Plight of the Jobless (1)

Today I take a short break from highlighting the Plight of the Distraught Child and chose a new category – the Plight of the Jobless . It will be slightly longer, but hopefully more enlightening.

Jim called and asked if I could make time to join him in the afternoon at his house. The invitation was that straightforward and my immediate instinct was to latch onto that opportunity. This is in consideration of the very few human moments we get with family, friends and neighbors in the fast-paced and technology laced world! I think I had been on-screen, online and on phone all morning for the longest I could remember, and therefore some time away from those gadgets to connect with some real persons would be a boost to my mental health, more so my mental acuity.

So I said ‘yes’ and immediately hang up without getting the details of the invitation, whether a bash, a conflict resolution or one of those moments when Jim would like to run an idea on a bunch of friends.

At exactly 2 p.m. Jim called to ask how far I was from his house. He is such a time conscious man and every minute counts for him. After some quick chit chat, Jim picked his laptop and a chair, and asked me to pick my chair we sit outside for some open heart surgery. I knew Jim had quit his job some seven months earlier and we had remained in touch through that rough patch, as he experimented with every idea of eking out a living, but I hadn’t paused long enough to realize the depth of his struggles.

This was a first time experience for him and his family, considering that he had secured a job straight from college and had been working for seven consecutive years. The decision to quit his job wasn’t abrupt, rather it was slow burning and gradual. He had discussed it with his wife and friends, considering the pressure at work that was driving him in insane. Some changes had taken place at his place of work and he didn’t seem to be coping well and that’s when the seed on quitting was planted in his heart. Typically, one would start job hunting while letting go of the current job, but for him he could not wait to cut loose from an organization that did not require his services. He reasoned that it was better to resign than get fired, which he could clearly foresee.

In retrospect, he told me, the journey had been analogous to a ‘normal curve’, which he had studied in his first year course; Maths 100, in college. He followed to describe the three phases that a Jobless person undergoes, immediately after the free fall from the workplace.

In here, Jim was disconnecting from the weekday cycles and mad rush in the mornings and evenings.

Life was slowing down. No emails, phone beeps, morning meetings and whatever else is demanded to the career people who have to report to an office or shop every morning. Life was different, though for a (short) moment! Jim would wake up the next many mornings without a schedule or plan. Really, is that how work life enslaves people! His basic routine was getting up and trying to busy himself with whatever house chores he could comfortably help in, however odd it felt for a man.

He had too much time in his hands. Jim was a reader (in his past life) and there were many books he had wanted to read while he was in full time employment, but never found a minute to settle on the study table. Here was the opportunity to rummage the knowledge contained therein. His two kids were happy to have dad at home all the time, unlike before where they would compete with his WiFi connected smartphone or computer for his time in the evening. It was mad fun for these little munchkins, who would have wished for the status quo to remain permanent. Time with the wife too received a boost and for about a week, everyone in the house was happy and satiated.

The benefit overflowed to social events where Jim was henceforth available for weddings, mid-week outings, funerals, church prayer meetings, or pop-ins by friends of ‘just-come-and-let’s-have-tea’.

Life was getting grand but the pleasure was to be short-lived. Such, an unfair short end of the stick.

A week and another passed by, and he soon realized that he had monthly bills to pay, including rent, phone (rather airtime), electricity (tokens), garbage disposal, welfare security, house help, and gas, let alone the chamas that he and his wife were active members. Adding salt to injury, Jim was also servicing two loans, one from a bank and the other from a SACCO. That’s how delusive the life of a young and upwardly mobile career person can be. For Christ’s sake, why should someone live on credit, whether it is buying a car, a house or a shoe! Letters from the bank and threats from his guarantors served as rude awakenings to the fickleness of our status. Rather, falling from grace to grass has no cheerleaders!

To assuage the pressure from bills and creditors, Jim jumped into the deep end of job-hunting where he polished his resume and scouted on how to best market himself to potential employers. Books with titles like, ‘time to get hired, ‘creating your CV as a self marketing tool’, ‘demystifying interviews’, ‘essential job searching skills’ e.t.c. were sourced and read through with a toothcomb. Although everyone else at home was happy, including the cat, Jim realized that a man has got to do what a man has got to do, and that is provide for his family.

