IRL Update: The Job Hunt Has Its Ups and Downs
Posted on August 23, 2026 by Aywren
I’ve been holding off in writing about what’s happening with me IRL because there are a lot of things up in the air. I’m currently writing this part of the post the day before a deciding factor of my possible future employment is made. I plan to pick up writing the second part of this post once I find out how things go.
A Little History
Being up in the air has been my life ever since I was laid off back in late 2025. I’d worked for my previous company for 13 and a half years in the corporate tech sector as a technical writer. Before that, I was either self-employed as a freelance writer, or working in the non-profit sector as support services and materials development (which put my writing skills to use, along with my computer/tech skills).
Our company was much-beloved by those who worked there (and I hope by most of our clients, too) and the culture it maintained was fabulous. I worked from home ever since the COVID days, and while no job is perfect, I had very little in the way of complaints. I was very, very fortunate to have the job I did.
This was the first time I’d ever experienced a lay off. No one saw it coming.
The company was sold to another company and the very first thing they did was start “cutting the fat” – which, if you ask me, they cut entirely too deep for the software we were building and supporting. Over the course of layoff cycles, they let go of some very skilled and knowledgeable folks, some who had over 20 years of experience.
I was cut in the first layoff cycle, and I count myself lucky in a way. The atmosphere and morale of those who were left was and still is one of anxiety – never knowing how long your job is going to exist – and stress – shouldering the workload of those who were cut. In fact, we noticed they’re hiring back for some of the jobs they laid off six months ago… yeah.
The Job Hunt
Hunting for a job in the tech sector is a bleak prospect. Hiring does not work the way it did back when I landed my previous job, and even the jobs I had before that.
Everything is online. AI filters resumes and applications, searching for keywords and discarding the rest. You no longer write a resume for a human, but rather learn how to tailor it to the SEO of the AI bots.
I’d worked various retail and customer service jobs in the past, specifically in my college days. Even applications for those kind of jobs are being filtered online, with personality tests, AI video interviews, and AI phone call interviews.
Really, if you don’t know someone at a location that’s hiring, your chances of even scoring an interview have become next to nothing. A number of the positions open online can be nothing but scams that you must be careful of or ghost jobs that don’t exist. You apply with no response, and yet you see the same position open and posted again and again.
It doesn’t matter if it’s the tech sector or a Walmart job. It’s so hard to even get your foot in the door. Linked In – on which I spend as little time as I can once I scoped it out – is full of people with stories on how they sent over 100 applications with less than 10 responses. Even when you do score an interview, often it’s an obstacle course of interviews and tests that result in nothing.
I wouldn’t have believed this if I hadn’t experienced it, and personally knew some of my ex-co-workers – who are skilled software developers – who confirmed this very thing.
As for me, I poked around at the tech sector for just long enough to realize that I didn’t want my future to be one of pleasing shareholders. Sure, I did that a tiny bit at my previous company, but we were extremely focused on our clients for a purpose I believed in, so my work always felt as if I was serving a calling that was beyond just the company.
That’s not so much the case with most of the jobs out there.
Not only that, but I would likely have to re-locate to find something in my sector unless I was really, really lucky to score another remote job. Those are still out there, but they’re rare and highly competitive.
I own my own place, and with an aging mother living nearby, I did not want, nor have the resources, to uproot myself. So, my job hunt took me more local.
I applied for city jobs, jobs at my old university, and kept my eyes open for freelance gigs (which are far more non-existent with the rise of AI doing writing that used to belong to freelancers). I interviewed for caretaker positions and even part-time retail jobs. I applied at Wal-Mart. I applied to be a PR specialist.
I started researching what it would take to pivot into a medical role such as CNA or pharmacy tech. I considered going back to school to study something in the realms of Radiology.
While I have the funds to keep me going and can put money towards these things, I really didn’t want to be without work for longer than I had to once my unemployment ran out back in May. I only scored three interviews in all this time – one which seemed promising, one for a position I knew I didn’t want fairly early into the interview, and the last in which I guess I was “overqualified for” and would have needed more hours and pay than they wanted to provide.
