Jobs

More specifically job applications, are the worst. It's a constant stream of trying to sell yourself (actually, specific facets of yourself) to various people in the worst kind of self-promoting PR, and revising the same letters hundreds upon hundreds of times. At this point, I have an obscene number of cover letters on my desktop. It takes hours to revise them to fit the job that you're applying for (case in point - the two hours I just spent applying to three jobs). And at the end of this whole, soul-crushing, mind-numbing process, will the person on the other end have a remotely accurate feel for who you are as a person? Probably not. Will they really know if you'd be good at the job? Also probably not. There's (and I'm pulling this number out of thin air here) about a 10% chance that you'll nab an interview from blindly sending in a full job application (in law school this consists of resume, cover letter, transcript, writing sample, and often a reference list). That means it's a 90% likelihood that you're going to get rejected. Now, what's special about getting out right rejected in law school is that sometimes you get these lovely rejection letters. Remember those from applying to college? Yeah, they come back with a vengeance. And, depending on how many jobs you apply to in one go, can fall upon your self esteem in a deluge. The other option is that they simply never acknowledge receipt or consideration of your application. That's also disheartening and can make you begin to question existence and the meaning of life and whatnot (e.g. am I really a person? Do I exist? Did I hallucinate sending in an application?). Is it really fair to assume that these people can evaluate your value as a productive member of society/their workforce without ever seeing your face or working with you? No, it's not. It's also impossible for your value to be based upon whether one person reading your shamelessly, car salesman style self-promotion finds you to be competent. Basically, and to quote Al Pacino - "I'm out of order? You're out of order!...the whole trial's out of order!" Begrudgingly, though, we are forced to accept the system for what it is, not because it is incapable of change, but because those who control it lack the time/funding and will to change it. But, I suppose, that one of the strengths of law school (likely professional school in general) is that it truly teaches you how to deal with both difficult people and disappointment (and I do mean fairly consistent disappointment with yourself, your situation, the job market, the food in your apartment, etc.). I tend to consider this so-called strength also a weakness. I don't know about you, but I think that there's only so much rejection and disappointment you can take before wishing that you too could make a deal with the devil as played by Willem Dafoe (Yes, that is a reference to the Mercedes Benz Superbowl ad, so DEAL WITH IT!). Some of this whole rant, I'm sure, was brought to you by excessive caffeine, stress, exasperation, and hunger.