You'll know it when you find it

Finding a job seemed to be a matter of sending many, many emails. Mine were bold, sappy. I pitched “my relentless eye for detail, my consuming love for the word and for the vehicles in which that word reaches the people, my natural flair for organization and order, and my brain, which is a palette and a drawing board.” I was “buoyant, hardworking, and quick in every way. I would be honored, if you saw fit to take me into your camp. I would be equally grateful for a line of advice.”

I felt I could not possibly know what job was right. I had to gather as much information as possible, choose a direction, and accept that I might be wrong.

In retrospect, I see I was lacking a mentor, or more accurately, I wasn’t willing or able to hear the people that tried to mentor me. My high school English teacher had introduced me to the poetry editor of The New Yorker, who in turn introduced me to the magazine’s head copy editor. If I had been able to tolerate the unknown for a summer, or a year or two, working under the now famous translator of Elena Ferrante, I might have spent the next twenty years in publishing. But I wasn’t thinking that far ahead. I needed to make rent come June.

– excerpt from "You'll know it when you find it," by Kasia Nikhamina, in SEARCH WORK: A Collective Inquiry into the Job Hunt, edited by Rachel Meade Smith

On Wednesday, April 1, at the Francis Kite Club in the Lower East Side, we celebrated the launch of SEARCH WORK: A Collective Inquiry into the Job Hunt, edited by Rachel Meade Smith.

I am thrilled to have an essay in this collection! Huge thanks to Rachel, for her sharp editing and her support.

The official pub date is May 5, but pre-orders are shipping now.

In "You'll know it when you find it," I write about my beloved work-study job at the Harriman Institute, and how that experience informed my search for my first real job after college graduation. (Spoiler alert: I ended up in Rackets, the best bureau at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.)

My essay goes back in time some twenty years, so it's perhaps more nostalgic than some of the others in the book. I know it's grim out there – I'm looking for work myself right now, as are many people I know.

SEARCH WORK marks the 10th year of Words of Mouth, a weekly newsletter sharing humane professional and creative opportunities across design, the arts, education, information, and the built environment. Words of Mouth is founded and powered by Rachel Meade Smith.

YOU'RE INVITED

to the SEARCH WORK reading and Q & A on Thursday, May 14 at the Adams Street of the Brooklyn Public Library in DUMBO.

I'll be reading, along with a few other contributors to the collection. Books will be available for purchase at this event. Special thanks to Katie Vermilyea at BPL for making this happen!

DIVINITY SCHOOL

Divinity School • a letter every Sunday at sunset • if you’re always looking, after some time you’ll have seen

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