So I went to that job interview yesterday. The job wasn’t the way I expected though. But I still managed to get through it with a clean slate. The job is through Studentwork which is a Nordic recruiting company who help graduated to find jobs. I did forget to say a few things just like I thought I would. One of them was to the question, what makes me different from other applicants. I should have mentioned I’m bilingual. It probably wouldn’t have changed much. Maybe I gave the same answer to a different question but it was quite similar anyway. I wasn’t very nervous before it. I thought I will get through it and give the best answers I can. I mentioned I’m careful when I meet new people but I’m always working on it. This interview wasn’t the final one though. If the employer gets interested, I get another interview. I will find out next week or so.

Even if I don’t get picked for this job, I still have that job interview experience. There is no time to be cosy. It’s a bit extravagant this job searching thing. Next year here in Finland people are forced to look for jobs or they get fewer unemployment benefits. It’s called the active model. It’s probably the stupidest idea to increase employment. You can’t buy a job from a store. No matter how active you try to be, not everyone will have the chance to find a job. It will also give the employers a lot more work to do. The government is trying to say that it’s all the unemployed fault they can’t find anything. Some things you can’t control. The job centre is a joke too. They claim the try to find work for people but that’s nonsense. I speak from experience. Like my mother used to say, you should hit your fist on the table and tell them you’re serious. Figuratively speaking, of course. If you want to do things, you have to do it yourself.

All the schools and internships I’ve been to, I always found them myself. When you apply for educations it’s not sure you get in. The same with real jobs with real pay. You can send all the applications with all your heart’s content but yet no one wants to hire you. You’re not in control of the result. You’re neither fit for the job or you’re not the person they’re looking for. I wonder if politics even know what job search really is. They have unrealistic views on it and they think they’re smarter than the average people. It’s so easy for a person who has a job to make up solutions how to reduce unemployment. Job search is not fun. Everyone hates it. Most people would rather have a job than live on benefits. It’s a complex process to find a job these days. You just can’t walk into a company and get hired as soon as you step in. Maybe that could have worked 60 years ago but now it’s totally different. It’s who you know that counts and how can you get that connection if you can’t find a job? Everyone doesn’t have that friend or relative with good connections.

I’ve been in the same job search circle for years and my dislike of dealing the with job centre is getting stronger each year. I don’t want any of these 9 euros per day or wage subsidies that they seem to shove my way. I want a real job with real pay. If I was younger, it would be different but it doesn’t help anymore. We’ll see how it will go with this job. I’ll only know next year what things will come. I hope it’s on a positive note.