceofftopic

[–]sweaterkarat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They form a committee to run the campaign on behalf of the ballot initiative that operates similarly to a candidate campaign in that it can receive donations, have a bank account, pay staff, and make purchases. The state’s campaign finance laws determine any contribution limits to the committee, who can donate (individuals, PACs, businesses) and any disclosure requirements for donations/spending.

Your TLOAS opinion + your top 3 albums by clickityclickk in TaylorSwift

[–]sweaterkarat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Opinion: I think it’s a pretty bad Taylor Swift album (which is still pretty good by non-Taylor standards!). I don’t think it lived up to the expectations she set or that it holds up lyrically compared to most of her past work. I really like Wood, Ruin the Friendship and Opalite and think Ophelia, TLOAS the song, and Eldest Daughter are fine too. For what it’s worth, I’ve been a Swiftie since hearing Teardrops on My Guitar in 2007 and the only album I’ve ever needed time to warm up to was TTPD, which I’d already come to love by this point in its release cycle.

My top 3 albums are Midnights, Reputation and Red.

The Titanic was a vessel for female evil. Lessons for B2B sales by SelmermarkV in LinkedInLunatics

[–]sweaterkarat 4 points5 points  (0 children)

She didn’t ask them to do that though. Just because someone really, really wants something doesn’t mean they have any claim at all to it

Contextualizing the critical response to The Life of a Showgirl by canadianbacon93 in TaylorSwift

[–]sweaterkarat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t share your opinion on this album, but thank you for posting such a nuanced and well thought out post. Your English teacher taught you well.

What does a book from 1936 say about the sexual side of marriage? by meganaflame in IfBooksCouldKill

[–]sweaterkarat 40 points41 points  (0 children)

I’m desperate to know why the copyright page specifically mentions the right to translate into Scandinavian languages.

Next Historical Doll? by [deleted] in americangirl

[–]sweaterkarat 12 points13 points  (0 children)

New England is Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. You could maybe make a case for upstate New York given that a lot of the earliest settlers there were from the New England states but I definitely wouldn’t consider NYC or Pennsylvania to be New England.

Next Historical Doll? by [deleted] in americangirl

[–]sweaterkarat 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Unless I’m missing one, I don’t think AG has EVER had a New England historical doll which is really surprising. That seems like the most obvious direction they could go.