This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Maggie Bodner, a 28-year-old employee at Spirit Halloween, based in the Fort Lauderdale area. Her identity and employment have been verified by Business Insider. This story has been edited for length and clarity.
I was laid off in June and started to apply for jobs like crazy.
When people say the job market is tough, the job market is tough. It’s especially challenging if you do something really specific, like learning and development. It’s just rejection email after rejection email, and some of them come in an hour after I applied.
In July, my boyfriend asked me if there was anything I’ve ever really wanted to do. After thinking about it, I realized I wanted to work at Spirit Halloween. I love shopping at Spirit Halloween and I’m there three or four times a week when it’s open.
Sure enough, there was a Spirit Halloween opening right around the corner from me so I applied to the assistant manager position and sales associate position. Three weeks after I applied, I heard from the store manager and went in for an interview. They were still setting up the store and I felt so happy to see it being built.
I heard back a few days after the interview and got the job.
The job provides me with much needed fun
My love for Halloween started with Twilight. I have a Twilight tattoo and Halloween was always a time where I could dress up as a vampire. I love being scared. I’m a big fan of Halloween horror nights, haunted houses, and ghost tours.
I volunteered to work 10 hours in one day, and I came home feeling energized and excited. I enjoy working with the sales associates and my store manager is a great teacher. We have an in-store-experience, which is a haunted house, so people also come in with their kids. The other day, a kid put on a turtle shell costume, got on the ground, and charged at me to scare me. It was really funny and sweet.
Sometimes we have a line of customers waiting outside the door. I was an enthusiast, but I didn’t know that people wait outside for the store to open. Some people come in every day because we always put new stuff on the floor.
Spirit hires people who love Halloween. Plus, the Halloween benefits are great. I get 30% off of all my merch, and I can’t tell you how much I’ve gotten already.
I’m still applying to jobs
I’ve always been an empathetic person, but I think this gave me a little more empathy for people going through layoffs. I used to see posts on LinkedIn of people saying “it’s been a year since I’ve been laid off,” and I would think “how could it be a year?” But now that I’m in it, it makes sense.
Two of my colleagues are in high school and working part-time. One of them asked me, “How could you get laid off if you’re valuable?” I told him, “You’d be really surprised.” The comment itself didn’t shock me, but it opened my eyes to the fact that people who haven’t experienced a layoff truly don’t understand that it can happen to anyone, no matter how valuable you are.
I’m still applying to jobs, but I want to ride this experience out, even if I get another opportunity.
The hours at Spirit get later as it gets closer to Halloween so if I get another opportunity, I would try to change my shift so that I could keep working here for the season.
It’s much needed fun during a very stressful time. My biggest takeaway would be that if you find yourself laid off, instead of worrying yourself with the big picture, focus on the moment and find something you truly enjoy doing.
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