Closing in on two years of underemployment. My unemployment ran out back in February. I’m applying for just about any job I’m vaguely qualified for, but not getting a lot of bites. I’ve had interviews, even a few second interviews, but nothing past that.

It is hard to keep showing enthusiasm in interviews after being turned down for so many jobs. Another brush-off couched in neutered corporate-speak. Bland and perfectly inoffensive. Keep an eye on our website for future opportunities. Or worse, we would love to hire you but we don’t actually have funding for that position. Or the requirements have changed. Great.

Do I have a passion for quality software? Fuck no. How is that a job requirement? Do I want to work on something that doesn’t suck? Sure. But a passion? No. Your website/app/game isn’t going to be the messiah coming down from the heavens to solve the world’s problems. I will work hard to polish it’s rough edges, but come on. I’m a professional, not a zealot.

And I get it. We probably wouldn’t work out in the long run. You are looking for a deep specialist, and I’m a wide generalist. A great guy to talk to at a party, but hard to pin down in a job. I’ve worked at a lot of places for short amounts of time. I haven’t worked in tech for two years and last time I did I was more of a manager than a worker.

I get it. I’m just hungry and tired of scraping by.