Who says you can’t?

Published on by macjam47

A wonderful post about making choices and having the confidence to see them through by Sue Vincent,

The Silent Eye

“Wanted: Experienced male window-dresser. 20+, full clean driving licence. Must be prepared to travel.”

Back in the days when one could advertise for precisely the staff member you wanted without the risk of appearing politically incorrect, that was the advert that caught my eye. To be fair, at just 16, with examination results still months away and no possibility of staying in education, I was looking at anything and everything, applying for jobs as varied as dental nurse and milkmaid. In spite of the expectations a Grammar School education might have raised, the family couldn’t afford for me to stay on at school. I needed a job. Any job. Even then, I was aware that probabilities were a numbers game; the more I applied for, the more chance I had of getting at least as far as an interview.

By this time, I had only a couple of months left…

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13 thoughts on “Who says you can’t?”

  1. Ha. I remember the days of “true” job ads. I’ve been trying to relocate myself back “out west” for years now, and have applied for hundreds of jobs that were really just following some legal obligation to advertise broadly. It’s exhausting — and demoralizing. Especially since as a federal “civil servant” I mostly apply for those jobs. Think about what that means for tax money. Across the USA, hundreds of employees working to create, advertise, and go through the resulting tens of thousands of job applications — all when the managers already know to whom they will give those jobs.
    I’m sorry Michelle — I didn’t mean to write my own post here. 🙂

    On a lighter note, back in those days, living in Nashville, TN i saw an ad for a job. “Those with a southern accent need not apply,” it said. Being 17 years old, and raised in a rural southern town, I didn’t just have a southern accent, I had a hick accent! I figured that would rule me out, but applied anyway. Amazingly I got an interview. It was some filing job at Vanderbilt University. The woman exclaimed in pleased surprise, at my decent grammar and “light” accent. Then complained about how awful everyone in the area was.
    That reminded me of how offended I was by the ad. I was 17, and rebellion raised it’s head. I let loose with a hickville twang and every “ain’t” and other grammar mistake I could imagine… I didn’t get the job, but the look on her face was satisfying. LOL. Not that I’d advise it or do it again. Especially not 40 years later.
    Mega hugs my friend. 🙂

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