Will Write For Food

Over the last month or so I’ve been job-hunting, and finding it an endlessly discouraging process.

It’s an odd paradox: I have never been more confident in my writing-editing skills, yet am beginning to feel almost unemployable, in part because my virtual self is so unimpressive.

This post, though, is not meant as self-pitying drivel. Something will pan out sooner or later, all for the better.

No, I really just wanted to comment on the zany world of job sites – chiefly Indeed.com and ZipRecruiter.

I used Indeed.com about four years ago during the search that led to the position from which I got laid off about a month ago. I’d never heard of Indeed before. Now I’m seeing a lot of their ads on the tube, as I watch the MLB playoffs and other major (i.e. costly advertising time) sporting events.

Indeed and Zip have both matched me to some promising stuff, though nothing has yet clicked.

But they – Indeed, in particular – have also made some utterly incomprehensible matches. My track record is just about 100% writing and editing. In addition to feasible postings, Indeed has matched me to possible jobs for which I’m not qualified and have no interest in: real estate inspector, an executive position, editor for a quilting publication (quilting knowledge required), and an internship at an investment firm. There have been a few entry-level writing jobs, too.

Oh – I might also be a bagel maker, or a baker in a grocery store chain.

Go fig-ya.

I am primarily self-educated. To put it another way: a college dropout, and proud of it. The only downside is when I have to fill out employment applications. Let’s just say it doesn’t look good when, for “highest level of education completed,” I have to select “high school diploma/GED” from a dropdown list.

I also spent a bunch of years as a stay-at-home dad, so there’s a big gap in my employment record. Between diaper changes I managed to write a book, and even get it published. Most employers don’t give a shit, even when they say they want to hire a writer.

I suspect that all they see is no degree, and a yawning hole in formal employment.

Like I said, my virtual presence is not particularly impressive. Boo-hoo-hoo!