Getting a Job With a Voodoo Doll?
Expert: Magic mojo method not superstition so much as finding a way to cope.
March 4, 2010 — -- After a long stretch of unemployment in 2009, Mindy, an office manager, used a voodoo doll to try boosting her chances of getting hired.
Dee, a New York communications professional who was laid off last year, called an astrologer to gain some insight about when she would find work again.
And before heading off to interviews, Jill, a Seattle editor who's been job hunting for almost two years, tried mopping her kitchen with "Do As I Say" Bath and Floor Wash -- a cleaning product that promises to make "others obey your instructions, carry out your suggestions or change their minds to favor your plans."
None of these job seekers consider themselves superstitious or new-agey. But like baseball players in a slump who shave their arms, rub the bat handles of teammates on a hot streak or wear women's underwear beneath their uniform (remember Tim Robbins in "Bull Durham"?), they're willing to try anything to get back their mojo.
Jill, who normally doesn't throw salt over her shoulder or avoid black cats, said she's already tried all the conventional ways to find a job: networking her tail off, jumping on job leads the moment she gets them, tailoring her resume for each position and the like.
But after applying for hundreds of jobs and racking up more interviews than she can count, she decided embracing a bit of superstition just might break her losing streak.
Enter the magic floor wash. When that didn't work, Jill tried another tack: bargaining with a higher power.
"Call it deals with the devil, bargains with God, whatever you want," she said. "I'm trying to show the universe, the gods, whatever, that I'm willing to make this sacrifice. It can't hurt."
Her first sacrifice?
"I went out with an ugly guy for a month hoping it would change my juju," Jill said with a chuckle.
When it didn't, she gave up drinking in the hopes that it would encourage the employment gods to look kindly in her favor.
Forty days have passed, and so far, so good.
"I got contacted by three recruiters this week alone," Jill said.
