Back when Washington Mutual still existed, Devin Silvernail, 21, worked as a “smile-maker” for the bank. His services were no longer needed once Chase took over, and now, in week two of his Slog posting, Devin is missing his old job and looking forward to some free food at his parents’ place.
I really must say that I miss my job. I miss the people that I worked with. I miss the e-mails and phone calls that I used to receive from colleagues all over the company thanking me and the company in general for giving them recognition. I can tell you that on multiple occasions, I had people call me crying because they were so overjoyed. A little bit of recognition can go a long way to boost someone’s self-esteem, let me tell you. I miss making people happy and I miss being around happy people.
Winter is definitely not the greatest time in Seattle to be unemployed and broke. Seasonal affective disorder does kick in. It’s a big reason for my fleeing to the Bay Area earlier in the year.
Since my last post I have been doing a lot of the same. Applying to around 5-7 jobs a day is a major reason to wake up. I comb Craigslist, Monster, CarreerBuilder, LinkedIn, and so on… I try to keep in contact with my old WaMu colleagues as well. Ya know, sticking my neck out there. This can all get incredibly frustrating. These days people do not post jobs online it seems either, and if they do they expect you be grossly overqualified for even the most basic jobs. So, on I go. I am continuing (again, as we speak) to search for employment. Here’s hoping that people will give me a chance! (I do a damn good job.)
I have gone through bouts of totally stressing out about this whole situation. I had to use my tax return to pay my rent for February because I did not have enough unemployment money saved up. I am selling things like crazy. Good news, though! I have purchased a bus pass! I had to sell my camera to obtain said pass, but I have transportation nonetheless. I am now trying to plan so I can save enough money for a March pass as well. I REALLY missed having a bus pass.
I have also tried to go out more. I have allocated some funds for fun. I went out to a movie and SAM with a friend the other week (I am sure glad that I am a member at SAM). I even got a burger at Beth’s Cafe last Friday. How fun! I have also started up my midnight walks around the Hill again. This is something that I used to do nightly while employed. I have even dusted off my keyboard and started trying to play some music again. That was something that I used to greatly enjoy and I am hoping for inspiration in the coming months.
This last week I did not do much of anything though. I have had a MAJOR cold and I’ve been essentially bed-ridden for days. I guess one of the best parts of being unemployed, though, is not having to call in sick. As for the coming week, I have decided to go visit my parents. We usually only get together once every six months or so. My Dad was in town and called me spur of the moment to see if I wanted to head back over with him and I left to meet him about an hour after that.
Now, I am not saying that the free food isn’t awesome (it totally is) but, I miss my family. My grandpa, a few cousins, an aunt, and an uncle live over here too (no, I am not from Chelan), so it will be nice to see them as well. I am going to try to enjoy my time. I will go fishing, grab a drink, and probably mooch internet at the Vogue (the local coffee shop) so I can look for jobs. It should be nice and relaxing. Wish me luck!
Someone tell this dude that February bus passes are being accepted until March 13!
Someone tell all the dudes (and dudettes)!
Most jobs come from networking and cold calling, not from applying online.
@2. Networking, absolutely yes. Tell everyone you know (and people you don’t know) that you’re looking for a job and what kind of job you want.
Cold calling? Definitely not (in my experience — both on the looking for a job and on the hiring sides). Maybe 20 years ago, but not today…
Can I complain again about corporate cheer? You got laid off because your job was pointless. Being nice to people doesn’t require an office, it’s something everyone should do. If someone is getting paid to be nice to you, then you can’t trust anything that person says or does UNLESS they’re not being nice to you.
I fucking hate people who are paid to be nice.
When I got laid off from my job at an airline back in 2005 I spent a month applying for jobs online and gaining weight (fast food sure is cheap and sitting on your ass applying for jobs sure doesn’t help). Neither were very helpful. I ended up taking a retail job just so that I would get out of the house (and because it was essentially the same as I was making on unemployment). Get off the internet man and start getting your face out into places. Volunteer somewhere and schmooze the hell out of people for work. (note: may have to take my own advice come July when the state budget shifts to the new fiscal year)
Your tax “return” is the form you fill out to tell the government if you owe them or they owe you. Your tax REFUND is the money you get back. It drives me nuts when people use tax return to mean tax refund.
Cut off your stereotypical “ugly Seattle douche” facial hair and you might get a job faster.
#7, he’s looking for a job *in* Seattle, not Jackassville.
Seattle IS Jackassville.
Factoid to Devin: Less than 5% of jobs are obtained through answering online job post submissions.
Start your networking and find the hiring managers at companies you want to work for. Even when a job is posted, you are being screened by HR or by a software program against hundreds or thousands of other online applicants. Find the real human that will make the hiring decison and reach out directly. Even if their HR says not to.
Why do all young, west coast dudes think they have SAD? Almost every male Vancouver hipster/hippie/etc. I know insists they have SAD and spends the winter moping around. It’s annoying.
Cold calling digs up jobs from small firms or parts of big firms that haven’t advertised – or even finalized thoughts about – hiring.
Hence my comment.
It’s brutal, though, even a good salesman can only hope for a 2 to 4 percent success rate with cold calling – and for jobs it’s usually that they know someone else who might be hiring (which is a networking lead, and should not be sneezed at).
