Job Hunt Pt. IV: The Indignities of the Job Hunt

I was turned down by all of the first five jobs where I interviewed.  Since then I've had several more interviews and I've gotten some of my confidence back, but the process has included a host of indignities. 

The job at the day care center never got in contact with me again.  I emailed them to follow up on my application and they never emailed me back.  I just don't see how you can leave someone hanging like that after an interview or ignore their correspondence.  It seems unfair and unprofessional.   

I've seen two of the positions I interviewed for reposted online.  I can understand being passed over for someone with more experience or a better skills match, but I was shocked that I was passed over for...no one.  I really thought I could have done a good job at either of those positions, but apparently they didn't. 

I got a handwritten letter from the free legal clinic, where I had applied for an administrative job, saying that I was their second choice but they had hired someone with more experience.  It just goes to show how bad the economy is when someone with more than two years of experience is willing to take an administrative job that pays as little as that job did.  It's a job that in 2007 would have gone to someone directly out of college. 

All my interviewers ask me why I'm moving to Boston.  I'm honest with them; I tell them my boyfriend got into Harvard Law and we're relocating together.  For the most part they say nothing.  Some are supportive and tell me tales of moving for their spouses or to be closer to family.  But some give me that response that I dread, "Oh so you're following your boyfriend?"  I always feel the desire to give them the back story, 'oh but you don't understand we've been dating for five and a half years.'  But I don't.  I just sit there and let them think I'm following instead of leading; leading my own life on my own terms, which is indeed what I'm doing. 

Potenza, The Old World is New Again

Chef Walter Potenza specializes in old world Italian cuisine.  His restaurant, Potenza, in Providence, Rhode Island is both a gastronomical and educational experience.  You won't find the typical things smothered in red sauce and melted cheese.  The menu, or menus, each featuring regional Italian fare, are elaborate and many of the more interesting dishes require 48 hours notice to order.  The food is rustic, but elevated; it's heartwarming.  To me, this is the heart of Italian cooking.  Delicious food of course, but also food as a vehicle for a whole experience, at the center of which is family.  

Chef Potenza began researching Italian regional food after his father died.  Through a connection, he was able to see his father's classified military records and learned that his paternal grandmother was Jewish and that his father had protected 219 Jews from persecution during World War II.  Now, Chef Walter's menus feature many Sephardic Jewish Italian dishes and he hopes to show through his food that much of what we consider traditional Italian cuisine draws heavily from roots in Jewish food traditions.  

We ordered five dishes that required advanced notice as well as two desserts of the chef's choice: PIzza Rustica, a light quiche of egg and mozzarella with pork sausage; lamb, lean and tender and cooked in a terra cotta pot and flavored with lemons and oregano; a dozen tiny quails, their meat falling off the bone; rich, buttery and earthy mushroom ravioli in a cream sauce topped with shredded duck; and Basilicata, braised artichokes with potatoes, tomatoes, onions and fava beans.  To finish the meal we had Scodelline, a house-made almond pudding with walnuts and Pan di Spagna alla Nocciole, a toasted hazelnut sponge cake, which can also be made without leavening for Passover.  Both were light and nutty and not overly sweet.  

Reading Chef Walter's menus is a treat in itself and you can check out his website at http://www.chefwalter.com/index.html.  Anyone who happens to be in Providence with at least two days notice should call the restaurant and try one of his many offerings.  The dishes are all meant for two, but I recommend eating Chef Walter's food in the company of many.  

The Pot o' Gold (plastic coins) at the End of the Rainbow

Extreme Couponing was a stroke of genius for TLC.  The show is as addictive and awe inspiring as any of TLC's other voyeuristic series, including but not limited to the somewhat related series Hoarders.  For those of you who haven't seen it, or heard about it, the show follows savvy shoppers who spend hours matching up store sales, coupons and promotions to whittle down grocery bills in the hundreds and thousands to single digit price tags. 

This ain't your mama's coupon clipping.  These women (and with one notable exception they are almost always women who sometimes bring their spouses along to carry carts) spend 40-60 hours a week planning and couponing; they have garages and even bedrooms devoted to food storage; and some even dumpster dive for coupon inserts.  It's not the kind of savings everyone can achieve.  It comes at the price of your time and often, your dignity. 

