Persistence

There's a scene in The Shawshank Redemption where the central character has been trying - and failing - to refurbish the prison library. He writes a letter a week to the state prison board, and eventually after a couple of years, a couple of lorry loads of books arrive. Persistence pays off. This came to mind today after I saw a sixth job advertised from a local chemical/drilling fluid company inside the calendar year that I could reasonably expect to apply for.

My cover letters to them have become ever more explicit that I'm perfectly willing and able to accept an entry level position to gain experience in the area. Coincidentally, today there was a talk given by a member of the chemical association of Alberta (or somesuch name) today, who also brought with him another person from said chemical company I've been banging my head against a wall with. I'd thought about going but got waylaid by something work wise. One of the students in the lab went to it and there was a bit of a chat about it afterwards. 

I joked "maybe I should have gone, asked him if there's any point me applying for a sixth time when they've seemingly ignored me five times already". Whereupon he remarked "yeah, he was saying that people with graduate degrees are viewed as something of a liability since they have to be retrained". So I think it fair to say I'm probably wasting my time again. Disheartening news.