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Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Long Live Queen Ding-Dong

This post ties back into my post I. Want. A. Job. As I was saying before, I really want a job, even just a little something. (Although, I know as soon as I get a job, I will be saying the opposite).

Anyway, last night I decided to check Craigslist for open jobs in my area. I have always been a little hesitant looking for jobs on Craigslist because you never know what you might get. Beyond that, companies don't list their names on Craigslist, so you can't do your research and you don't know what you're signing up for.

I decided because everywhere else I was looking, I was out of leads, I might as well give Craigslist a chance. A found a job posted that day that sounded great. It was part-time, working at a physical therapy practice. I decided my skill set truly fit with what they were looking for and proceeded to reply to their posting.

In my last post about job hunting, I mentioned that I like to write a very specific cover letter for each position, but was sick of writing them and always felt they were never just right. I went back to the drawing board though and made this as pertinent as I could with the two sentence job description I had been provided. I actually thought it was a success. (Of course, I still haven't heard anything back.)

While I was applying for this great opportunity, I decided to see if I could find anything else worth applying for. I found four other positions that seemed to have potential, so I figured I would apply to them as well. (As I said, I've been applying to tons of positions and haven't heard more than a word or two back from anywhere. I don't understand when or how I became such an untouchable.) Moving on, I decided the cover letter I had written for the physical therapy position was a strong enough blanket cover letter, since I had little information to go off of from the postings. Here is where the trouble began.

I tapped reply to the next job and copy and pasted my previous email. I changed the job description in which I referenced and did a quick once over to make sure I took out anything else that referred to a physical therapy practice. It looked good! Off I sent it. I repeated this process three other times and then jumped into bed. It was after midnight by this point.

This morning I woke up expecting to hear nothing back, but hoping all the same that I would. My phone rang around 9:30, but it was my fiance's set ringtone, so though I was happy he called, disappointment still hit that it wasn't a future employer. After ending my conversation with Chris, I thumbed through my BlackBerry for emails. Some junk, nothing good. I was going to crawl back in bed for awhile to read or watch TV, but my phone blinked red, indicating that I had a new email.

I scanned down and I couldn't believe it was for the Administrative Assistant position that I had applied to just the night before. The posting had been old, so I didn't get my hopes up, thinking they may just be telling me that it had been filled. At this point, I was so excited at the thought that someone would even bother to tell me that, because that was a first. I excitedly opened the email and read only a short phrase.

We don't have a physical therapy practice...

I gasped. Instead of aiming myself back towards the bed, I scurried to my computer to assess the damage. There it was, right in the first paragraph. I had neglected to take out that I would be an asset to their physical therapy practice. I meant company! I meant company, whichever one you were!

My stomach churned. I immediately replied. I wasn't sure that that was the right choice. My letter mentions how great I am at attention to detail. (I swear, I am extremely detail-oriented. It was midnight. I was in panic mode that I would never find a job. I knew I should have written a job specific cover letter. Shame on me.) But I replied anyway, apologizing for the mistake, hoping that deep down they would decide that everybody makes mistakes, but it takes a strong person to admit they are wrong, especially to an prospective employer. (I haven't heard anything back there either, nor do I expect to.)

After an attempt at damage control, I opted to recall the other three pending letters. Because it was sent through Craigslist, it can't be recalled. A new reason to not like Craigslist!

So there you have it. This Ding-Dong here applied to four jobs yesterday, telling each how she would be an asset to their physical therapy practice, of which they do not have. I am totally embarrassed, but I'll just have to chalk it up as another lesson learned, laugh at myself, and move on.


On a side note: I've been looking back at my previous number of post each month, and that number keeps declining. My goal is to try to get the number to increase now instead of decrease. Especially since I lost a lovely follower. To those of you who have stuck around: I appreciate your on-going support.

Long Live Queen Ding-Dong!

10 comments:

Melanie said...

LOL! Don't worry, you never know. A friend of mine, Germaine, sent her culinary resume to a completely different type of position (can't quite remember what it was, but it was worse than your faux pas!) and the HR person emailed her back and asked her why the heck she would be looking for a job with them.

When Germaine realized that she sent off the wrong resume, she totally manned up and said she made a mistake, blah blah blah. Lo and behold, the guy asked her to send him her real resume to look over!

Hey, it worked to get his attention!

Unknown said...

Oh no! I am visiting from SITS tonight and I am so sad to hear of your job situation. That sounds traumatic for sure! My friend Ben told me in college that 'rejection was God's protection' when I ran for class treasurer and didn't get it. Of course I thought he was a giant nut! But then, a week later, I was nominated for student council for the whole school :) so it was an even better position!

I hope everything works out well! You seem like you have a really great attitude.

Anonymous said...

Responding to your comment on my blog! I assume it is an on-the-beach wedding? Let me know and I will help you out!

Marilyn *Pink Martinis and Pearls* said...

Stopping by from SITS to say hello. The job market is tough. I wish you all the luck on your new adventures! :) xoxo

Cheryl said...

Job market=great big sucking sound you hear in the emptiness of your voicemail. Keep on trying.

germaine said...

Hi, it's Germaine, Melanie's dumb friend who she mentioned above. I am now a new follower of your blog (thanks for following mine, btw).

Anyway, yes, my slip up was definitely bad, but the guy was totally impressed with how straight up I was when I emailed him back to clarify why I applied for a sales position but my resume was filled with my culinary skills and background. I sent the wrong resume, the one with my sales background played down obviously. He thought I was funny, but it turned out that the position was a $100,000 salary job that I was WAY under-qualified for anyway! Needless to say, I didn't get the job. Don't give up, it's really mean out there right now...

Anonymous said...

Well, Que Sera, Sera....nothing to do now but wait to see what happens. Sounds. Exactly. Like. Me.


LOVE THE NEW LOOK! :)

Heather @ Fabulous Finds said...

I love your blog background and header!! Just found you through SITS. Haha, well, you never know what can become of mistakes!! :)

Unknown said...

Job hunting these days is so tough!!! My poor husband is going through this too. There seems to be nothing worthy in the Classifieds, and Monster always seems to bring in nothing but spam. So frustrating! Keep going - there's something out there for you :)

Unknown said...

Oooo, absolutely LOVE your blog and layout. A girl right up my ally. I'm a boutique owner as well as a fashion, beauty blogger. So, needless to say, the title of your blog caught my eye!