And for one woman, perhaps her freedom.  That's an exaggeration because I don't know many self-respecting white collar units in district attorneys offices who would prosecute for "coupon fraud."  But, Entertainment Weekly reported that TLC was "looking into" J'aime Kirlew (pronounced Jamie, not like the French I like) for just this offense.  Reportedly she had been fraudulently using coupons to purchase items not covered by the coupon discount. (http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/04/14/tlc-coupon-fraud-extreme-couponing/)

I have experienced a marked increase in instances of women pulling out envelopes of coupons in line in front of me at the grocery store, or checking out in 5 or more transactions to take advantage of as many coupons as possible.  But heed the advice of the experts ladies, always check the store coupon policy first!  Nothing is more annoying than getting behind someone who has to reorganize their order or put back half of their purchases because they failed to call ahead to find out that the store will only honor 256 mustard coupons per day, per household. 

This is not to say that I'm one to denigrate a deal.  In fact, I love a good deal.  Which is probably the source of my fascination with the show in the first place.  So I was beside myself to find out that at Big Y you can now get certain items FREE even without a coupon.  Big Y now gives out oversized, plastic gold and silver coins to those who sign up for a membership card, shop frequently, or play the "Instant Rewards" game at the register.  Who needs Foxwoods when you could win coupon coins at the grocery store?  The other day I went with one gold and three silver plastic coins in my purse and I came away with a FREE box of blueberry muffins.  And let me tell you, never have mediocre muffins tasted so sweet. 

Job Hunt Pt. III: When it Rains it Pours

First a bit of back story: Among the many disappointments of this job hunt so far was last week when I got an offer for an interview at a homelessness and housing advocacy organization.  I felt like I was on a roll again; I felt the positive energy I had at the beginning of the search slowly coming back.  The day after I scheduled the interview I got another email from them.  They wanted to let me know they had already hired someone and were sorry they weren't able to meet with me.  I was deflated once again. 

So you can see why I was surprised to see another email from the same organization in my inbox this morning.  They apologized for the back and forth, but had decided to continue their search and wanted to know if I was still interested in interviewing for the position. I'm not sure what makes an organization look for a candidate, hire someone, and then continue to search for someone to fill that position all within the span of a week.  It seemed like a bit of a red flag and I wasn't sure how I wanted to respond.  But my general philosophy is that no harm can come from an interview and going for an interview doesn't mean you have to take any given job. 

So now I have four upcoming interviews.  This one is scheduled for next Tuesday, the day I move in to my new apartment.  Then I have a phone interview tomorrow and two other in-person interviews on Friday.  So long as none are spontaneously canceled on me, that will bring my total to 10 interviews.  The law of averages didn't work out with five, but perhaps with ten it will. 

Job Hunt Pt. II: Happy News!

I was about to post something I wrote recently about a serious job hunting error, but too many good things have happened since then to write about that.  I'm in upstate New York with my bagel buddy right now, staying in his aunt and uncle's lake house.  Before we left I got a call for an interview at a health care advocacy organization.  I'm going in to Boston on Friday and while I'm super excited to have another interview, now that I'm here I'm sad we're going to be cutting our vacation shorter than we might have had to.  It feels amazing to be away from it all.  We already cooked dinner, popped a bottle of wine, went for a night swim and baked a batch of brownies.  When I tested out the wi-fi I found two other emails with interview offers, one with a foundation and one with a women's organization.  It's a great way to start off a relaxing vacation and now I can only hope that more interviews and possibly an offer will roll in sometime soon.  Cheers to that!

Cocktails!

So I've been told that my last entry was a bit depressing.  And I sort of agree.  So in an attempt to not be a total Debbie Downer (Or alternatively a Negative Nancy, why is there never a male name for whiny, buzzkills?) I've decided to alternate entries about being overeducated and underemployed with entries about fun stuff, like cocktails!  After all, I will eventually find a job and I will need to get used to writing other material. 

Both sets of parents are coming over for a lobster bake tonight and I was in charge of cocktails.  After a less than extensive google search, I settled on "watermelon gin fizz" which I found at http://www.examiner.com/food-in-providence/watermelon-cocktail-recipe-with-bombay-sapphire-gin. It's pretty simple, but takes a bit of time to strain the watermelon.  From what I've tasted so far, it's worth the effort.  You'll need the following:

1 small, seedless watermelon
2 limes
15-20 mint leaves
4 tbs of white sugar
club soda
gin
cheese cloth or a fine strainer

Chop the mint and cut the watermelon into medium sized chunks.  Blend the watermelon, juice of two limes, sugar and mint in a blender.  Strain the juice through a strainer or cheesecloth.  Chill the juice and serve with a shot of gin and a splash of club soda.  Garnish with a lime wedge or sprig of mint. Imbibe!

