#job hunt

[roebeanstalk]

i owe my landlord $1,270 and my roommate $405

i'm asking for help - even just a few dollars. i hate doing this, but i am trying to get a lot of other stuff together and it still just hasn't happened.

i have been unable to get past the interview phase of pretty much every job i've applied to, even ones that i seem to be perfectly qualified for. idk if it's because i've been out of the "workforce" as a freelancer, trans things, corporate bullshit, or some shortcomings i'm not recognizing. so much of my energy nowadays goes into not feeling like shit, and i've at least been mostly successful at that so...yay?

please donate or share to help a trans girl at her wits end. ily and also i'm sorry x_x

[soapdispensersalesman]

[tehnakki]

I had to take one of those dumb startup EQ tests where they show you people's faces and you have to judge the emotions. Imo, these kinds of test are some utter bullshit especially because I'm pretty faceblind when it comes to actual humans but I'm an ace at these tests. But the COO was impressed at my perfect score (lol) so I'd like to share my "special knowledge ™️".

At the beginning of these tests there's usually a tutorial of some kind. In that tutorial they'll give you the full range of emotions on one or two people's faces. Take a minute to map each face to the emoji it most fits and pick out what the characteristics are that make it that emoji.

For example: happiness 😁 Characterized by scrunched eyes and a big smile

Sadness. 😞 A frown and usually droopy eyelids, mouth closed.

Fear 😟 droopy face but the mouth is open

Anger. 😡 Wrinkle between the eyebrow from scrunched brows. Mouth small.

Disgust. 😕 Looks like anger but with an asymmetrical mouth

Once you are sure about what the 6-ish emotions they will be using are, focus ONLY on the criteria you develop when making your initial guess and then do a quick check you aren't being racist or sexist. For example, if you think a black man is angry, double check his brow actually has a wrinkle and that his mouth his symmetrical. No wrinkle? It's fear, mouth is asymmetrical? It's disgust.

One thing I've definitely noticed over the last 10 years with these stupid tests is they've gotten better at not being racist so they will try to trip you up with people of colour giving neutral face but because they are put next to a white face you are tempted to see an emotion there that's not.

Anyways good luck if you ever come across one of these things and just know, you've got more EQ in your pinky finger by virtue of being on this webbed site than the makers of this ridiculous tests have in their whole bodies.

[galahadwilder]

Someone give me a job please I promise to show up on time and wearing pants and everything

[kassil]

"Nobody wants to work" is such a tedious shorthand for "no one wants to do living-wage work for a non-living-wage salary so that I can reap extra rewards off of their labor"

[dzamie]

to every company that has its own site that requires an account just to apply for a job with email verification and everything: I hope you go bankrupt tomorrow and all your executives have most of their holdings seized

[pursuitoftruth]

an overview of the difficulties in finding common decency, basic communication, and kindness during a job search:

of the 201 positions i've applied to this year, i have completed:

- 4 writing samples/questionnaires/assessments (i was not compensated for my time or work, but they did at least let me know i would not be moving forward).

- 4 online face-to-face interviews (i have been ghosted by 2 of these).

- i've received communication about rejection or postponement/cancellation of the position from only 74 of 201.

(p.s. i recognize people are overworked. trust me, i've been there. but email scripts exist for a reason.

(p.p.s. yes, i send a thank you email after every direct interaction.)

(p.p.p.s. i recently hired a resume writer to help me get through the ATS b*llsh*t, so fingers crossed that progress will be made soon.)

[luckyfirerabbit]

Need steady work ASAP

If anyone has any leads on remote work (my husband is disabled and has serious difficulty standing, walking, lifting for any amount of time) in the state of Georgia paying roughly 17/hr, please let me know. He has about 1-1/2yrs experience and an associates degree.

His position is being outsourced and he will be unemployed on Jan. 1st. After that we have maybe three months worth of bills saved, and three months after that's gone we foreclose on the house.

I have been job hunting for about 2 yrs and have had zero luck, and no job I could land in the next three months will pay enough to cover our bills.

Any leads would be appreciated. Also I do literature and art commissions if you're interested. Literature is 15/1k words. For art, please PM for details. Thanks.

[nice2meetyouu]

Malayo pa pero malayo na moments

Probably, nagbobolahan lang kami.

Pero today I had an interview for an online role and it seemed to be going well. After the interview, sabi nga nya it was great daw. Haha.

I remember my client interview din sa main job where one of the comments was "I enjoyed this interview, thank you." Entertainer yarn? Pero nakakaaliw kasi 'yung parang nag-uusap lang kayo versus 'yung usual na rigid questioning. Sana nagsulat na lang ako sa papel kung gano'n.

