I Wore Heels for This?

Like many other authors and dreamers around the world, I have found that sometimes another source of income is needed.  I have been job hunting (Jobs are not the same as careers!  I have and always will be a writer first!).  There are some things about looking for a job that have changed for the worse...or maybe better depending on what you like.  Everything is online now.  For me, this is disappointing.

When I go into a store, I want to walk in and scope out a place.  I want to see if the other employees are behaving professional, how they are dressed, and whether or not they enjoy their job and take it seriously.  My first impression of my future is just as important as the impression I make on the employer.  First impressions are supposed to be worth the effort, but I have found that first impressions are only good on a computer screen. 

While I enjoy the idea of searching for a job in my pajamas at home, it is unprofessional in my eyes when no one knows whether or not they are hiring.  On my quest for employment it is ridiculous that when I say, "Excuse me, I was wondering whether or not you were hiring," and I get the response, "We don't know, but you can always go to our corporate website and fill out an application." 

Wait a minute.  What?  They don't know?  They don't know whether or not they need more people at their store?  They haven't recently fired someone, hired someone, or had an unreliable person call in?  Did I just perfectly groom myself, pick out a professional looking outfit, drive thirty minutes to the city and walk in here in heels just to be told (continuously) that they don't know whether or not they need someone to work for them?

Yes.  I did.

That about sums up my day yesterday.

My other problem with online applications is that it takes way too long to fill out.  Companies think that because you're on a computer you don't mind filling out a twenty minute test asking for your high school grades (which for me are hard to remember, since I'm almost thirty), your extra-curricular activities (ummm...not since high school...does writing sci-fi/fantasy novels count?) and what you would do in certain situations (how would I know, unless I've been in that situation?).

I believe that I should be able to walk into a store, ask for an application, fill it out and turn it in.  Is that too much to ask?

It shouldn't be, but it is.

The search continues for a job...until then, I'll stay busy selling my books, and writing my second novel in the Dark Angels series.