By Naomi Vargas, Lifestyle Writer
Well, hello there! Hope you are doing well and in good spirits. I have been traveling these past two weeks, in search of the perfect candidates for my place of employment. How is this going you ask? It has its ups and downs; the world of employment has changed significantly from when I was looking for a job.
COVID changed the way people think. No one wants to work anymore if the job isn’t good for their mental health. When I was going through life, we worked whether it was good for your mental health or not, sometimes two and three jobs. I remember specifically my mom telling me the day after my 18th birthday, “Monday morning you will get up early, and get dressed professionally with your resume in hand and go to every business handing them out.” None of this online applying or Friday at 5 pm applying in shorts and a tank top.
Recruiting now is no cake walk. You must make sure you don’t hurt their feelings or say something that doesn’t suit them. Interviews are totally up to them. I remember when an employer would call you for an interview the amount of joy that popped in your chest. Oh no, not now. Now they sit there with rude comments and, “Um, no; that doesn’t work for me. How about Friday at 5 when I wake up,” and come in with hair a mess fresh out of bed. On this Friday at 5 when they come in (never mind you are missing out on your daughter’s art show) they grunt at everything you ask them, slouched in the chair. It takes everything for me not to scream and say, WAKE UP, this is not the way this works! I quickly remember I am at their mercy now; we are no longer in the 90’s.
How did we get here? Where did we go wrong?
People have lost all respect for others as well as themselves. I recall one time when I went to an interview at a probation office, the probation officer walked out to get a kid that was on probation as he walked up to the kid he said, “Stand up!” As this boy stood up the probation officer yelled with the angriest voice “Get out of my f***** office, and don’t come back until you can respect me and yourself!!!!” The boy asked what he did wrong, to which the officer replied that he was sagging his pants and had a torn, stained tank top on, dirty torn shoes, hair a mess, and looked like he had just gotten up out of bed. The boy left and returned as I was leaving my interview, freshly bathed, pants pulled up with a belt and a nice shirt. I know there are some of us struggling, but my Ama always said you can be dirt poor, but if you want it, you can achieve it. You can go to a secondhand store and buy some nice slacks or ask if they can donate them to you because you are looking for a job. It’s in you to be the best you can, to achieve all you have ever wanted, it’s the “WHAT YOU WANT” part that you must pay attention to. Do you want to succeed or fail? This is what we must focus on.
I can only pray the times get better, and people start focusing more on success and not what is good for their mental health. I understand this is important as well, but we have let mental state take over our lives. Be positive and your mental state will follow. Go to work, and make it a great place because you can. Get up every morning with the love for life that you were brought into this world to feel. We make our lives; no one can do it for us. Don’t settle. If you are going to apply for a job, do it because that is what you want to do. Don’t do it just because you must work, because this does not have a good outcome.
You can be anything you want in life. Make yourself proud. Look each day in the mirror and love yourself for yourself. Get up, get yourself ready and conquer the world; don’t settle. Be successful in all you do, don’t be the guy/girl who gets up at 4 pm, rolls out of bed and throws on the clothes you’ve been wearing for five days, show up late for your interview and slouches. Take pride in yourself, even if no one else does. Be safe and I wish you nothing but success and positivity in your life.