Baka pang customer service pala talaga ako pag nasa mood? Char. Contemplating na nga magresidency pero andami kong igigive up pag pumasok ako sa ospital. Goodbye life, goodbye balance, hello work.

Anyway, I love my doctor job. I just have an absurd financial goal kaya ako may 2-3 other jobs all the time even to the point of burnout.

In 2016, I had my first phone interview sa isang online English tutorial service sa mga hapon. And I was rejected kasi hindi raw ako fluent. Hindi ko makuha 'yung timing ng pagsagot.

Pero ngayon, I guess I'm better at articulating my thoughts na. To be fair, marami pa ring fail moments and rejections (even for doctor jobs lol). I guess, today's a sunny day for me.

[clinically-not-straight]

If anyone doesn't know what the job market looks like rn, here's what you need to know.

Checking over my indeed, over 95% of companies have not even looked at my CV after submission (discounting ones with requirements I did not have because they automatically disallow you there.) 3 have looked and said yes, one was telemarketing and that was comission only, one was a company that seemed too sketchy to be legitimate, and the other may also be comission based or not because they do not tell you about the role.

To clarify, the only ones that were willing to hire me were ones that were going to pay me less than minimum wage. On top of that, many places offer jobs for less than minimum wage, the numbers didn't add up in a way that would make up minimum wage.

Now, I know a lot of places want apprentices round me, in fact a lot of them do. A lot of those apprenticeships require experience... meaning they want someone that is overqualified to work at an apprentice's pay.

So many people are making less than minimum wage.

But you might be thinking "well you only used indeed. Wrong, I've applied through company sites too, because some don't allow indeed as submission system but do use it to advertise, I can not tell why. Out of the around 10 that have used this system, one has messaged me saying they have not picked me. In fact, over all I'd say about 3 of them have messaged to say they won't hire me.

We're meant to impress these people but they don't have the decency to treat us like fucking people. I already know I'm not getting the job but you can be less shit.

[soapdispensersalesman]

[museum-spaces]

Hey nerds,

I am queuing this up to post at a normal time as it is getting quite late here in Camel Town.

I have some pretty big news. I will be leaving Camel Town asap - at least a month but hopefully not much more than that. Y'all know that I find Camel town... frustrating to put it mildly. Well I have managed to get pretty much all the way through the process of becoming an Executive Director for a museum in Vancouver. It is still a small community museum, not anything like the Museum of Anthropology or anything like that, but they want me. And I want to be in Vancouver.

I had 4 [3.5] interviews with them, they are now checking my references and I just got the ball rolling on a police background check. I found a place for Ianto and I to live and its basically around the corner from where my brother lives and works.

Obviously, I could still not get the job. BUT I was told that I am the only candidate they are running a background check on or whose references are being spoken to so far.

The 'ideal' start date is 24 June 2023, but they recognize that that is very soon so are flexible on that front. They also want a long term employee. If it works out to be a better working environment I might stay but I wouldn't hold my breath. I have come to realize that museums and I do not mesh well since 2020 and I am prepared to move on once I have a place to land.

That's part of why being in Vancouver is such a blessing; I will be more able to enrol in a few classes a semester at UBC or SFU. SFU actually has a campus within.... a bit of a hike... of the museum.

Camel Town is a hard place to live for me. I have some really good friends who love it to death - they just got chickens. He wanted 2, they got 12 lol. But I need the city. Even if I have to go back to wearing ear plugs 24/7 the ability to get around will be life changing. Also fewer deer. And proximity to Ocean.

Ianto and I are also on the waitlist for a 'little' sibling for him. More details of that to come.

So, yeah.

Big changes coming for me.

I don't know where Ianto and I will end up, but I am looking forward to finding out.

Also, I have been having serious thoughts about deleting this blog. Given how museums are tied intrinsically to my mental well being, it may not be healthy for me to maintain this blog in the long run. I will let you lovely nerds know with lots of advanced warning and shepherd you as best I can to other museum-y blogs. But just wanted to give you a heads up.

The deactivation of the blog would probably happen if/when I leave the sector. But there is a chance that I will need to step back again like in 2021.

Its something that has been cooking in the back of my mind for a long time. Most of my time in Camel Town tbh. It just took me until about 2 weeks ago to verbalize it... or whatever you'd call having a realization via tumblr messenger with a friend. Some day I might share the art I made to help me work through the amorphous emotions... Probably not though. soz.

[anxious-glow]

2024.01.24.

Met my friends at Itaewon for dinner. We ate chicken feet and clam soup. It was different from Chinese chicken feet and they seemed to like it. I realized that we drank everyday since they came. In my defense, Koreans are not alcoholics, we're just passionate about alcohol! They were very tired and so we headed home early after dinner. They had really high GPAs which was so impressive. They definitely push myself to have higher standards and become better. I wanted them to know that I was worthy of their time.

