Jobs applied to since April 21, 2011: +50

(The reason I know is because every time I apply to a job I BCC myself so I have a copy of the cover letter and resume, and the 50 doesn’t even include jobs I directly applied to through company websites.)

Times I’ve heard back from said job applications: 3

Interviews scheduled: 1

Pretty lousy statistics. Awful and mind-blowing.

One of the jobs I applied to sent me an e-mail yesterday saying well over 400 people applied to the job posting on Craigslist in just 48 hours, they’d already stopped taking submissions, they narrowed it down to 60 candidates and I was one of them. So jobs out here that have the keyword “producer” and/or “assistant” in them go faster than 1-bedroom apartments in the West Village. Yikes.

I nearly fell out of my chair a month or so ago when one of the random e-mails I’d sent my information to (jobassistant@gmail.com, areuright4us@gmail.com, hwoodasst@gmail.com, minimumpayforexperience@yahoo.com, ruasucker1000@gmail.com, beourcoffeebitch@gmail.com) actually wrote me back an e-mail saying, “Hey Mona, Thanks for your interest but we’ve already filled the position. -Julia.”

You mean there’s an actual person behind the anonymous e-mail addresses and companies who need your help? Mon dieu. I wrote Julia an effusive response, even though she had sent me bad news.

It’s amazing how little information employee-seekers share on job sites. Out of the dozens of jobs I’ve applied to, less than 30 percent of them actually disclose the name of the company and who you’d be working for. I don’t understand this practice. Yesterday I got a response from one company that gave away little (inaccurate) information in their job posting. It’s like a Match.com date gone horribly wrong. Six-feet tall? Try 5’9! Feature film production? Try online ads! Had they given their name and website I would have checked them out and realized they weren’t the right fit for me. But instead I wasted my time gushing about my passion for film when they produce commercials (most of which are only seen on corporate websites). FAIL.

I’m sure they will find someone eager to please them, but I will just keep looking, just keep looking (a la Dory in “Finding Nemo”)! I’ve got age and experience on my side. I know what I want and I’m not going to compromise. I’ve been doing that long enough.

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