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Economics.
15 years ago
General
TIME FOR A RANT.
I've got a friend. He's not my oldest friend, but he's a dear friend, nigh on a little brother to me... and he cannot get a job.
Now, it's not for lack of trying. Don't even fucking THINK of accusing him of that. If he got paid by the hour for all the applications he's filled out, all the interviews he's gone to, all the going door to door just ASKING if the place would even accept his plea for the right to earn minimum wage doing absolutely anything for them, he would be richer than ANYONE I KNOW.
I worked mall security. I worked at a grocery store for a while. I worked at a convenience store in MA. I worked for a dining hall scrubbing pots and pans for a little while, too. My roommates have had it MUCH, MUCH HARDER. They've done their time working for fast food and convenience stores and now they're settled as a butcher and a cake decorator, and that's where they plan to stay, even! The friend I'm referring to has applied to all of those jobs, and none of them have ever given him the time of day. Here's what sets friend A and friends B and C apart:
Friend A did not lie on his job applications.
He has a nasty habit called being honest.
He's all about justice and fairness.
He's a good guy.
And that's why the economy refuses to touch him.
The universe is not fair OR just. It's our prerogative as sapient beings to MAKE it fair and just, but the people who are in the best position to do that? They don't WANT to. There IS class warfare. We're not waging it, but the rich are--and they're WINNING. WE can't win by playing by their rules. They wrote those rules. Those rules are engineered to benefit THEM, and them alone!
Honesty is a luxury that the little people can't afford. Where would they get it? It's not very damned likely they'll get it from the business world. Businesses have engineered a nice little system where if you aren't the sinless reincarnation of Jesus H. FUCKING CHRIST HIMSELF, you can NOT be honest on a job application and still get the job. They've strung it up nice and tidy to keep their employees expendable, so they can "find out" about the lies that let them in if ever that employee becomes... disagreeable.
They don't want naive, weak-willed people working there anyway. They want people who are versatile, with quick wits, and the skill to convince their CUSTOMERS that they are naive and honest. It's not about honesty. It's about the appearance of honesty. I'm afraid that when my pal gets kicked out of his parents' home for not smoking weed or getting drunk, not crashing his car into every possible obstruction he can find, and NOT costing them thousands and thousands of dollars like his BROTHER, WHOM THEY WANT TO KEEP, that he's going to starve...
And then he'll have to ask that question: What's worse?
Putting a white lie on a job application so you at least have a -chance- to Earn your survival?
Or living on the street where you have to mug people and dig through dumpsters to survive?
Life makes liars out of all of us.
I've got a friend. He's not my oldest friend, but he's a dear friend, nigh on a little brother to me... and he cannot get a job.
Now, it's not for lack of trying. Don't even fucking THINK of accusing him of that. If he got paid by the hour for all the applications he's filled out, all the interviews he's gone to, all the going door to door just ASKING if the place would even accept his plea for the right to earn minimum wage doing absolutely anything for them, he would be richer than ANYONE I KNOW.
I worked mall security. I worked at a grocery store for a while. I worked at a convenience store in MA. I worked for a dining hall scrubbing pots and pans for a little while, too. My roommates have had it MUCH, MUCH HARDER. They've done their time working for fast food and convenience stores and now they're settled as a butcher and a cake decorator, and that's where they plan to stay, even! The friend I'm referring to has applied to all of those jobs, and none of them have ever given him the time of day. Here's what sets friend A and friends B and C apart:
Friend A did not lie on his job applications.
He has a nasty habit called being honest.
He's all about justice and fairness.
He's a good guy.
And that's why the economy refuses to touch him.
The universe is not fair OR just. It's our prerogative as sapient beings to MAKE it fair and just, but the people who are in the best position to do that? They don't WANT to. There IS class warfare. We're not waging it, but the rich are--and they're WINNING. WE can't win by playing by their rules. They wrote those rules. Those rules are engineered to benefit THEM, and them alone!
Honesty is a luxury that the little people can't afford. Where would they get it? It's not very damned likely they'll get it from the business world. Businesses have engineered a nice little system where if you aren't the sinless reincarnation of Jesus H. FUCKING CHRIST HIMSELF, you can NOT be honest on a job application and still get the job. They've strung it up nice and tidy to keep their employees expendable, so they can "find out" about the lies that let them in if ever that employee becomes... disagreeable.
They don't want naive, weak-willed people working there anyway. They want people who are versatile, with quick wits, and the skill to convince their CUSTOMERS that they are naive and honest. It's not about honesty. It's about the appearance of honesty. I'm afraid that when my pal gets kicked out of his parents' home for not smoking weed or getting drunk, not crashing his car into every possible obstruction he can find, and NOT costing them thousands and thousands of dollars like his BROTHER, WHOM THEY WANT TO KEEP, that he's going to starve...
And then he'll have to ask that question: What's worse?
Putting a white lie on a job application so you at least have a -chance- to Earn your survival?
Or living on the street where you have to mug people and dig through dumpsters to survive?
Life makes liars out of all of us.
There was a time when going to college meant the promise of a future, to be noticed by a big company, to get a good stable career, but even that has become a myth. At the end of the day, money dominates this world. It is not governments, it is not companies or even the human race.
Money is an organism, from the ancient times, created as a means to measure wealth, and given wealth to otherwise scraps of paper and metal fragments. Wars have been fought over it, so many lives lost both human and animal in its name that the human race does not have a mathematical symbol which can accurately express the count. Countless. Our entire lives and personalities shaped by its will, mountains moved in its name, rivers altered, epic super structures defying all the forces of reality built greater than the greatest monuments to our gods, megalithic super cities with vast populations the likes of which this world has never seen raised from the dust in tribute to this being, this god of gods, this mutual faith and belief. It feeds on us, for we cannot live without it, so intertwined in the very being of our species that we are consumed and inseparable from it. The good and the bad cannot escape its all reaching grasp. Its no longer about honesty, about morals, about good or evil. When money is in question, friend will turn against friend, lover against lover, brother against sister, mother against child. Our entire life's story, our brave and diligent struggle through this world, is but a drop in the sea of its glorious and eternal power. All life will bow.. for in this world... Money - is all.
And eeeh, it's probably the area your in. I've never ever lied on a job application. And I have gotten some pretty damn good jobs.
Want a soda? Not thirsty? Put it in a fridge for now. When you want one you'll know where to find it.
That's how networking can do for you. You want to meet with people that work in or know job openings at a company that you want to work in. Let them know where they can find you when they suddenly find themselves in need of someone with your talents and skills. There are many (useless) books written about it but thats a very rough summary of what you'd need to do beyond just randomly applying to jobs online, responding to help wanted ads, etc. Showing up in person was a bold move. Supplement it with a little networking and it could improve your friend's odds.
That's how I got started at the company I'm with. Being at the right place at the right time just as the company was 'thirsty' for people. Through a fortunate happenstance my 'random application' became an internal referral which was just enough for them to give a guy with no experience his chance.