It Happened to Me: I let a corporate job interview process hurt my feelings

The current culture around hiring is absolutely batshit and I am tired of being a pawn, hbu?

Let me start by saying I LOVE DAYTIMING.

Long live Daytiming. I have multiple really lovely clients that I am doing really fun work for. My work is good, the clients are all happy, and I can pay my bills (all while I start my days when I need to, can meet friends for breakfast when I want to, and I took a 3 week summer vacation this year which has never been possible in my entire career). We are in a wonky time, and I am at a wonky age, where a lot of my friends are in the same boat and we all try to make the most of it. We champion each other, we get a coffee, we leave 10 minute voice notes about that day’s ups and downs.

DAYTIMING!

But of COURSE there are downsides. Every 1st of the month when I pay for our health insurance I want to die (honestly unsure if that is covered). I have been working pretty steadily since the Spring but past October the projects are less certain. There are reasons to feel anxious, but I work really hard to push past that - life is too short to freak out every second. I spent YEARS freaking out every second. All it did was make me sick. No more! So even though I am truly just peeking my head out over the PTSD of my last fulltime job, I will ALWAYS take a first call for something that sounds interesting and pays well. It can’t hurt.

When my friend texted me “Would you ever want to work at [Well-Known DTC Home Brand That Everyone Likes]? A friend is looking for a head of creative and I want to recommend you.” I said UM YES OF COURSE and he connected me with the hiring manager, who would be my boss if this all worked out.

I was surprised and excited, it seemed like a perfect fit and i KNEW I would crush this.

This was April, and the clock started on The New Normal of Hellish Bullshit That Is Current Hiring Protocol.