Friday, September 2, 2011

Day One - Unemployment - Again

Yesterday I once again joined the vast minority of the recently unemployed.

Technically speaking this time was not a shocker.  I had 30 days to get use to the idea and look for work, believe me that is just what I have been doing.  Still the 30 days were not enough to guarantee me a smooth transition into my next position. I don't want you to think that I am any way in a bad place.  I have numerous possibilities. Three recruiters are working to place me and in every case the placement would entail better compensation then the last place I worked at.

Still I find myself between jobs, again!  Since 2009 I have been between jobs 5 times. Oh the joys of working as a contract/consultant. You know what they call an unemployed Michigander?  A entrepreneur!

I thought this would be a good place to sort of count down to my next job.  Hence the title "Day One..".

So Chris What did you do on Day One?  Well I did not sleep in because I was suppose to have my first face to face interview. So I got up, showered and started to get ready. Just then the recruiter called to say that due to an emergency health issue, my interviewer was asking to postpone the interview to early next week.  What's a girl to say;  "NO I want one today!  Suck it up come in and hire me damn it!"  Probably not the way to open doors.  So instead I graciously agreed to a slight delay and proceeded with the remainder of my first day.

A little house cleaning, some errands (ie. shopping for stuff I really could not do without.), Yet another round of phone conversations with those three recruiters.  Pep talks and promises. A well deserved mid day nap and off to Beer and Bible with my son and friends.

What are my plans for Day Two?  More house cleaning - by the time I land a job I hope to have the cleanest house in town. Not likely since other people who live in my house keep insisting on living in my recently cleaned rooms.

I also have another interview scheduled for this afternoon.  This one is for the position with the lowest compensation of the batch, still it's higher then what I was last making. Might as well check it out. This dilemma brought up a brief discussion with my husband yesterday.  What if this place offers me a position first? Do I accept and then jump ship as soon as a better offer comes along? Hmm how much additional compensation do I  jump ship for?  I've never actually jumped ship for more money before.  I have moved to a better opportunity with higher pay conveniently as my current position was beginning to spiral to a close. But I've never actually jumped. Been pushed, gently nudged and on one occasion pulled over. 

Did spend some time thinking about career changes that would eliminate these pesky contract positions. Even applied for a job that is totally not what I've ever done before. The people involved were kind enough to not even acknowledge my inquiry.  Guess that was a clear message.  I've changed fields twice in my life and jobs countless times.  At this age I was planning on sliding into a retirement of sorts. As I never really planned on retiring, just moving into a full time job as an independent artist.  The kind of job that rarely if ever makes you much money before you die.  This way I could live on my 401K/IRA money and pension while having no boss. In 2009 HP fouled up my retirement plans with their expansion plans, here I sit two years later trying to recover.

Thing is I don't really want to change my plans.  I still want to be an artist when I grown up.  Just have to figure out how to make it till then and not tap out my existing benefits too early.

Guess I really covered days one and two here. Three will be another blog. See you then.