I know I've been MIA lately. I've just been too lazy to blog! But I'm back again and unsurprisingly, my first post since coming back isn't about how awesome exchange was (don't get me wrong, it was absolutely bloody fantastic and all kinds of crazy wonderful, I would 11/10 recommend and do it again in a heartbeat) but about nepotism. It's the kind of topic that gets me all fired up and ready to write a rant-y blogpost after two months (have I even grown up at all? I feel like I'm still experiencing spontaneous teenage bouts of angst).
Okay. So nepotism is just an unavoidable concept in modern society, no? It's not what you know but who you know. Connections are vital to survive in the harsh job market. If you've practically zero connections like me or do not know people in high-up positions, well it's pretty shitty for you. Doom and gloom, I'll say. Nothing ticks me off as much as nepotism in the job market. For example, I've been trying to break into retail for over a year and the sad fact is that it's near impossible. And it's such a vicious cycle because they will never ever give you a shot even if you have experience in other service-related areas. The only sure-fire way to land a job in the retail industry is to know someone. Well aren't I just too unfortunate because I don't know anyone!
I just recently attended an interview where I kind of knew the interviewer (let's call him X) and he was also aware of my existence before I applied for the position. It was a very strange interview in the sense that X spent the majority of the interview introducing job requirements and the job description and only asked me two personal questions. No stupid psychological type of questions that are a personal favourite of HR recruiters, thank goodness. Towards the end of the interview, he tells me "No harsh feelings if you don't get this, okay?" I'd like to think of myself as laid back and going-with-the-flow so I say of course because deep down, I'm not going to be that butt-hurt. I've survived some rejections but have also been successful at times. In life, you win some and you lose some. Well today, I find out that I wasn't successful and I got a list of reasons for my rejection. But what ticks me off is that all the reasons are given are just a facade of niceties without a single inkling of truth; it's all bullshit. The real reason is nepotism.
A person my age, doing the same degree as me, with the same availability (and I am surprised I haven't come across this person yet!) gets the job because he's the interviewer's boss' son's friend whereas I don't because I don't have any relevant connections even though I have probably more qualifications and experience than him? Well I'd like to heartily salute the interviewer with the middle finger for toadying to his higher-up and just being an asshat in general who says one thing but does another. And another person gets the same position when they're essentially also a full-time student like me except their relative is a senior manager or some fancy titled so-and-so? What happened to merit? Fairness? Urgh. I'm grateful that there are still kind-hearted decent people in the world like B (who I've only met once!) for offering to take my resume and other things up to someone higher than X but that wouldn't work out in practice since it would be an usurpation of X's authority. Awkward. And it's not the right thing to do.
When I say others are fortunate in the job industry, having easily attained positions with ease, I mean it. I'm envious actually and have drooled over many people's work history on Linkedin. Could that ever be me one day? For me, it's just a matter of keep trying, keep trying, don't give up - eventually, someone will take a chance on me and find out I'm actually okay and I am capable of doing the job. I've job hunted so much that cover letters no longer feel like they're something too difficult to write anymore and not getting a reply is OK. I move on and don't let it get to me. I'm not going to let this latest rejection get to me either. I'm just going to keep trying, don't give up and I know something good will happen. Not sure when but I know it will occur.
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