Some tips:
To chop the mint, first "chiffonade" it by stacking the leaves and rolling them up from the bottom of the leaf to the top.  Then thinly slice from the end of your roll to make strips.  Now that you have thin strips, you can cut them again in the opposite direction to get a fine chop.

To get the most juice out of your limes, microwave each for about thirty seconds.  Be careful; they may be hot when they come out.

I always struggle when ordering cocktails out because I have the taste level of a sorority girl (margaritas and long island iced teas please!) but on occasion I have found some real gems.  For some of the best non-homemade cocktails you'll ever have the pleasure of sipping, check out The Spotted Pig in New York City (http://www.thespottedpig.com/) or Cook and Brown Public House in Providence, Rhode Island (http://cookandbrown.com/). 

Both restaurants have extensive and unique cocktail lists (as well as really delicious food), but I would recommend the Forager's Press at The Spotted Pig and the Bicycle at Cook and Brown.  The details of each of these cocktails are lost in the misty memories of a night when you had really great cocktails, but thanks to menupages.com (http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/the-spotted-pig/menu) I have been able to surmise that the Forager's Press consists of Michter's rye whiskey, chopped apples, honey syrup and lemon juice.  The closest approximation I could find of the Bicycle was a recipe on chow.com for a Yellow Bicycle (http://www.chow.com/recipes/14331-yellow-bicycle), which contains St. Germaine Elderflower liqueur, Yellow Chartreuse, Prosecco and a garnish of lemon zest (I do remember that my particular garnish was lime). 

Whatever your drink of choice always remember that life is better (if not classier) with little paper umbrellas!

Job Hunt pt. I

I had a pretty decent entry-level job in New York.  And then I quit.  My boyfriend, bagel buddy, and roommate got into Harvard Law School.  I knew from the beginning of his application process that I would move with him and Harvard was really a relief from the thought of having to move to Ann Arbor or Durham.  Our lease was ending so I quit rather than try to find a sublet.  I figured it would give my boss, in our small office of two, enough notice to find someone new and it would give me some much-needed vacation time. 

Now two and half months, and fifty applications, later I still don't have a job.  I never thought it would be this difficult now that I have job experience.  After graduation it was hell in this job market.  Despite a degree from Vassar College and multiple internships it took 167 applications and 8 months of unemployment before I found a job.  I came to New York with no savings at all.  I sold my car and my American Girl Dolls from the back of my closet to pay my student loan bills and my first month of rent.  I started this experience with a lot more confidence.  I imagined turning down jobs that weren't exactly what I was looking for, or comparing offers to pick the one that was right for me.  That hasn't materialized. 

I've had six interviews so far.  The first five came in rapid succession while I was still working at my old job.  I felt like a whole new candidate, a successful candidate.  My boss was convinced I would leave New York with a job offer.  You don't get that many interviews and not get an offer, he would say.  My greatest concern was that I would have to start working before our August 1st lease and I would have to find a place to stay or commute.  But since then there have been some bumps along the road...

Missing the Bagels

I am currently in the process of moving to Boston from New York City.  I never thought I'd be a big city girl, but I adapted to the Big Apple quickly and now, like many New Yorkers who have left the City, find everything else that purports to call itself a city vaguely comical.  I went to Boston on a day of interviews and I felt as though everything needed air quotes.  I walked through "Chinatown" and the "theater district" and it all just felt like a younger sister's attempt to stuff her bra so she could copy what her big sister had.  Nothing is New York, nothing is Broadway, nothing is Mott Street, nothing is Wall Street.  In New York everything was in arm's reach. 

Within a two block radius of our apartment on the Upper East Side there were multiple places to get brunch, flowers, dry cleaning, cupcakes, sushi, shoes, groceries, and that all important New York food item: the bagel.  One of my favorite weekend pastimes was going out for a bagel - a Jewish boy and his shiksa girlfriend with a regular order: everything bagel with lox spread, sesame bagel with scallion cream cheese.  And aside from all the other concerns that go along with any move, we were concerned about keeping this ritual intact.  We knew Boston would be very different and we would miss a lot of the conveniences of Manhattan life.

We haven't found our new bagel place, or our new go-to takeout joint, or date restaurant.  But we'll find those things, and as we do I have a premonition that I'll grow to love this place too.  Now all I need for a successful move is a job...