Every day I find myself searching for that ever-elusive job on the same eight or nine websites. I’ve got alerts set up, RSS readers, everything these job sites offer I’m into. If they decided to go old school with messenger pigeons or beeper pages I’d opt into those too.
Thus far, my search has proved to be fruitless. Despite the lack of success, I continue searching this same collection of websites every single day. It’s a lot like Groundhog Day minus Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliot, the groundhog and the laughs.
I don’t blame any of these websites for my lack of employment. It’s not their fault that my searches return bleak results each day. I don’t have any hatred towards the employees of these sites because the daily emails they’re sending me are as empty as my bank account. Plus, I don’t hate because I’m not a hater.
There is one website, however, that makes me angry on a daily basis. That website is Craigslist.
I’m a long-time supporter of Craigslist. I owe the website for finding me a roommate, a buyer for my collection of books and my first job while living in Los Angeles. The site often takes a hit in the media because it offers “Adult Services,” which is exactly what it sounds like, but all in all it’s a valuable resource that I check out every day.
Lately, though, I find myself increasingly frustrated with the ads I’m finding on Craigslist.
Every day I click on the writing jobs link on Craigslist and every day I find myself wanting to punch a hole through my computer monitor. A majority of the ads posted under the writing section read roughly like this:
“We’re starting the best website/blog/magazine ever created and we’re looking for a team of hungry writers … Must have experience … This is an unpaid job, but once some ad money starts rolling in your hard work will be rewarded.”
I left out the misspellings and grammar errors that are usually found in these ads. I wouldn’t want you to punch a hole through your monitor too.
Can you fathom seeing a plethora of ads like this every day in any other field? Imagine a brand new bar opening up and looking for talented bartenders to work for free until the bar starts making a profit.
I’ve written for free, actually I’m writing for free right now, and I’ve been able to gain some valuable experience from it but experience has me currently living in my parents’ house. What I really need this moment is some valuable cash money.
While my job search also takes me to other sites like MediaBistro.com and JournalismJobs.com that only post paid writing jobs, I continue to go back to Craigslist each day no matter how angry it makes me. At least the “Missed Connections” section on Craigslist is still entertaining. Have you read some of those? Kill an hour of your work day reading those things. Go ahead. You could probably make it two hours. Then, when you lose your job for wasting time on Craigslist, let me know so I can take that job from you. I’m just kidding. I don’t really want to see you get fired. Or do I?
