As you may imagine, I have a bit of a problem when it comes to books and, well, buying too many of them. In all honesty, if I had to choose between buying food and buying books, I’d probably buy books (and that’s saying something, because I do love my food).

So this whole unemployment thing is not working out so well for me. The economy sucks, I get that, but I am an intelligent, enthusiastic, college student with a decent resume and references. As my friend recently put it, “how do all these ex-cons on Law & Order have jobs, but we’re apparently unemployable?”

Said friend now has a job. I’m still looking. I feel like I’ve applied for every job under the sun. To date I’ve completed nine applications and submitted countless inquiries. I haven’t heard anything. From anyone. It’s so frustrating and as much as I don’t really want to receive a bunch of “sorry, we don’t want you” emails or phone calls, it would be nice to know whether or not I should ever expect to hear from them, or if I should just continue applying for every job ever.

One of the most annoying things is that these companies have you jump through all these hoops to apply for jobs and then only at the end decide to mention that they aren’t hiring people for just the summer. I’m sorry, but it’s pretty clear that I’m a college student and looking for work while I’m home over the summer. In fact, I often mention this as I’m asking for the job application, and yet you don’t tell me that you aren’t hiring summer-only workers until I’ve wasted what feels like half my life answering redundant questions in boxes far too small to accommodate the amount of information you’re asking for? Seriously? What’s up with that?

I’m also particularly bitter about my inability to get a job at a bookstore. I work at a library, I have customer service experience, and I spend a lot of time in the bookstores to which I’ve applied, and yet a certain bookstore franchise’s computers don’t think I’m qualified enough. Alas. It’s their loss anyway, because if I worked at a bookstore, I’d probably end up spending even more money because of my employee discount.  

Meanwhile I guess I’ll just keep scouring Craigslist and asking every store I go into if they’re hiring. Statistically speaking, I have to catch a break at some point, right?

Well, I have to. My savings are dwindling and I can’t keep relying on my parents for money. I’ve been trying to figure out how to do more with my mark store, but so far that’s been a bust. Seriously, if you’re in the market for some new makeup or skincare or accessories, check out randrews.mymarkstore.com. They have some really cool stuff and you’ll be funding my book buying.

Be an enabler. You know you want to…