Radicalized by the Pandemic

Radicalized by the Pandemic

In March 2016, I was wrapping up a contract designing a user interface for a data-entry system. It was a job that felt like the first real step in my career. When the contract ended, I figured the next step would come quickly. I had a degree, experience, references, and an impressive resume for a recently graduated student. 

At first, my job hunt was strategic. I applied to companies I genuinely wanted to work at - high(er) paying tech companies with an assortment of benefits. I was a little underqualified, but I figured I might as well shoot for the moon. 

The next couple of months I fired off 30+ resumes a day, in addition to weekly meetings with a career counsellor to go over interview preparation. By June I had 2-3 interviews/day, but I kept hearing the same line "You're a strong candidate, but we went with someone who has had more experience."

By September I had given up on my ambitions entirely. No more curated applications. I was applying to Best Buy, Walmart, Safeway - anywhere with a Now Hiring posting on their website. I re-wrote my resume so many times - removing skills so I wouldn't look "too qualified" to stock shelves. Somehow that wasn't enough. I'd show up to minimum-wage interviews and be told I "wasn't the right fit." 

Not the right fit...to stock grocery shelves!?

Then came the employment agencies. These were the people whose literal job was to help me find work, and even they questioned my background.

“Who taught you statistics?”

“I went to university.”

“And how did you get this data analysis role?”

“I applied for it.”

“…Did your dad own the company?”

By March 2017, I was drained, both financially, mentally, and emotionally. Savings? Gone EI? Gone. Welfare? 2 weeks away. I finally got a "desperation" job - something I could have gotten when I was sixteen.

I told myself I was lucky to have ANY job, and I felt like it could be taken from me at any moment. 

....but something unexpected happened. 

The Covid-19 Pandemic

Three years later, the pandemic made everything stop at once. I was laid off, and I felt certain that this time the job market would eat me alive.

I'd watch the news and see CEO's and "leaders" contradict basic safety information. I'd listen to people talk about COVID-19 like it was a cold - brushing off concerns when hospitals were over-capacity with people clinging to their lives in the ICU. I saw people who I once felt inferior to - revealed as clueless, arrogant hypocrites.

Meanwhile, the people being relied upon were the same "replaceable" low wage workers we'd all been told didn't matter and weren't skilled. Cashiers, shelf-stockers, janitors, delivery drivers. They were now "essential" and getting sick so that everyone else could feel safe during the lockdowns. 

For the first time, I saw the system clearly: fragile, performative, dependent on the very labor it refused to value. Entire industries survived only because the Government bailed them out - yet they had spent decades on propaganda, telling workers about "personal responsibility." 

My view on power dynamics shifted. We are told that employers have all the power, and that workers are lucky to have a job, but that view is designed solely to keep workers in line. The reality is that we have the power to make a difference. I can make a difference. 

The pandemic showed that my worth was never determined by whether a hiring manager liked my personality, or if I fit some vague idea of "work culture". These were arbitrary decisions made by a chaotic pedantic system that pretended to be rational. 

The truth is obvious. I...WE hold the real leverage. We offer our skills, our time, our labor. Society can't function without us. WE have strong propaganda telling us otherwise, but an individual's "power" depends on our willingness to participate. WE choose where we offer our labor, and we can end entire companies if we decide. 

Book Group

Around this time, I also joined a local virtual book group. The members were people I had always thought were "above" me (teachers, ministers, organizers etc.), people respected for their knowledge and opinions. I expected to feel out of place. 

Instead, they treated me like an equal. They listened to my thoughts, and when the minister fell ill, allowed me to be in charge of planning group meetings. My ideas mattered. My leadership had weight. It felt empowering and motivating.

Change:

The pandemic, the book group, and these experiences , changed the way I see myself professionally.

I know my skills have real, tangible value. I know that if an employer does not see this value, that's their problem, not mine, and I am not afraid to find work that I genuinely enjoy, which respects and utilizes my abilities. I approach my work with confidence - rather than fear. I think "do I want to be here?" rather than "does this place want me?". My contributions matter. 

YOUR contributions matter. YOU matter. 

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead