AmeriCorps and the beginning of COVID
I was in my early thirties and moved back in with my parents due to the pandemic. Each day felt like an anxiety attack because I was not where I wanted to be in life; my boyfriend was long-distance and, of course, COVID. Does this sound familiar to anyone?
Was it worth it to apply for a job? Can I find remote work? Will I again be asked to do family things all day long because of my culture? Why did I get all these degrees and fall into so much debt just to be back home?
Day after day, I blindly applied to jobs but was anxious when I received a reply and anxious when I did not. My work history consisted of power-mad bosses, overly emotional co-workers, and CEOs that straight up lied about the roles they were looking to fill. So I was a little more than jaded at this point.
I was also struggling with unemployment benefits. The lines to call were awful, and I can empathize with the person on the other line that was just angry and frustrated but ……. I needed my money. After reading a ridiculous amount of Reddit and calling random numbers, I finally figured out what to do. I reached out to all of the government folks in my area, including the mayor, governor, representatives, and senators. One gentleman listened very respectfully and patiently. When I finished, he let out an audible sigh and proceeded to explain that he was assisting others in my exact situation but has yet to achieve any success at all. I could hear the defeated tone in his voice and accepted his explanation as truth. Luckily, another representative I reached out to was able to help me, and I received unemployment benefits shortly thereafter, including 5 months of backpay. I even made a new insta buddy in the process! Now, I am not proud of receiving unemployment, but in reality, it is your money, and the hoops I had to go through to get it ….. well I can confidently say I am A VERY STRONG person.
But the fact remained ……. I needed a job
One day, as I sat at my desk with my best buddy sleeping on my toes (a dog of course!) I came across AmeriCorps. I remembered my account login from college and signed in. I teleported back to my college days when I applied with absolutely no success, nay even a response. It must have been over a dozen sites that completely disregarded my application with no explanation. Does this sound familiar too? I took a deep breath, and with a few extra years under my belt, I thought to try again. My hope was …… maybe they will be nice and honest.
I was aware of AmeriCorps’ low pay but I also knew it was something I wanted to do, and I needed a step up in life. As a candidate, you put in your application to each site individually. The host sites will have agency descriptions and VISTA Assignment Descriptions or VAD. The major difference between this job-hunting site and Indeed or any other site is the extremely old-school web design that could use a “web lift.”
After a few AmeriCorps applications and an awkward request to my old volunteer buddy who agreed to serve as my reference, I closed my computer and laid down. Now at this point, my goal was to relax, but because of COVID, a faraway boyfriend, and living at home, I just laid down and did not move because that was the closest thing to relaxing that I could muster. Now with AmeriCorps you are still applying like an applicant on any other job hunting website like Indeed or Linkedin.
The rest of the day and week was a blur, and I just rapidly applied to jobs on LinkedIn with similar titles “Product Manager” “Project Manager” “Analyst” “Associate” and the list goes on. I was in the all too familiar stage of Why bother spending more than a few seconds reading a job description when a software platform might kick me out of the running anyway? I did not go to a top-tier school. Although, I do have accolades to my name now because I hustle so much for my professional experiences.
During this time, I also tried to spend it productively by learning how to use Adobe, do web design and build a table (handy life skills 👌🏽). The process of “sitting” in a virtual classroom and having someone decide how the next hour or two of my day would go relaxed me a little bit since no one knew how COVID was going to affect us all. I firmly believe that worthwhile learning can be done if you are disciplined enough to research, practice, and apply it. Unfortunately, if you want to work for a huge company, they want all those steps done at particular schools. The current diversity and inclusion are changing that. Thank goodness because we need different perspectives.
I also reached out to a temp agency courtesy of a podcast I listened to that day. It was sad for me to ask my (accomplished) buddies to be my references for the temp agency. What was even worse was that the agency asked me if I knew how to use Google Suites to make schedules. For me, this was the equivalent of walking down the street. But I needed a job, so I dealt with the interview process.
Takeaways:
- Everyone has applied to jobs without reading anything beyond the title. When you gain more confidence you will do this less.
- Learning a new skill while you are on the job hunt or just because you want to acquire new skills is always a good idea and might even come in handy one day.
- Asking for recommendations is hard, no matter what, so ask as directly and politely as you can.
- Unemployment is still money you earned! Don’t let the stigma of its title or the title of anything for that matter make you feel bad.
