Desperation works in job searching as well as it does in dating.
~Darrell Gurney
As I mentioned yesterday, my back is opposed to being in a seated position for very long, so I am trying to keep my computer use sporadic and short. My back is improving, though. All is not lost! :-) I hope to feel more normal by next Friday.
A poem about trying to get a job today. More specifically, about writing a cover letter:
Cover Letter
by Marcus McCann
A graceful arrangement of the baubles of your enthusiasm.
Why you matter, retail. An explanation of how
you were gingerbreaded from the dough of their firm at birth.
Your motto is avoidio missteppus. Your interest in grammar
grows abnormally. You long for font synergy.
Your other motto is Chuck Norris does not apply for jobs;
~Read the rest here. (Do click!)
~~~~~~~~~~
Check It Out has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Jone!
Love the poem, especially that last line: "Sincerely, you write, sincerely. Sincerely …" Having applied for hundreds of jobs, and helped my various children apply for hundreds more, this poem really spoke to me.
ReplyDeleteHope your back heals soon.
"If I were a question,/I would be burning" <-- Ha! I have got to try that out in a query letter sometime. My own graceful arrangement of baubles just doesn't seem to be cutting it. Glad to hear your back is improving, Tabatha.
ReplyDeleteSo true. So sorry you're aching. Lots of small walking stints. Lie on the floor with your calves on a chair or sofa and breathe. It lets your spine come gently back to its natural curves. Feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteFeel better, Tabatha!
ReplyDeleteYour motto is avoidio missteppus. Doesn't it always seem you spend hours writing and rewriting, only to find that you've sent it off without your subject and verb agreeing over some change you've made along the way? (How's that for an awkward sentence?)
Sorry to hear you're hurting this week. Do take care!
ReplyDeleteA very suave and elegant poem -- glad to "meet" Marcus McCann here. You always find the coolest poets and poems. :)
I had to read this several times, Tabatha. I especially like the use of the (new) verb "gingerbreaded"--so clever!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments and good wishes, y'all. Dori, I tried your idea twice today. Thanks for the suggestion!
ReplyDeleteMethinks it's a lot like writing grant applications... Hoping Dori's advice, and lots of lovely rest, helps you bounce back soon, Tabatha! #punintended
ReplyDeleteHeat on the back, too. I have heated car seats and even when it is hot out, sometimes I turn the seat warmer on to give me just a bit of back pain relief.
ReplyDeleteI hope that cat is waiting for you! A cat on your lap sometimes helps healing, too!!
So many great lines/images in McCann's poem, like being "gingerbreaded from the dough of their firm at birth" and "You mamabird your rebuttals into the beaks
ReplyDeleteof their tacit objections." It helps to keep your sense of humor when you look for a job! (And I hope you're able to keep yours through that sore back, Tabatha. Listen to all the good advice above.)
McCann gets the cover letter process just right. I love "Your interest in grammar/grows abnormally." As people have noted, there's much here that speaks to grant writing and query letters. I would add that I sometimes work this hard on tricky emails to parents (or emails to tricky parents).
ReplyDeleteI love the use of gingerbread as a verb, with its strong sensory overlay, it makes the poem access my inner child, Christmas and joy all at once. That parallels the excitement of getting a new lead. I feel that way finding an new agent to query. A new lead! Yay! Then of course the desire to not blunder and fritter the opportunity away, parallels the rest of the poems concerns. :-) I never realized before how querying and job hunting have a lot in common, in fact. No wonder the process is so hard for me.
ReplyDeleteOh, Tabatha. I am feeling this poem. Our college student has been home for a month and no luck finding a part time job. He started looking before he got home, asked friends for contacts at their jobs, etc. etc. He's in the land of "sincerely, sincerely" -- a tough place to be.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the introduction to Marcus McCann - intriguing poem. Hope you are feeling tip-top soon, Tabatha. =)
ReplyDelete