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Month: March 2026

My AI Sloppy Job Hunt

My AI Sloppy Job Hunt

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I’m still on the job hunt, and finding it tough in this market. Prospects were really dry at the end of last year. I’ve seen a bit of a pick-up now that 2026 is moving along, but still no offer, and only two interviews in front of hiring managers so far, though I apply to a dozen or so jobs a week.

It’s a striking contrast to how I was able to quickly land a position after being laid off in 2023, just three years ago.

Anyone else out there who’s looking having the same problem? Or is it just me?

Here’s a couple of observations if you’re wondering what it’s like to be on the job hunt these days. On the applications, companies still ask all the EEO DEI-type questions – gender, race, veteran and disability status. Sometimes pronouns. The private sector did not get the memo that we’ve gone MAGA now, and woke is out.

A few times I’ve even been been asked about my sexual orientation! That’s one question to which I always answer “I prefer not to say.” What business is that of yours, I’m trying to get a job at your company, not have sex with it!

One thing that has become prevalent on the job search is AI. For one thing, there are a lot of postings for jobs where you are training AIs. They don’t promise you a lot of hours, and the rates they offer have a wide range, sometimes seeming too good to be true. I have ignored these kinds of postings. I’m not there (yet).

Sometimes when applying for a job, an AI chatbot will intervene as part of the process. Annoying. I have also been requested to do AI interviews as a next screening step. I started one once, and when I realized that it was supposed to be on camera, I bagged. But then a little later, I was requested to do an AI-driven “assessment,” also on camera, and since they were going to present my resume to a client, I acquiesced. It was a bit unnerving to be interviewed by a bot, but at least I have some experience at it, for later.

You know, for when the AIs take over. Gonna have to be able to appear compliant.

But seriously, I won’t deny it, I have leaned a little on ChatGPT for advice, and for help tailoring my resume. I’m no Luddite, I’m down with the AI revolution! ChatGPT even made me this inspiring image:

But I also won’t deny I feel a greater sense of uncertainty than I have in past periods of unemployment. There are a lot of factors that could be hampering my job search, as I enter what is probably the last decade of my life where I am in the workforce.

  • I was laid off in the midst of a shrinking job market, one that still hasn’t recovered. How could it with a gonzo administration in charge and WWIII looming over our heads? It’s just a bad time to be looking for work.
  • I am facing discrimination because of my age. Companies would rather have younger, more energetic workers that can be paid less. I can’t afford to backtrack on my rate at this stage of my life, though, with “retirement” coming around the corner.
  • Related to the above, my experience is too specialized. This is only natural for a late stage career, as it makes sense over time to focus on our strengths and area of expertise. But this could be also be understood as carving ourselves into a rut that is hard to get out of when that specialized expertise is in less demand.
  • I’m not trying hard enough. In the past, I have enjoyed periods of “funemployent,” but always bounced back into the workforce with relative ease. Maybe that’s not a realistic expectation deep in middle age.
  • AI really is taking over. My whole sector of the workforce – Information Technology – simply needs fewer humans, now that “agentic AI” is smart enough to do our jobs.

Oh no!

Board Games Challenge 2026

Board Games Challenge 2026

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If you hadn’t heard, we own way too many board games over here at Morgantown Manor. If that were even a thing, I mean. You can peruse our collection on BoardGameGeek:
https://boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/sbarrera

If you see the same game appear more than once in the gallery, that is not a mistake. That means we own an extra copy (or two) of that game.

It’s kind of out of control.

In the interest of reclaiming some of our house space, I have been trying to sell some of the games on BGG and on ebay, with a slight amount of luck. It’s hard for me, though, to give up any of these lovely games. A little thing called loss aversion.

Aileen presented me with a challenge: let’s play all the games we never play, and anything we don’t like or don’t even want to play is a game we can get rid of.

We started the challenge yesterday, with three games in the “abstract” category – meaning they are just about logic with no theme like building a civilization or crafting things or something like that.

First we played the delightful Ingenious by the legendary Reiner Knizia. It’s all about placing your dominoes-like tiles next to similar colors to score the most possible points – but the trick is your final score is the lowest you have among all colors, so you can’t ignore any color.

Next we tried this game we have never played before called Da Vinci’s Challenge, a two-player game where you make a variety of patterns using just two types of pieces. The real challenge is noticing the patterns when they happen, because if you miss them there’s no takesies-backsies to score them on a later turn.

This game was a thrift store find. We get a lot of our games that way, which is kind of how we got into this mess in the first place.

Our copy of Da Vinci’s Challange had one already filled in score sheet –>

Looks like the kids crushed Dad pretty good, though we had to wonder if Dad was playing nice.

We finished the day’s gaming with a classic abstract called Qwirkle, where you play rows of tiles that either match in color or in shape.

Aileen says we get to count the games we already played this year, and I started a spreadsheet to keep track of them.

Yeah, it’s like that.

Looking forward to playing more games in this challenge mode, since there will be lots of games we don’t usually play, and many that we have never played (never played games are called the “shelf of shame” in our community).

Stay tuned for more board gaming posts this year, though I promise there won’t be one for every single game we play.

That would just be crazy.