It did get to the point where I just didn’t know what was going to happen. When I suddenly had a breakthrough.
The Fluke
After returning from my upstate trip to help Syn move, I was tossing my hat in various rings again. I’d somewhat resigned myself to planning on taking an online course to become nationally accredited as a pharmacy tech. This is something I might still fall back on.
I saw an opening for a part-time position with the US Postal Service. So, I did as I have always done, and tossed in an application. They responded back and said that I needed to take an online assessment test.
Not thinking much about it – as I’ve done similar tests for Wal-Mart – I logged in and completed this. Well, it turns out that not many folks actually pass that test on the first try without knowing a thing about it. The fact that I did meant that I might be naturally well-aligned for what they’re looking for with this position.
I don’t know what I scored on the test, but I was emailed an offer of employment a few days later. Since then, I’ve learned quite a bit about the on-boarding process and positions at the USPS. I won’t go into this too much, since I’m still a noob, but I had to clear background checks, driving records, and do fingerprinting.
There was no interview for this position. That struck me odd, and turns out would be the downfall of this situation. But I was told that your scores on the test were all that were required to get a position. I also read that you have to do fairly well on the test to be offered a job – not just pass the assessment, but pass it well. I have no idea what I did in that regard.
After clearing all the checks, I then went through an orientation (paperwork, learning vids, etc.), a driver defense course, and I must next learn how to drive two types of postal vehicles – which I may or may not utilize in my position. I have this test tomorrow, and while they try to pass folks, a fail-state is possible.
As I’ve only ever driven my own little car and have very little experience with anything larger, I have concerns! You also have to learn how to drive on the right side of the vehicle, and deal with a vehicle that has no back windows – you’re relegated to mirrors as your field of vision. Basically, a lot can go wrong.
Not to mention that there’s no air conditioning or heating, and it’s been over 100 degrees out there over the past week. It’s going to be a scorcher tomorrow, and I will be out practicing for hours. Following initial instruction and a driving course, the test takes place on the actual city roads. I guess that’s the same as when I originally got my driver’s license… but still. It’s been a long time and parallel parking eludes me.
The one good thing is, I’m already fairly much a defensive and careful driver. I caught on to the instruction in the video course well enough. I just have to pass the driving test to move forward in this position.
For now, I’m going to leave off this post… and pick it up after I get my results tomorrow.
Future Me Says…
So, I did pass the driving test and I’m now certified to drive a mail truck! I survived the weather, though I’m suffering from slight sunburn, and I’m not quite sure how I managed all this.
I was pretty intimidated by both vehicles I had to drive. I hadn’t parallel parked in over 30 years, and backing up even in my own car is something I avoid doing unless I must. So, this really put me through the paces.
I made a lot of mistakes. I killed a few cones. The instructor had more than one thing to say about it all, but for whatever reason, he passed me. I know that this fellow wouldn’t have given me approval if I didn’t meet some standard he had set. I just have no idea what that standard was or how I managed to survive all this.
This basically means that I can move on to the next step, which is Shadowing another carrier, and finally meeting the folks at the office I was hired to work at. I haven’t even been to this office yet - another weird thing about the whole hiring process! Which is apparently pretty normal.
And So, The Story Turns
I’ve been writing this post over the span of several days, so you’re getting updates as I go along. I’m sure you’re excited!
Anyhow, I discovered today upon visiting the office, that the location I applied to doesn’t really need someone in this position. They already have someone, don’t get a lot of packages, and wouldn’t have the hours for me. The next city over that does need someone is much further than I want to drive for a part-time job. So, in waiting on the results of this, I’m probably going to have to resign this position and see what else comes up.
So thus ends my short saga of my time in the Postal Service for now. I can still keep my eye open on the job board and apply for other positions that pop up if I resign, which is a good thing. I’m not sure how I feel about all this, but I’m trying to take things as they come. I thought I’d have something solid to write about during all this and it turns out I didn’t after all.
Now I’m sorta back at square one. I suppose that course for pharmacy tech certification remains my goal for the moment.
Any good vibes you can send my way would be great! This has been a rough road.