There's more jobs in the sea
The questions we can’t ask in interviews
Bloated Empire by Ed Ruscha 12x on Severance office backdrop
I’ve found myself overwhelmed by the idea of being a working artist and applied for full-time jobs. The job search is wicked. It’s tedious and relentless. With a timeline of up to 8 weeks, homework assignments, and interviews you have to go in prepared for a fight or worse panel interviews.
I got swept away in capitalism only to be left high and dry. No, I didn’t get the job - after 5 rounds and several weeks (I’d been interviewing since March).
The old me would’ve been devastated by the news. I would’ve laid up in bed depressed for a few days wondering what’s wrong with me. Not this time though. This time I promised myself that I would not tie my worth to the outcome of the job -- good or bad. Seriously, winning the job search by getting a job feels great but the moment a job becomes your worth is the same moment the company announces layoffs. It’s brutal but a reminder: capitalism and grind culture don’t care about people.
I’m not going to go deep into that today. Maybe another day when my angst is higher.
This isn’t the first job I’ve been rejected from in the last few months. In fact, I’ve had interviews almost consistently since being laid off and haven’t gotten a single offer. Don’t worry this blog isn’t about to be some long LinkedIn post breaking down the stats of all the jobs applied to, time spent and then some plea for the job market to change its ways.
Interviews are SO surface level. And it’s basically re-iterating your resume again and again while also slipping in little bits of the job description so it all sounds related and like you know what the fuck you’re talking about. I’ve always found it funny how you are asked to speak about how well you can do a job you’ve never done before. We all know job descriptions aren’t the full picture cause it doesn’t encapsulate the actual politics of the workplace you’re entering. And there’s always politics.
Job searching is truly like the early stages of dating. You spend 6 - 8 weeks meeting about once a week to decide if this person is gonna be a fit for the long term. Asking questions to get the core of the person. Perhaps there’s some testing and different assignments they are passing (or not). The only difference… which in my mind makes dating the more pleasurable option, is with dating you get the opportunity to fuck back.
Also with dating, you get to ask real questions. Sure in interviews you can ask questions that get you closer to understanding the role but I want the questions that get to the root of the job, the people you work with and the truth behind the culture. Here are 5 questions I wish I could ask in a job interview:
How often have you shed tears over this job?
Do the benefits match the workload?
Who here sucks?
How few hours can you safely work in this role?
What’s the top white supremacy ideal that permeates this work environment?
You’re probably thinking these questions are psychotic. And they might be. I did a poll, and some of them came from that poll. But seriously, how much more would you know about a job, a co-worker or a work environment if you could ask these types of questions? My guess is a lot more. You would easily know to run for the hills or commit to the job.
Searching for a job is daunting, don’t let that stifle your shine. You deserve as much info as you can possibly get. Ask hard, real questions (probably not the ones I suggested, but still!). Don’t let capitalism wear you down by not protecting your energy in these energetically draining interview processes. Now go out there and have fun. LOL
And feel free to leave a comment below with the question(s) you wish you could ask in an interview.