This guy is right on about the overqualified requirements for entry level jobs. If I see another ad for an entry level super basic reception job (with “answer phone, sort mail, photocopy stuff, and make coffee” listed as duties) that requires 8+ years of administrative experience, I’m going to scream.
I appreciate all of the constructive criticism from the majority of you and I will definitely apply these ideas to my job search
@4: What you do not understand is that my job was not “corporate cheer”. I worked in Retail Marketing. The Smile Maker program was part of the Customer Experience team in Retail Marketing. It was my job to give people recognition for being amazing people. If rewarding individuals for being outstanding people is non essential, then I would hate to work with you. I worked quite a few customer service positions before WaMu and I saw a ton of people do amazing things without any sort of positive reinforcement. Those people always inevitably left their positions. Positive reinforcement and recognition keeps people happy. Happy people treat customers well. Happy customers come back.
@6: Yes, I meant refund. Haha, sorry about that. I am the king of pet peeves sometimes, so I definitely appreciate your comment.
@11: Try living in Seattle for most of your life. Oh, and yes, I do go out during the winter. I also go out daily during our 200+ days of gray skies. It just does get depressing. Apologies for being a human being.
@People who feel compelled to be dicks: Anonymity is an amazing thing, isn’t it? Praise the internet!
way to go Devin.
Enjoy the memories of being a Smile Maker. If you are REALLY into the trip, i suggest you operate a childrens ride at the carnival. THAT freaking rocks. But, alas, you gotta have skills that WaMu didn’t teach you.
You’ll get there.
People like to feel like what they do is important, that it matters. And that other people recognize that they are doing a good job. This goes for everyone, but is especially true for “front line” employees whose work may not be intrinsically rewarding.
I’ve seen a number of studies that have demonstrated a link between the happiness/satisfaction of employees and company performance as well as employee turnover (which costs companies money and expertise). I’ve analyzed this data myself for several companies while on consulting projects and have seen the relationship…
In an ideal world, every manager would know this and would work hard at making sure their employees were recognized for their good work. But, obviously, this doesn’t happen… smart companies realize this and do things like the program that Devin worked for. But, even smart companies have to cut expenses during significant downturns, and these types of programs are easy pickings.
Good luck, Devin — I second the comments about investing more of your time in networking in the real work (volunteering, etc.) in addition to the internet.
@14. Your post is actually pretty dick-ish.
I’m from the north coast, so suck on it. If you’re miserable 200 days/year because the clouds are so out to get you, maybe you should spread your cheer elsewhere.
It’s like the simpsons: “It’s your fault I’m old!” “It’s your fault I’m bald!” “It’s your fault I’m miserable 200 days/year!”
sadly, @17 for most insightful – if it gets to you, moving should be high on your list of options for job searches.
I’m a recruiter and I have to say that applying through job ads online is WORTH IT. DON’T STOP APPLYING ONLINE. What you have to be willing to do, though, is write a cover letter/email and make a follow-up phone call to the company. You need to differentiate yourself from the crowd and show some real interest in the company and the role.
Don’t be the douche that calls and tries to bully your way past HR. Make HR your friend. Ask if they’ve reviewed your application. Ask for a phone screen/interview with HR. Ask if there is anything special your should know about the role or the department.
Being prepared is not cheating.
And never underestimate the value of going into a temp agency. Try several until you find a recruiter who thinks they can place (sell) YOU.
Devin, you seem cool, i like you. screw all these other fools. the only decent suggestion i read is volunteer if you don’t already. if they like you, they’ll hire you and therefore pay you. sweet.
seattle is gay
Devin, I don’t mean to be rude but I thought this same thing in the last post. Why do you think you are over-qualified for a lot of positions? You’re 21. How much experience can you possibly have had? I’ve been working for over 10 years and I’m 34 years old. While I keep steadily moving up the ladder, I still wouldn’t say I’m overqualified for the vast majority of jobs. And I’m skilled labor too. I have a college degree and several certificate programs in tech.
It might help if you take a step back and re-evaluate what your strengths are and where you see yourself. A professional job coach might be in order too. Knowing the appropriate level you need to be looking at is a science in itself.
@22: Thanks for the comment. This is a good suggestion.
I truly do not mean to think too much of myself. Prior to my WaMu job I worked a ton of service industry related customer service work and a bit of software industry consumer service work. I also have had training to be a systems admin (Winodws or Linux). I had done freelance work with systems engineering and CISCO for the past 7 years and such as well, but totally hate. I mean, I really hate it. I do enjoy retail marketing. I enjoyed working in the type of environment that I did at WaMu. This being said, I am NOT looking for jobs as a program administrator or project coordinator, even though I have proven success in this role. It is like you said. I am young and still in college. I just kind of lucked out at WaMu I guess. No one even realized that I was so young until my birthday rolled around. haha.
I would have to say that I have been applying to a lot of admin and office assistant jobs. These are positions that I KNOW I can do flawlessly. I also beleive that I have the skills necessary to do many other positions, but youth and education are still big factors.These are also jobs that I have found with an MBA as a requirement in some circumstances.
My biggest priority is definitely finishing school and obtaining a degree, but I would enjoy working in a similar position as my last job, ya know?
Once again, thanks for the insight!