With the current economic status the way it is, people are hurting for jobs. Employee hours are getting cut in half, some are losing their jobs, while others are hopelessly trying to find one. If you ask me, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. This includes my fiance, Jeremy.
According to the U. S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, the current unemployment rate for the state of Pennsylvania is 6.1 percent. Not too bad - considering the all time high was in March of 1983 at a whopping 12.9 percent.
Well, facts aside, Jeremy has been looking for a job now for about a month. I know that sounds meager compared to some folks out there who have been job hunting for multiple months.
Article Photos
Tara Maguire
Jeremy and I both went to the same college and majored in the same area - English. I love to write and he loves to research. Combined, we make a great team.
He was one year behind me in school, which makes it more difficult for him to find a job with the current financial and economic crisis our nation is facing.
During the last few weeks, he had been filling out application after application with no luck. The other day, while at the computer, he looked at me and quietly said, "Tara, I thought having a bachelor's degree would help me out a little; however, I was sadly mistaken."
Jeremy is a stay-at-home dad while I work 3 to 11 p.m. at The Sentinel. I know it's really hard for him to stay at home and take care of our daughter. It's the manly duty to want to provide for his family.
Yet, when I came home the other week, he informed me with delight that he had applied to 13 different locations.
I was astonished at this fact. Thirteen different places in one day? How many places had he applied to in the weeks before? I suddenly found myself very proud of him.
Well, I thought I would do Jeremy a favor and help him out in his job quest. It couldn't do him any harm - or so I thought. I decided to go on a well-known employment agency website and look up the newly posted job listings around the Lewistown area.
I found several within ten minutes. "Well this is simple," I thought to myself. No wonder he applied to 13 different places in a single day.
The application process was simple as well. I filled out all the necessary information for a job that I thought suited him best, wrote a little about him - made it sound extra fancy hoping they would call, and clicked "apply."
Well, I never actually told Jeremy I applied for this position. After about a week or so, I forgot as well. Well, that has all changed.
I heard a phone ringing one early morning as I struggled to wake up out of my deep slumber. I thought it was the alarm on one of our cell phones, but I was wrong. I picked up the phone, didn't bother to say hello and just handed it over to Jeremy's still-sleeping body.
At some point, he realized the phone was for him and quickly answered it in a mumbled, "Hello?" The next thing I know, he rolled over onto his side, as if this provided some sort of privacy, and carried on a conversation with the woman on the other end.
Jeremy continued to answer the woman's questions and I was still struggling to figure out who he was talking to. Jeremy sounded very confused talking to the woman, when I realized who it was. The lone application I filled out several weeks ago had paid off and he was scheduling an interview.
I started whispering things like, "Tell them you are good at communicating with others!" and "Tell them you have your bachelor's degree!"
Finally he got so frustrated, he rolled out of his private headquarters and stood up on the bed. The next thing I remember is a loud "thud." Jeremy will tell you he was trying to get to a pen and paper to write down information. However, I think he was in a rush to get away from my whispering antics.
After he stood up on the bed, he went to step down onto the floor and apparently got his foot caught between the sheets. Needless to say, he bit the dust. He flew into the wall and made a loud "thud."
I couldn't help but laugh. I didn't even ask if he was OK; I just laughed. I can only imagine what the woman on the phone thought.
After about five seconds, he popped right back up said, "Sorry about that," and continued on his merry way.
He ended up getting an interview with the company and a huge goose egg on his forehead. He thanked me later for helping him get his "only" interview.
I know that Jeremy would love to be able to support our daughter and spoil her with whatever she wanted. Even though he didn't get the job in the end and filled out more than 50 applications, it gives him hope that he had one response so far.
===
Tara Maguire is a Sentinel reporter. She can be reached at tmaguire@lewistownsentinel.com.
