Constructive Criticism: Helpful or Hindering?

With each job I apply for, I come across various types of "constructive criticisms". When I show employed friends my cover letters, like my friend Elizabeth, I am pointed in the right direction as to how I should go about employing my virtues as well as providing reasons as to why I am the most competent of possible peoples vying for the position. Always with a gentle nudge and some encouraging words. Each pursuit I have socially or otherwise is done in the hope that it will at some point help land me a job (i.e. this blog) and many friends have inspired me to continue, all the while telling me what I could improve, but without the harshness that comes with jealousy.

When someone comes across with what they refer to as "constructive criticism" and is in turn, just criticizing without the added bonus of pointing out the pros as WELL as the cons, it's poor taste. How is one supposed to flourish as a possible writer when one is brought down a notch (and it's a short ladder, mind you. More like a stepping stool...) by someone who works in politics and couldn't write his way out of a thin paper sack? This is not to say that the person is stupid, not by any means, but that they do not have the grounds to tell me that this here blog is "unimpressive" when I worked my ass off at a ridiculous school in a major that requires a heck of a lot of writing and good grades. Take that in your ballot and stuff it.

Many of you would wonder what this has to do with searching for jobs, the job market, or anything in general, but I make my point now. When someone has little regard for you insomuch as to tell you what you do is not good enough, or that they do not really believe in/support what you aspire to, its a jarring blow. The search for employment is one littered with regrets, demands and constant interviewing. One must have support to carry on. Instead, the card I've been dealt is a little man telling me that what I write has nothing to do with what I know, but what happened to me in the past. Isn't the past an expression of how we are in the present, and how we might act in the future? Just a thought.

It's a jungle out there, make sure to bring a machete...someone has to cut down people before they do it to you.