So I know that the job market is pretty dismal right now, especially in California - at least this is what I keep hearing. But silly me, I thought I'd get a job much faster than I did. I started looking in early May and now that is is early June, I have one part-time position which I just received yesterday. Yep, starting next week I will be working the evening shift three days a week at a hostel in Fullerton. I'm really looking forward to it - I can't wait to meet interesting people from around the world (do people from ALL around the world stay in Fullerton? I guess they must since the place is doing well and it is only six miles from Disneyland, and lots of people show up for that...).
The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the prospect of having to kick out homeless people. Apparently that is a problem for hostels - people treating it like it's a shelter. I'm not so good at the confrontation, so hopefully these instances will be few and far between for me.
Before I got this job I went on a few interviews (Knotts Berry Farm included) and I even signed up with two employment agencies. But the issues I've found is that I'm overeducated or overqualified in some way. At Knotts everyone was all friendship and smiles until I let it slip that I had an undergraduate degree already and was working on a post-grad degree. And even that would have been fine I think, except I also had goals. After they heard that you would swear I had the plague the way they avoided me and looked down their noses at me. Now it could be in my imagination - I will give you that. I have a tendency to overreact. But there was a definite shift in attitude towards me. In the end it appeared that they would rather have the solemn guy with two weeks of warehouse experience taking photos of people as they walked into the park instead of me, the person with seven years customer service experience and who has worked at tourist attractions before. But fine. Whatever.
I also ended up at a few interviews who misrepresented the job on their add and over the phone. I decided that I would pretty much do anything this summer (wear house, picking, administration, receptionist, call centre, server, janitor, maid, whatever) but I refuse to be a telemarketer. I've already done the cold calling and dealt with the angry people whose personal space I just invaded. I don't need to repeat that. I don't have a problem upselling things over the phone - I just want to be the one who is called, not doing the calling, that way I know the person is really interested and I haven't just ruined their day. And I know those call centers exist because I have called them after seeing an infomercial at one o'clock in the morning because of my acute desire to have the Magic Bullet or the bamboo Spanx. So a few places that I interviewed at (and got the job but I had to turn it down) didn't let me know there was cold calling involved until I got to the interview - even though we discussed what I would be doing over the phone. It was a bit disheartening.
But finally getting this hostel desk clerk job has been a real boost. I'm excited to get started and earn some money!
Why do I need money you ask? Well, other than the regular reasons of bills and basic living expenses, I am planning on doing some United Kingdom based traveling come December, so I need me some mula! There will be more to come on the traveling plans. Oh I have so many ideas all jumping around in my head. I need to sit down and figure them all out.
So if anyone is reading this, the lesson I feel I've learned this past week is that you can't be too cocky. I'm really proud of my education and my work experience, but I was a little too sure of myself. This past month of doing nothing and watching what little money I had saved flow through the gas tank of the family van has been an eye opener. The saying also goes: "Keep calm, carry on." And it really does ring true. There is always going to be stress, but deep breaths and reminding yourself of the good things in your life really does help calm you down. And carrying on and not giving up does wonders for you self-esteem when you finally get what you've been searching for.
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