How long until job hunting becomes swiping. Left is hell no. Right is shortlisted. Maybe one day people will get tired of the two-month hiring process, and first impressions will be back on the board. Currently, you meet with a Human Resources rep, then meet with the team, then meet with your potential supervisor, then meet with the owner/CEO/President. And during it all, they ask you to take tests to prove your worthiness. Bring back minimalism in job hiring.
If we're becoming a non-standardized testing (SAT, LSAT) society, then job testing should go too. Let's normalize giving people a chance. Maybe it's the millennial culture of job hopping, "quiet quitting", and whatever else that cries for social acceptance and love but doesn't see the hypocrisy. "I don't owe them anything" should be, "I owe them the courtesy of a heads-up."
Hiring is a mutual social contract, but the job market has turned it into courtship and ghosting. Our toxic global social norms diseased their way into finding a job. Did too many underqualified people start jobs and cause chaos, ruining it for people who have the potential, but just were never under the right leadership? Did too many overqualified people start jobs and quit because a bigger check was placed in front of them?
It's all Numbers
Job hunting is trying to make your way into an exclusive social media platform (Slack). Media talks about job #'s and unemployment, but no one talks about how getting a salaried position with benefits is a 2-month process. You're wasting people's time.
Like success on social media platforms, you can content farm and do what the already successful people are doing and gain 10,000 followers in a month, which in the interview process is submitting to the algorithm. Or you can be yourself and one year later have 3,00 followers, which in the interview process is never getting a new job because robots are better.
I'm a first-impression person. I don't grow on people who's identity are limited. I work in diverse spaces, make diverse friends, and work for diverse leadership. The best relationships I have are when I over-impose my ego just a little bit, and someone pushes back. That's bonding.
Job hunting is, "Tell me about a time you..." It's a preset series of questions that the job seeker doesn't know, but has to pull out their ass on the spot. It's after the interview saying, "Damn, I should of brought up..." The resume tells you what someone does, if you want to know who people really are, ask soul searching questions. Work should be aristry.
All my work is founded in passion. I speak passion and big ideas, but modern jobs want preprogrammed intelligence. I'm aight.
For my 2010 interview at Eataly, I wore slacks, shoes, a collared shirt, a blazer, and glasses. Non-threatening negro. A.S., told me he almost didn't hire me because I looked too dorky. My plan worked though and he got the best person for the job at the time.
I used to pick up odd jobs in NYC when I was unemployed. I interviewed at Paragon Sports for a weekend event where they needed extra help. The guy interviewing me said. "So what are you doing, man? You're like this cool, chill guy. What's next in life?"
I make great first impressions. But do first impressions matter anymore?
Human Resources used to hire you and tell everyone at the job to play nice and get along with the newbie. Now it's like an elite daycare to see if we can make the perfect environment where everyone is happy, agrees with one another, and we're all one big family. The Office tv series shows the toxicity of paternal and maternal boss energy at work. I'm aight.
Roles Get New Names
I remember every job interview I've had; the phone calls, not so much. I'm arrogant when I talk about my work experience. For all I've done for other businesses, I should be. I don't feel as successful yet to be arrogant about personal passion work. That's happening next year.
I've always kept my ear to the streets. I can have five contract jobs or just one. I can be exhausted from a long work day, but I always check job postings. I check to see how job roles are evolving, and I check to see what skills I can add to my plate. Who can I learn from, who can I support, and how can I increase my social value? I'm a minimalist who's had enough big and small wins that, I don't need much to self-value. But currently, I need a big win.
A lot of us need/want big wins. What are you doing to get it? Small business ownership, whether you make $1,000 or $10,000 profit, is knowing that the best big and small wins come from your mental, physical, and spiritual labor. I've been laboring and my small businesses have humbled and intoxicated me with value. I've eaten well, but I need a bigger plate because my social value appetite increases every year.
Think outside the box. Leverage yourself in all ways until you find what you want. I've learned that as long as I move forward, and honor my social contracts, my life works out. People may not honor theirs, but I'm only responsible for myself.
We all we got; we all we need.
