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January 14, 2003
Signs of the Times
Just came back from Career Services, where I was doing some research on opportunities for this summer. They have binders with evaluation forms that people fill out after completing summer internships every year. Two quotes from the Fall 2001 binder are chilling:
+ "It was fascinating... in the train wreck sense. Everyone from secretaries to junior partners was worried about their jobs."
+ "[It] is one of few firms that offer a young attorney the chance to work for small, hopefully rising firms developing new exciting products. Or you might get canned."
Ouch. I was only looking at the 2001 binder because the 2002 was so thin.
Dear Job Market,
Please come back. We really miss you. The late 1990s were so much fun, but you and Internet Economy were the life of the party. Now that you've left, it's really drab around here. No one wants to hire us youngsters and pay us more than we're worth. Signing bonuses are out like Limp Bizkit -- totally 1999.
Everyone wants to talk about experience and qualifications. What's a former marketing troll supposed to do in the face of that? Breathing and pumping blood above your shoulders apparently aren't sufficient anymore. Gone are the days of liberal hiring and salary wars among the BIGLAW firms. Sad, isn't it? The escapism of yesterday is gone, man. Even TV is about reality now, and reality is grim.
Dude, Business Casual got laid off. Poor guy was the first one to go when things started to get bad. I hear he's in hiding somewhere. Suits and ties are back with such a vengeance that he can't even get a callback interview at most firms. A few places give him stale donuts on Fridays since he's down on his luck, but that's it.
But if you come back, Job Market, we can relive the old days. I promise. I will call all my friends and we can have drinks on the firm and talk about the great internet law practice we'll build. About how, with clients like eToys and those guys with the sock puppet, we can't go wrong. And how cool would it be if they paid us in options instead of cash? Equity rules, man!
Job Market, you know you're the only one who can make it happen. Bring back the vitality. Bring back the party. I'm ready to party like it's 1999 whenever you are. Drop me a line.
-- Buddha
Posted by buddha at January 14, 2003 12:50 PM
Comments
buddha,
first, this is hilarious.
ironically, i read this (i'm not kidding) right in the middle of hiring for a position at the .com i work for. (i say that not to toot my horn. but to contextualize my comment.)
it's eerie, the number of people who are overly qualified for the position*. director level positions of XYZ consulting firm eyeing the lowly position I was in last month. the number of people* with salary requirements of $120k.
and hmmm.... on the resumes i see lots of names of places i once wanted to work at - that i thought were the shit. ideo. studio archetype. names of people that i'd read on the web when i was a tad infant information architect.
not that it matters that much any more - lots of brand-name design companies are in the shitter. and the place i'm at now isn't.
so, i'm looking for experience, for examples of how people think, how they solve problems, and what they can do.
i'm not sure that i'd get a job if i were in the market. that being said - since i'm hiring someone, i'm no longer on the front lines of being laid off.
Posted by: ryan at January 14, 2003 06:11 PM