Unexpectedly, I found myself without a job. I did not despair over it, because in the long term I "did not see myself" in my former job and had some vision of my future. For several days, I looked for work unsuccessfully. I decided to go to the District Labour Office—not for benefits, but for a job and advice. In the nicely adapted interior, there were numerous young female clerks whose smiles contrasted all too strongly with the expressions on the applicants’ faces.
Happy that they had jobs... I filled in the form’s sections about my skills and expectations very carefully. The clerk did not even pay attention to them. I left somewhat embittered.
The job offers (in a display case) showed relatively high demand for workers in the automotive, economic and other sectors. I even saw an offer for myself, but my qualifications were too low. I went to a company that provided training. There I learned that the Labour Office could cover the cost of my training—approximately 10 million zlotys. I returned to the Office. A pleasant clerk told me that I had to bring a certificate from a company undertaking to employ me after the course. I visited several establishments, where I learned that none of them had issued or would issue such certificates. It was not particularly pleasant to beg for a certificate that practically committed them to nothing, since a lot could change after the two-month course. I went to the Labour Office for the third time. The clerk said that if I insisted very strongly, wrote an application and a résumé, and attached two photographs, I would be referred to the course immediately.
And that was how I found something to do for two months. But what about those who did not even receive a kind word at the Labour Office?