Frustration

[shanmonster]

I've been feeling pretty crappy lately. At first, I chalked it up to job-searching blues, but now I see there's a physiological reason for my blahs. The headaches, ennervation, sore muscles, and upset stomach have also been dogging other people who went to last week's kung fu Olympics. We appear to be suffering from kung fu plague. I went to kung fu last night and couldn't make it through the warmup. I had to keep pausing during the kicking drills, panting and sweating as though I'd exerted myself fifteen times as hard. And when it came time to do crunches, I had to keep stopping to catch my breath and get my pulse down to a reasonable rate. This is abnormal. I am a crunch machine. Typically, I can do hundreds of the things before I begin to get a little tired.

I knew I'd be useless at the class, so I packed up and went home. I felt guilty--I wanted to do the kung fu--but I knew I couldn't. Grr.

The job searching has continued today. This morning I attended an information session on government-sponsored job training. It's designed for people who are trying to get a job in a particular area, yet are missing a few necessary skills/certifications. This applies for me, in that I need to get my fitness/personal trainer certification as well as my first aid and CPR to continue in the fitness industry. I can't afford to take the necessary classes/workshops. So with high hopes I attended the information session only to learn I do not qualify. In order to get the assistance, I need to be on Employment Insurance (EI) and/or out of school for a year. I can't qualify for EI because I don't have enough work hours, and I'm out of school partially because I can't afford to remain there. It's a catch-22. And if I were to get my certifications, there's no guarantee I'd get employment in the fitness industry. Argh!

The other area where I could potentially get work is in the IT industry. I've been doing all sorts of web stuff for over ten years. However, I don't have any of the Microsoft certifications which seem requisite to a job in the industry, and lack the funds to get them. So I'm stymied again.

I'm a Jackie of all trades, and have plenty of specialized training, but no one wants to hire me.

I've been applying at call centres. I just applied for one company online, and after filling out the application, I received an email requesting I call a toll-free number for a telephone interview. So I called up the number only to get an operator message saying the number cannot be reached, please check the number and try again. I did just that, and got the same message. Ack!

This afternoon, I'm actually applying to work at Sobeys again. Not as a front-end cashier, mind you, but as a governmentally-approved drug dealer. I think I could handle working in the smoke shop, but there's no way I'm slinging frozen turkeys and 2-litre bottles of pop again. Fuck that noise. Repetitive stress syndrome isn't worth minimum wage.

Comments

[thatnickguy.livejournal.com]

Maybe I missed something in a previous post, but what happened with Cendant? It sounded like you were all but hired there at one point.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what happened. To the best of my knowledge, I aced the interview and tests. But I received a PFO from them the other day.

[twopiearr.livejournal.com]

have you considered telephone acting?

it's not just for porn anymore...telephone psychics armed with automated tarot deck programs on their PCs can earn just as much.

(not that there's anything WRONG with porn, but somehow it's considered rude to suggest on its own, so...)

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I'd be willing to give it a go, but I don't know about any such operation in the area.

[twopiearr.livejournal.com]

that's the beauty of it...most of them are totally decentralized. you phone their system to mark yourself as "available" and then calls get routed to you, at home. the downside is that you only get paid for the time that you're actually on a call, the upside is that you can do it while engaged in other things, such as googling for more job leads.

don't have any links handy, but if you google you should be able to pull up more than a few. my girlfriend investigated this as an option when we were in similary dire straits a couple years back; I'll ask her if she kept any of her research.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Thanks! That would be spiffy.

[liquid-quaalude.livejournal.com]

Microsoft certification is SOOOOOOOOO overpriced here at least and alot of it is bullshit most high schools know how to do....but they wont look at you with out the certificates...

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know. It sux0rs.

[liquid-quaalude.livejournal.com]

i know its what keeps me from jobs I apply to...
I know alot if it, like the back of my hand..because it was drilled into me during HS.....and ALOT of it is basic stuff anyways!!! but still...its such a big deal...
ugh,,,job hunting is so depressing its making me sick.