I'll try to keep this rant as short as possible, but knowing me, don't expect it. Haha. I've been unemployed now for 5 months, going on 6. I have ben job searching for 8 months. I literally spend 40 hours or more a week just trying to market myself/apply to jobs. Whether it be contacting companies, filling out tedious job applications, making additions to my portfolio or website, or simply just digging up information on any jobs I could find, I've been approaching the job search very aggressively.

Needless to say, I haven't had much luck. I usually am lucky to land one interview a month, and despite the dozen or so interviews I've had up to this point, I haven't been able to get an offer. Being unemployed has been a really hard struggle for me. I've pretty much drained my entire savings trying to live (just bills, food, rent.. etc. Haven't bought a personal purchase in months). I'm living off money my parents have sent me, and some of my girlfriend's income. The blows I keep getting (the turndowns) from the job hunt are heartaching. It's especially true just because of how badly I want to work. I LOVE work, I miss it terribly. Trust me, my profession is no easy joke either. It's hard, mentally challenging work, but I loved the challenge. I have been doing what freelancing I could in the time being, but it moves slow as molasses, and any projects I find, I end up having to do for next to nothing really. I can't even find local jobs working ANYTHING, because employers look at my credentials and education, and wonder why I am applying at a grocery store, or at Walmart, or a fast food chain. They have not hired me because they suspect I will leave them at any moment... but really, do they really expect someone to stay in a minimum wage position... *sigh

But despite all of that, what being unemployed for so long has really done to me, has made me look at people WITH jobs in a whole new light... and a very bitter one. I've become very keen to notice others in their work place, and observant to how they perform... To say the least, I only get infuriated at my findings.

Administrative Employees who don't know basic keyboard shortcuts like copy and paste, can't type more than 45 words a minute, and riddle their emails with typos and grammatical errors. Managers whose idea of managing is sitting in their office all day browsing the internet and reading the news. People in creative roles whose work is the exact opposite, and in fact, pretty terrible. I'm noticing things like this in EVERY profession...

Let's even get more general. I am so sick of hearing people constantly complain about their jobs. Some people have really nice, cushy, well paying jobs where they have ample free time each day (and get paid for it), yet they are constantly complaining that they have to work too hard, their hours suck, or they hate their job. Even the people in shoddy minimum wage jobs can never seem to stop complaining. It seems every time I go to a establishment with minimum wage employees, that there is at least one, if not several disgruntled employees acting like they are being tortured. NO ONE IS FORCING YOU TO WORK. I won't argue it's a rough job, (something like a minimum wage job) but you really have no right to complain about your job unless you are truly being treated wrongly. This is especially true when put into a perspective of someone like me, that WISHES he had your job, just so he can put food on his table. (Not so he can go spend his entire paycheck at the bars like most do...) Someone like me that is dying to work, WANTS to work, and no matter how crappy the job, will work it the best he can.... YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT ANY JOB when you think about people like me that are struggling so badly to find a job.... JUST TO LIVE.

And going back to my first topic, there is just so many people out there that SUCK ASS at their jobs, yet they are riding the money train comfortably. People that do the bare minimum, constantly forget things, are disorganized, are not responsible, are lazy, or even aren't passionate about their jobs. Being in a creative industry, I can not even tell you the number of people that hold positions in an industry they are really not passionate about just because it's a job. (like a movie buff working in the video game industry because he can't find movie work,and hey, he doesn't play video games at all!). If not that, they aren't even qualified. I know people in jobs who are completely terrible at what they do, but got hired because of a connection, or were needed from another department... It's sad that networking and knowing people is everything, and they will soon higher your hillbilly uncle, than the hardest working, most intelligent person out there. The US job market is whack! Really bad.

Really... Too many people take their jobs for granted. I notice it everywhere I go, and it infuriates me tremendously when I see all these "noobs" with their cushy, well paying jobs. It's everywhere around, and the diamonds in the rough seem to be 1% of the employees out there, and they seem to get the shaft the most! College degrees are another bullshit aspect of jobs today, and while I won't get into that, i'll just say that it's really really sad that they will hire a girl to be an Administrative Employee who doesn't know about copy and paste, can't type, and doesn't know English for crap, but oh, she has a Master's in Business.... BULLSHIT. Meanwhile, we have the 20 year old girl with no college degree, trying to find work for years, working as a grocery cashier part time to make money. She types 80 words per minute, has excellent English and grammar skills, even knows a ton about computers! But oh... no degree, so you. No job.

To close this off, I really wish a lot of people would just sit back and take a look at how you perform at your job. Are you doing the best you can? Are you working like you want to work? Do you enjoy what you do? If not, please do people like me a favor and resign so that all the struggling individuals out there that truly want to work can get jobs. I know I'm not the only one struggling. I have friends and family who are extremely hard workers and have struggled finding secure jobs, or getting full time employment. These people were some of the hardest workers I know, yet they consistently struggled to find work. Conversely, I have friends and family that are lazy, take their jobs for granted, don't really work hard at all, spend days at the office playing computer games or shopping on Amazon, and these people have some of the cushiest jobs. It's honestly gotten sickening.

I just hope my struggle ends soon... I've been keeping my head up, but man, I get increasingly angry at just how often I find "noobs" out in the work place. They are everywhere! Maybe some day things will straighten out, and companies will actually hire people that are the most skilled, the most passionate, the hardest workers, and not just the people with fancy degrees or they are your brother's cousin's friend. In the meantime, those with jobs really better take a good hard look at your job and wonder if it's really worth complaining about when there are LOTS of people out there that WISH they had your job. When these people are struggling to put food on the table and a roof over their head. When all they want in life is a career, a job to fulfill their life. And you know what, most of these people would kick your ass at doing it.

Don't complain. Don't slack off. You are not so bad off as you think you are. In reality, you're living someone's dream.