Receiving feedback

A sweet 20-something HR person called me yesterday to tell me I didn’t get a job that I interviewed for last week.

She hadn’t been on the interview panel, which was a grim 45-minute affair that left me feeling like I’d been through a police interrogation. She’d just been tasked with the unhappy job of telling all the unsuccessful applicants that they’d been, well, unsuccessful.

Her feedback was that there had been sooooooo many amazing candidates for the role and that I’d missed out because I didn’t have enough experience in managing teams.

I tried to contain myself, but I felt my inner Ruprecht rise when she said that.

I wouldn’t mind so much if the feedback was constructive, but sorry – not sorry – that wasn’t helpful.

My experience in managing teams is pretty extensive. PICK SOMETHING ELSE.

However, I kept my response polite because I try not to shoot the messenger.

I drowned myself in caffeine instead.

I mixed an iced coffee in my kitchen, followed it with a Maccas Diet Coke after the eldest’s second vaccination at Homebush, then grabbed a can of V at the petrol station on the way home.

It didn’t have the uplifting effect I was hoping for, it just made me gassy.

Blah.

Official ABS figures tell me unemployment dipped from 4.6% in July to 4.5% in August, even though 146,300 jobs were lost.

What’s going on with that? Apparently many people have given up looking for work and the demands of Centrelink.

Principal advisor at the Australian Council of Social Service Peter Davidson told ABC News it’s because the process is so gruelling and soul-destroying.

“Oh, it’s awful,” he says, “can you imagine applying for 20 jobs a month for a year or more and the impact that has on self-esteem and just your view of yourself?”

Many Australians decide to go without Jobkeeper payments instead and rely on savings or loans to get them through.

I hear them.

I would like a full-time job, with holiday pay and sick leave and all that jazz. I also miss being part of a team and brainstorming and striving together to achieve great outcomes.

On the other hand, the freelance gigs are stacking up.

I was even commissioned to write a travel article about the Kimberley yesterday. Cheers!

I have four regular clients and they’ve all been keeping me flat out like a lizard drinking this week.

And then there’s my work at Drinks Digest, which is insanely busy due to spring being peak launch season. Hopefully it will become monetized, as my subscriber list grows every week.

Still, I felt a bit down last night, so I headed to DD’s place for a little soothing with a side order of Singapore Noodles.

As we were discussing my latest mad business idea, I discovered DD hasn’t seen Moulin Rouge. Everyone needs a little Can, Can, Can in their lives, so I showed him the scene and he was startled, because he didn’t realise Ewan McGregor was in the movie.

I told him Ewan recently left his wife. We both love a Google, so we discovered that Ewan recently became a dad for the fifth time with his ex co-star and new partner Mary Elizabeth Winstead. He also has four daughters – Clara, 25, Jamyan, 20, Esther, 19, and Anouk, 10 – who were pretty cranky about his mid-life crisis at first, but seem to have come around.

Where am I going with this? I’m not sure. Maybe that being 50 for men can often be a different kettle to being 50 for women – both professionally and personally.

That said, I’ve become a big believer that life is too short to be stuck in an unhappy marriage or job.

Blimey, it’s almost the weekend again. Make yours a good one.

Song of the day: No Doubt “Don’t speak”