magic words

markets are conversations, they say. yeah.

it follows that the job market is one big conversation as well.

we always knew this. it is who you know, not what. it is what you say, not what you can do. communication is wonderful. it is power. it is magic. it carves windows between your universe and my universe. solidifies ideas. makes things happen.

why though does this job market conversation seem so rarely honest? why is it so fraught with red tape? procedures and dead ends? most conversation is not like that. it is how're you and i'm just great and what did you think of that film?

but if you want a job, you don't just ask for one and see what they say. you fill out three hundred applications at three hundred different agencies, carefully tailoring your cover letter, saying something vaguely different to all of these people, crossing your fingers, waiting by the phone...

you go in for a few interviews. you answer questions, trying to read this HR person's mind, hoping you're making a good impression. and then they say they have a few more interviews this week and that they'll let you know.

yeah. right.

so it isn't easy always to talk to people, especially HR people you've never laid eyes on before. but is it really so rare to meet a person for whom you would honestly love to do the very thing they want to pay someone to do for them? is it so hard successfully communicate this mutually beneficial arrangement into a reality? what are the magic words you have to say to the manager to make him think you're amazing? what is the secret code you have to put in your resume to get noticed?

but life is no fairytale. there are no magic words. all words are magic if you use them right.

i can complain all i want about this arrangement. i can wait for another job on a plate to show up in front of me. what good will that do me today, right now, when i have a hungry car to feed and dreams to chase into the sunset?

sigh.

i have so much to learn.