Interview tyranny

As a working-class blog, we've noticed that the labor market relies less and less on skill and substance, and more and more on style. The job market today is actually an elite fraternity.

When I got my first job - which was for the public library when I was 17 - the interview consisted of material that was relevant to what I'd be doing at work. As long as I could show an ability to perform competently, all I had to do to get the job was show up for the interview in a raggedy shirt and wrinkled jeans.

(A humorous monologue by Barry Fox of Power 94.5 had poked fun at job applicants who blew bubbles with bubble gum during their interview, but I noticed that a girl in a tie-dyed t-shirt who bubbled also got the job she applied for.)

Those days sadly have passed. Nowadays, you have to look exactly right and display a certain style and even a certain accent. Midwestern English, for instance, is often unacceptable to the corporate empire, which seems to instead use Valspeak as its official dialect.

They don't want you just to wear a suit and tie. They actually expect it to be of a certain color. According to a Cincinnati Post article from 2005, a career event for high school students suggested that males who are looking for a job anywhere should wear a black suit.

Hell, I don't even own a suit - of any color! Or a tie! By 2005, I was a writer anyway, so I was more or less self-employed, and none of the jobs I had before then required wearing suits and ties. (I had to work outdoors in the summer before then, so donning a suit would've been potentially dangerous.) If I was born 15 years later than I was, my library gig would've gone to someone who showed more style, even if they had a much weaker grasp of what the job entailed.

Life today really is a fraternity. Know the right people and dress the right way, and you might get the job. Who cares if you have skill, knowledge, passion, or competence? Maybe you have these things. But it won't help you unless you put on a black suit and tie and impress some big shot. Little matters these days except trying to impress a corporate mentality that's overstayed its welcome.