0 The Hunt

I have been looking for a new job since I knew I was moving to New York. With a brief 4 month hiatus for bar exam preparation and taking, I have been combing the electronic streets of the internet, looking for a job that I am qualified for. At the least, I have been looking for something to get me out of the house. It has been nice to have the luxury of working remotely/from home for the past 10 months, but the allure has worn off. I miss human contact (quite the revelation for an anti-social agoraphobe like me) and I miss the sense of purpose that comes with working. I also would not mind getting paid the going rate for NYC versus Pittsburgh. The cost of living difference is substantial.

I have had a number of interviews, on the phone and in person, but the result has been either silence or the "thanks, but..." that HR types seem to have memorized or at least permanently stashed on their clipboard. When I apply to a job and get a interview, I talk up the job in my head and think of how great it would be to get said job. This invariably leads to a certain level of disappointment when I don't get the job. As part of the job application process, I have been spreading a wide net. If I meet the qualifications for a job, I figure I can apply. It can't hurt, and with the arbitrary nature of my job it's a good idea to have options.

This has led to the following situation, that has led me to write this post. I have a phone interview tomorrow with a non-profit in lower Manhattan. This non-profit does a lot of advocacy work for juveniles and is an interested party, as compared to my current employer, basically a branch of the Federal government. I am not by any stretch of the imagination a passionate person prone to emotional outbursts or someone touched by emotional things. A cynic would call me a emotionless negative person. They would probably be right. How do I get excited for working at an advocacy place? How do you work at a job that is 180 degrees from what you are comfortable doing. I applied to this job because I had the credentials to get in the door, but I was reluctant to apply because advocacy work is something that you have to feel passionately about to do it well, and I knew I did not. At the same time, I needed a new job. My current job was stagnating and job security was not assured, especially with the impending election (I applied before Obama won) which could have resulted in drastic funding cuts.

So the phone interview is tomorrow. Who knows what will happen, but I'll have to see how that goes and what kind of vibe I get as well. I hate looking for jobs. It's exhausting and depressing as well.