The past months I have been hunting for and applied for jobs. For me it is imperative to have a job to get my life back and my situation stable again. Life in the Netherlands might be comfortable but living standards here come at a cost. That cost is personal flexibility and financial security. Regard jobs I have had jobs since I was fourteen year old kid. I have always liked working towards something which rewards your efforts. This brings me to today’s topic of job-hunting.

When I was young and simply wanted to make some money and save up. The years add up and serious summer jobs enter your life. In my case I learnt that I could make a lot more money by making more hours. Sometimes the job was even fun. After graduating V.W.O., the highest level of high school I was stuck.

After I was stuck I decided to go for a full-time job to save up. In the meantime I did some research and prepared for a future of which I was uncertain. I only had some dreams and ideals so some money would come in handy I reasoned. I was right and in 2009 I entered university.

Between studying and not studying I switched between part-time and full-time jobs. Through the years I had to deal with several situations. In short it comes down to a short summary:

• Where-ever you start, you will most likely start with the base jobs.
• Some people can “sell themselves” and some are not good at it.
• Extroverts are better at getting the better jobs where physical presence is important.
• Some employers are picky for a reason, some discriminate on age, gender and because they can.
• No guts, no glory: when you want that dream job fucking go for it!

In the second bullet point I emphasise “sell themselves” and this is subjective. It depends on the person and one thing is certain: people who have that extra something to convince an employer to hire them in the first interview simply get the best jobs. I do not have that skill. It is a great skill to have.

Recently I was rejected on the basis of my long-term ambition to become a software developer. So be it. I was angry about it but that happened.

Job-hunting, learn to adapt and persist…