Out on the job search

The Housewife is on the hunt for a new day job, and that means meeting with recruiters.  The good recruiters (in my opinion) don’t just want to analyze your resume and grill your references, they want to get to know you a little as well.  The more they know about you and your personality, the more they can speak on your behalf to prospective employers, and the better equipped they are to match you with a job you’d enjoy.  So of course this means I’m coming out to each of the multiple recruiters I have met with recently.  They see my ring and ask what my husband does; they ask about my relocation from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts, etc, etc. Many casual questions lead to coming out.

Coming out to straight people in professional situations is always interesting.  I hate to generalize, but almost invariably, you can see the internal struggle as they balance whatever their gut reaction is with however they think they should respond.  The results are often comical.  They do their best not to let their eyes widen in surprise (they usually fail).  They try to sound positive and accepting (and of course non-discriminatory!) and come off as strangely/overly excited.  Or sometimes they are a friend to the gays and want to let you know that they are in any way they can (this is particularly fun).

I had the distinct pleasure of experiencing the latter yesterday.  This woman was thrilled to find that I was a ‘mo and gleefully asked if we were married, glancing at my ring.  She offered a hearty congratulations and went on to tell me how she DVR’s Ellen every day - I was so excited when she got married…but what will happen now with Prop 8? I’m just so sad about what’s happening in California!  I have friends there, and it’s just awful!  We talked gay marriage for a minute and then all about The Accountant’s job – she is a recruiter after all (gotta find out if the wife might want a new job too!), and it was overall a very nice meeting. 

Now let’s hope she remembers her fondness for me and my peeps as she tries to find me a job!