I got rejected from the firm. I don't know what went wrong because they were impressed with my career and even implied that I might get in maybe I interpreted it differently. I was definitely disappointed. On top of the I saw one on my friends announce that he was working at the UN. I was so depressed.

[poppapeasy]

get money new moneyyyyy

[artsekey]

Companies I've Applied To

I figured that as I embark on my quest to Get Hired, I should probably document the process for both myself and for others who are trying to get their foot in the door for industry work.

For context (and for those of you who don't know), I have a Bachelor's of Fine Art in Emerging Media: Character Animation and an Master's of Fine Art in Animation and VFX. I graduated in spring of 2022 after completing a fully independent short film, and have been working as a "visiting lecturer" at my University ever since.

My Employment History

When you're looking to get hired, your past work experience matters... a lot. Because of how intense my Undergrad/Graduate programs were, I didn't have a lot of time to cultivate my portfolio or bolster my resume. Getting hired by the University right out of college was a huge relief, but it doesn't tick that pesky "2+ years of Industry Experience" or "At least 1 AAA Game Shipped" prerequisite on most job postings.

With that in mind, I'm doing my best to push for the "or equivalent experience" caveat.

What I Do:

I've mentioned this a few times on this blog, but my professional focus is in 3D character modeling, rigging, groom, and sim. In the art field, this is usually considered a technical job, and from what I understand the market for tech is usually a little less competitive than the market for modeling/animation.

So, with all that out of the way, let's get to it!

DreamWorks:

I sent in my application for Character Tech Anim about three days after the posting opened. They had their own hiring website through nbcUniversal. I'd gone through the process before with internships, so it was pretty painless! It's a remote position, which is huge, and the salary would be competitive with the one I have now as long as I can stay remote.

Biggest con in my application is that I'm still missing Python proficiency. I'm learning it right now, but god damn is it an in-demand skill!

It's a job I'd love to get, and I think my skills in rigging/groom/sim line up well.

Process Pros:

Easy to apply.

Clear (and reasonable!) qualifications listed for the job level.

Honest about expectations regarding overtime and hours.

Allowed PDF uploads of CV & Resume.

Sent a confirmation email after the application had been received.

Had a section for "Additional Comments", which was a great place for me to throw in that I'm learning some of the skills they want.

Process Cons:

Likely will not receive a rejection notice in the event they decide not to hire. This isn't a huge con; the studio is massive and sending out rejection notices would be a time sink for them.

Advertised working weekends and overtime in the listing... definitely something I'll ask about if I move forward in the process. Work/life balance is important!

Had to enter my resume information and upload my resume. :(

Result: Too Soon to Tell

Gearbox:

I sent in my application for Technical Animator (Character Rigger) about two weeks after the listing was posted. They had their own hiring website. This is a hybrid position, which wouldn't be ideal, but a friend of a friend works remotely for them, so maybe it's negotiable?

Biggest con in my application is, yet again, that I'm still missing Python proficiency and tool dev experience. Learning it now!

I was missing a lot of the credentials on this one, so it's more of a hail-Mary application.

Process Pros:

Easy to apply.

Clear (and reasonable!) qualifications listed for the job level.

Allowed PDF uploads of CV & Resume.

Sent a confirmation email after the application had been received. Seems to promise a prompt response, which means I can likely expect a notice of rejection if they choose not to hire.

Company culture seems extremely reasonable and employee health is a priority.

Process Cons:

May have to relocate if hired.

Result: Too Soon to Tell

Aquent:

Honestly... no idea what was happening here. It was for a character rigging position, but it seems like it might've been for a broader hiring agency?

Process Pros:

Allowed PDF upload of CV and Resume.

Process Cons:

Had to apply for the job and make a separate account on their website to set up the application.

Confusing website.

Had to upload resume and then type up the resume again.

No place for a CV for the specific role.

Honestly, I'm not sure what company this went to.

Result: Too Soon to Tell

Steamroller:

Local studio that I've seen a lot of people go into! Applied for a rigging position in their animation department. Hybrid and remote are both an option for me!

Process Pros:

Allowed PDF upload of CV and Resume.

Easy to apply!

Received a confirmation email.

Credentials were clear and well listed; I matched most of the requirements.

Competitive salary! :)

Flexible work methods.

Allowed me to link to my website AND upload a static portfolio, which I love.

Process Cons:

Likely will not receive a rejection notice should they choose not to hire.

Result: Rejected (03/21/2023)

BonusXP:

Can't speak about the process much on this one! They have a rolling, general application process which means I just send in an email and if a job comes up, they'll let me know. Feels straightforward and simple. :)

Result: Too Soon to Tell