Darling Nicky

On Tuesday, I went to a job fair held sponsored by the New York Daily News at the New Yorker Hotel. Cut straight to the chase: it was a wash! I, along with about 300 other people, waited in the freezing cold and wind from 9am to 10am to get into the auditorium where only 15 companies were there to seek prospective employees. At least three companies were there to actually make a buck: a college, a bartending school, and a company who teaches people how to make online profiles (aka scam).

The real kicker for me was waiting on a line to speak with one of the representatives from Time Warner Cable for 45 minutes only to be told “I can’t do anything for you.” The wait was long because the woman was talking for at least 10 minutes to each person that talked to her. The other respresentative was much quicker and the line for his side was faster. I should’ve gotten on that line, but I was told that his line was for Metro Health Plus. I didn’t know that he was also there for Time Warner until I got closer to the front, and saw the sign for the table.

I made some friends on the line though. We shared in each others’ frustration on the line. There was a woman one person behind me who talking about job fairs in the ’90s, a woman in front played eagle eye to what was going on in the front of the line (line skippers), and the woman right behind me whose cousin was on the faster line; they both gave me some good advice on where I might be find work for what I got my degree in.

So, here’s how it went when I got up to the woman representative:

Me: I’m recent graduate and I’d like to work for Time Warner.

Rep: Where did you graduate from? With what degree?

Me: I graduated from Pace University with a bachelors in Communications Studies. Would you like to see my resume?

Rep: (annoyed) Yeah, sure.

::Hand my resume to the rep. She glosses over it, and sees my magazine internships, wrote for the school paper, etc.::  

Rep: I don’t see anything… What do you want to do?

Me: I want to be a journalist, but the industry is not good right now. I’m thnking I could be a clerk or sales rep…

Rep: I really don’t have anything for you based on your resume. You go online to the Time Warner website, see what is there, and upload your resume.

Me: Thank you.

:: Dismayed. I walk away. ::

After I talked to that rep, I thought about going to more tables, but I figured I’d be hearing what Time warner told me. So, I decided to get the hell out of the hotel, and go on with the rest of my day. I was glad to get out of there, but I wanted to cry so bad. I just walked around for the rest of the day. Walking off the adrenaline of having to prove to hiring managers that I’m worthy of their employ is my usual after a job interview. I walked from 34th street and 8th avenue to 9th street and 4th avenue. From there I went home, where I finally cried.