It was bound to happen.
Wednesday, perhaps the darkest of all my job-hunting days, stretched out longer than most. It was a bad day, illustrated by my need to create a mockup of myself as Jennifer Lawrence, posing with bow in hand and with flames behind me. My girlfriend wasn’t impressed with that and I wasn’t impressed with myself. Negative, fed up and in the largest rut this side of the Grand Canyon, it was all going so wrong. There are only so many enquiries a man can send, there are only so many interviews he can attend before his confidence takes a hit and he camps his deck chair outside Hotel Rock Bottom. Was there ever to be a job on the horizon? Was there ever to be a job at all? Categorically, it seemed there wasn’t. I was Titanic, slowly sinking into the freezing cold waters of my irreparable and inevitable demise…
And then, out of nowhere, a door appeared with more than enough room for Kate Winslet and I to snuggly float out of those dark depths together on. The job hunt was not done with me yet and, as the gloomy cloud above began to shine brightly around the edges, new light flooded into my life. The momentum and drive that had been persuading me not to give up, not to give in and, under no circumstances, not to go back to McDonalds gallantly returned just as I thought it was lost. You see, the clichés are right. The darkest hour is just before the dawn, the grass is greener on the other side and you can make the sweetest lemonade out of even the bitterest of lemons. This was the day that those old chestnuts were to have their moment. All it took was one simple email, and my darkness lit up, my rut flooded and my happiness unavoidably soared to new heights. A job offer has been found.
The Clearing has come through for me. The perfect position, for the perfect company, in the perfect city. Will Nicklin, Junior Writer. A name fit for a king (of writing), all the long winding roads have led here. A month ago I entered the hallowed halls of the contemporary branding consultancy agency under no illusion that I was probably under qualified, out of my depth and about to be bamboozled by a hundred other graduates with more potential than a young Raheem Sterling. However, I have astonishingly prevailed. I have embraced my inner-Katniss and I have sprinted to the finish line, arms overhead and eyes popping out just like the great Mo Farah himself. 2 interviews, 1 copy test and 96 of the most painstakingly long hours waiting have proved critical. I am employed, I am a man, and, my god, I am relieved.
5 months, 150 applications, 16 interviews, 2 Assessment Centers and around 4 days spent on the train have resulted in this. While my journey would make one beautiful, statistically deep infographic it will also remind me the torment that it took to get a job. A job I will so profoundly cherish, that will take me to places I want to go, teach me new skills and help me meet a ridiculous amount of likeminded creative people. Rejection, despair and disbelief will soon be replaced with a new experience. A pay packet will find it’s way into my bank every month and I will finally be able to start living a life outside grungy t-shirts and sports shorts. With a view of the Shard on the way to work every morning I will be moving into the big city, and the journey to save up for my beach house retirement home will irreversibly begin.
This is my very own Oscar speech for my cherished blog. My last words in a journey that I have held dear and, hopefully, the final musings you will ever hear me spout about being unemployed. This diary, so correctly titled ‘To Find a Job or To Lose One’s Mind’ has not only proved my desire to become a writer but let me entertain, piss off and inform anyone and everyone of each one of my baby steps to employment. I have found a job, and in doing so I have well and truly lost my mind. There is no ‘or’ in this equation, just a big fat ‘and’ that defines just how meticulously mind-bending the job seeking quest can be. I have a new task now, to reclaim my mind and start a career.
I guess that’s it. Goal achieved. Target hit. Everest scaled. Time to pick up a new pen and get writing. Hopefully my blog will live on, like a Doctor Who regeneration, under a new guise and heading. That’s if I can think up a new title. It’s been a long journey but one that I think is necessary. I’m glad I’ve found a job I really love and, even if it meant being unemployed for 5 months, I’m happy my nerves didn’t get the better and see me just chase any old paycheck. Unemployment really isn’t the worst thing in the world. All I can do is leave you with my favourite clichéd phrase of this experience, the words that spurred me on to my final resting place.
Onwards and Upwards, everyone. Onwards and Upwards.
Words for hire 