Long Time No Talk

Yeah, so... I've been busy.

I hate my job so much. I have just under a month to go. I've been trying to find someone to take my place. I put up an ad on craigslist. I was going to put up ads in the Charlotte Observer and the Gaston Gazette, but they were hundreds of dollars a piece and we received over 100 responses in the first day the ad was up on craigslist. It was insane. By the time I took the ad down, we had received over 250 resumes.

I thought it was kind of cool at first. I though, "Hey! I shouldn't have a problem finding someone to take my place with all of these people applying." I was so wrong. It took me about a week to narrow down the resumes. In the end, I came up with 23 people who were actually qualified and submitted a quality resume/cover letter. That's less than 10% who passed the first test. And I wasn't even THAT picky. I mean, after I found only a few in the first 100, I decided to lower my standards a bit.

I never knew that it was that hard to write a resume. I mean, with the internet, even if you don't know what to put, you should be able to look it up and find out pretty quickly. But, no. That's apparently too much to ask of a lot of people.

And, how hard is it to click Spell Check? AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I have never been so frustrated. Who submits a resume without reviewing it first? How bad could you really want the job if you aren't willing to put forth a tiny bit of effort to make it look professional?? The hard part was already done. You've got your resume all typed up. All you have to do is CLICK SPELL CHECK!!! Any resume that I found spelling errors automatically went into the "No" pile. They aren't worth my time. [Sidenote: this spelling error HURT me so badly -- expeerense. Not kidding. I wish I was.]

Another tip: ALWAYS include a cover letter with your resume. I thought this was common knowledge, but apparently it isn't. Also, "Hi. I'd like a job," is NOT an acceptable cover letter. Take some time. Put forth some effort. Your cover letter is the first thing I'm going to see about you. It should catch my attention. It should make you stand out so that I will remember you after I've gone through over 250 resumes. Sell yourself.

If you don't have the required experience or you don't fit the description of what someone wants from you, DO NOT APPLY. It's incredibly frustrating to put in an ad for a person with at least 2 years of experience in an administrative field and then get people who have never worked in admin submit resumes and WASTE my time.

It's okay to call to check on your resume. It shows initiative. It is not okay to call two or three times a day. It's excessive. And, I'll put you at the bottom even if you are most qualified because you are a royal pain in my ass. I said I'd get back to you by Tuesday. That means I'll get back to you by Tuesday. Leave me alone! Stalking doesn't make you more likely to get the job.

If you receive a notice that you are not going to be hired for the position, it is nice to send a thank you email or call to thank the person for letting you know. I had one person actually call and have a conversation and thank me for letting her know. She went back into the pile because she showed how professional and courteous she was and I also got to hear how she would sound to customers. It's inappropriate to call or email and tell the person hiring that they are crazy and pathetic and are going to be sorry or that it was their loss. It sounds petty and ridiculous. And it's a huge pain. And, if you ever had a chance of being reconsidered, you just lost it.

I hope that my frustration and pain can be of some service to you all in the future. Please, please, please do not make these mistakes when applying for a job. It's irritating and you will not succeed.

I'm ready to shoot myself in the foot and I haven't even made it to the interviews yet. Ugh. It's probably going to be painful. I'm going to scream if they don't show up wearing appropriate interview attire. Wish me luck... :S