Pounding the Pavement in the Age of the Chimperor

This will be a shamelessly personal post, but at the same time one I suspect to which many of our readers can relate. I just finished up with a job interview, it went very well and I have lots of fuzzy feelings about it and I assume the interview does as well. In a nutshell, I'm almost perfectly qualified and didn't flub any part of it, and got him to laugh and listen to my well prepared presentation of my list of experiences and qualifications. In short, I couldn't have asked for it to go better, and now all I have to do is hope that no one else on his list has more than me.

That said, it's been a long, dry summer for me on this boomin' Bush job market, and I hate the way I have less confidence than I normally do when going through this process. It's been almost 8 years since I've looked for a job, and normally, when I apply, I get the position. At least, that's been the case for 9 out of 10 of the positions for which I've applied. Call it a combination of humility, common sense and good luck, but I generally stick to jobs that I feel fairly sure I can get. In this case, I've got the "in" of knowing someone in the organization who'll say good things about me, and a almost perfectly matched list of past experiences with respect to what this new position requires. Yet I still worry.

I don't really have that much more to say, except that I'm very curious: job seeking Corrente readers- how's it going for you? I've heard stories constantly over the last five years about people unable to get in the door, bales of CVs and resumes sent out without a single response, and people accepting positions that are beneath them or pay less than previous jobs they've held. Bush's minions are always telling us about job creation and an end to "recession," but then again they told us Saddam had WMDs. I confess, I could spend less time blogging and more time looking, but even if I did, I wonder about just how soft the market really is. My sense is that it's rather soft indeed, and not really getting better for those of us not looking to greet shoppers at Wal-Mart or get shot at by Iraqi freedom fighters..

Given the recent spate of lay-offs and downsizing at places like Delphi and elsewhere, it seems to me that it's a hard ol' world for the Amurkin job seeker. Share your stories here, along with any tips or hints if you've recently attained the position of your choice.

My Jedi Mind Trick: I kept him laughing for the whole interview. Not belly laughs, but happy chuckling. I hope I'll share a smile with him soon.