He listed off all the job sites he had heard of, called a few friends to let them know that he was ‘on the loose’. Some responded with pity, while others said the usual, ‘I’ll let you know if I come across something’. Such vulnerable moments make one to re-evaluate his relationships. One sometimes wishes there is more that friends can do at such times. Crisis has a way of separating wheat from tares, and Jim was just beginning his journey.

In time, Jim realized that the digital era had ushered in an avalanche of recruitment software that ‘gladly’ automated the function of receiving and responding to job applications; this is besides the job and personnel recruitment agencies that make millions from the estimated 12 million jobless generations.

To validate his painful journey, we took a deep peep at this Email sent folder that showed over 100 job applications submitted, while the inbox showed only 10 responses from these applications. Most of the ambivalent responses read like this;

Jim exclaimed, ‘ To a job seeker, who cares if you are an equal opportunity employer and who told you I am interested in your newsletter?’ For heaven sake, I need a job (to pay my bills) not newsletters, damn it!’ The very good emails responses read like this;

Dear applicant:

Thank you for submitting your application.

This email is to confirm that your application has been received and logged for detailed review by the [name of organization]. Due to volume, we cannot reply to individual inquiries on the status of applications. If you are selected as a candidate, an [name of organization] Human Resources representative will contact you directly to arrange an interview.

We appreciate your interest in the [name of organization] and wish you the best of luck in your job search.

Recruitment team

Surely, there must be some humor in the guys who design these software. Anyway, here was at least one automated response that wished him the best of luck, phewks!

Then there was another organization that responded;

‘Goodness gracious, how could they cancel the position immediately after inviting for applications?’ Jim posed. ‘My foot, that must be a very visionless organization whose leaders need a career transition.’

The remaining bunch were regret emails, all with the same message, as it was copy-and-paste;

I refer to your application for the position of [name of position applied for]
We had a strong field of candidates and keen competition for this post and therefore I regret to advise that on this occasion you have not been short-listed.
Thank you for your interest in [name of organization] and may I wish you every success in your future career.

Yours sincerely,

Seriously, there were stronger and more competitive candidates than Jim? What exactly did they mean, stronger in what sense, rather what criteria were they using? ‘It is an unfair world out there!’, said the turtle before retracting its head into the shell. Looking at Jim and listening to his narrative, I figured out that job hunting must be quite a tricky and daunting task at the same time.

Jim showed me the numerous emails he had drafted, the many follow up phone calls he had made, and the many books he had read on how to stand out from the crowd (of other applicants), but nothing positive had been forthcoming. Considering that the HR had automated their function of receiving applications, Jim thought he could perhaps automate his email applications so that every time he logs on, there would be a ready draft to be sent, reading;

His exponential phase thus was riddled with the challenge of monthly bills, prospects of being kicked out of the house and the highly likely risk of being auctioned by his financiers. The trauma of being jobless was a daily haunt. His social activities and life were grounded to a halt, simply because he could not afford the luxury. Friends and (some) family members avoided him or picking his calls for reasons best known to them, e.g. he might ask for another soft loan on top of what was advanced last week. It is a such a lonely path that if one’s hand isn’t held by a stable person he/she will easily drown in a pail of water!

Desperation had driven Jim to seeking to work as a boda boda operator in his neighborhood, but the thought of his B.A. Anthropology Certificate tucked away with his credentials wouldn’t allow him to mount onto a bike and wait for clients at the bus stage. What will people say? He was confronting the problem of self-pride. The other alternative was to seek casual jobs like a KYM at construction sites, but his lifestyle was beyond what a daily rate of Ksh.500 could afford. With such quandary, he was seriously contemplating walking down the staircase of lifestyle and toning down on some life excesses.

Problem was, he wasn’t alone. He had a family, a wife and two kids who would question why they are having to move houses or to change schools.

Perhaps the only thing he could show me was one recently dated positive email that said;

With such a response, there must be God in heaven! For once, the email referred to him as Jim and not an ‘Applicant’!

Considering, this has been a rather long read let’s wrap up this narrative in Plight of the Jobless (Part 2 of 2)