Discouraged

I'm beginning to feel like I'm never going to find a new job. I'm so discouraged.

On my birthday last month I found a job opening online that would have been ideal for me. A job that I'm uniquely qualified for, a job with good pay and benefits, and most importantly, a job I think I would love. Seeing the opening on my birthday felt like a sign. I was convinced this was it.

So I went back over my resume, making sure everything that made me the perfect person for the position was mentioned. I wrote a very nice cover letter to go with it. I even wrote an email to the person who would be in charge of the hiring process, introducing myself and asking for an interview. After submitting everything I called around to some of my contacts (I have a lot of great contacts in this community) and discovered that a woman in my book club volunteers at this place. I reached out to her and told her about the position I was applying for so she could put in a good word for me. In short, I did everything I could think of to try to get a foot in the door. Then I waited.

And waited.

And........nothing. Not an email, not a call, nothing.

Which is just par for the course. I've applied for three jobs with the state (at DHEC and DHHS) over the last couple of months and haven't heard anything back from them, either. Then there was the job as a secretary at one of the high schools I applied for and got really hopeful about....because they checked my references...but then I didn't hear anything else until I found out through a friend that they had filled the position. I never even got an interview. Why they bothered to contact my references is a mystery to me. Every day, I check the online job postings, and there's rarely anything worth applying for. On the rare occasion that something seems promising, I do whatever I can think of to get noticed, but it's just not happening.

I'm so unhappy at my current job (anyone who's been reading here for any length of time knows that already, and I apologize for sounding like a broken record) and I've been searching for something better for so long, that I'm getting depressed about it all. Everything is great when I'm off work, but whenever I'm about to go in (like tonight) the dread settles over me like a dark cloud. 

The only thing I need to make my life completely happy is a new and better job. Everything else is great, and I'm grateful for all the good stuff in my life, but I'm so ready to have this job search behind me.

The search continues....

Well, it's almost the end of July and my quest for a new job continues. I'm currently trying my hardest to get one of two open positions with a neighboring county's school district. I have a friend who teaches at the middle school there who has been doing her best to help me. A position at her school has opened up for a Student Data Manager, and a position at the district office has opened for a Secretary of Communications. She's been emailing and texting the principal at her school about me (school is out for the summer otherwise she'd talk to him in person) and she's writing a letter of recommendation for me for both jobs. It's so nice of her to go to all the trouble, and even though it pays much less, I think I'd prefer the position at her school to the one at the district office. If I get it my office will be two doors down from her classroom, and it will be nice to have a friendly face nearby!

Applying for these positions has been a real pain. The district requires you to jump through several hoops to apply for any position. I've had to:

*fill out and deliver a three page district application to get the ball rolling

*acquire a copy of my college transcript and deliver that as well

*take a typing test at our local unemployment office and fax the results in (I discovered I'm able to type 58 wpm with 100% accuracy!)

*fax in copies of my social security card and driver's license (so they can do a background screening and make sure I'm not a pedophile.)

*print out three copies of a professional reference form, sign off on them that I waive my right to review what my references say about me, and deliver them to said references for filling out and mailing in.

*email in separate letters of interest for each position I'm applying for

That's quite a list, isn't it? That's why I've been too busy to blog much this month. Between doing all that, and continuing to look through other job openings, and **meeting with the two book clubs I've recently joined, I've had very little time to sit down and write. I hope all this hard work pays off soon with a new job!

**I've read a whole lot of great books recently. One of these days soon I'm going to write some reviews of the best ones. And I can't wait to tell you all about the two books clubs I'm in. They're so much fun!

Still around!

I quick hi and an update before I dash off to work this afternoon.

I interviewed for the job I mentioned in my last post, and although the interview went well and I was offered the job, I turned it down.

The funding for my potential salary would come from a grant that must be renewed every third year. It has one year left before it must be renewed again, and the last time they cut the salary and hours some, so who knows if--and for how much money--it would be renewed next time. I'm looking for a more stable situation than that.

Another reason I declined the offer was my potential new boss. She gave the interview, and I saw right away there would be problems. She kept fishing to find out what church I might attend, for one thing. That made me extremely uncomfortable. After the second "hint" I dodged, she admitted religion is a personal topic, but said that I could "recruit volunteers from among your church family" so that's why she was bringing it up. Sheesh.  Surely she knows that it's illegal to ask questions about religious affiliations in a job interview...but we're overrun with evangelical Baptists around here and there would be no consequences for her if anyone were offended enough to report it. I'm used to this sort of thing, sadly. Another thing-- Ms. Church Lady Executive Director kept receiving (and sending!) text messages during the interview! Unbelievable.

So the job search is back on. I'm disappointed, but imagine I will have to sit through a few more interviews before the right job appears.

Meanwhile, the whole world outside my window is exploding with soft Easter-egg colors. A thousand shades of green, as well as purple, pink, yellow, white mark the arrival of full-on, wonderful spring. I'm enjoying every minute of being outdoors right now!

October is here!

I love the month of October! Now it really, really feels like fall here in the Carolinas. Trees are sporting real autumn colors. The annual pumpkin sale at the church down the road has commenced. Our nightly walks with Ginger now require a light jacket or hoodie. And best of all, Halloween is on the way!

Several of our neighbors have already decorated their houses and yards for Halloween (or, in the case of older, more staid and/or religious folks, Autumn). I am excited to report that there are several new young families in our neighborhood, and this should mean a good turn out for trick or treating! I've got some special crafty treats planned for handing out, as well as ideas for jack o lanterns and other front step adornments to delight the kiddos. Here are some pictures from previous holidays (I'll be using some of the same decorations this year).

 

 

 

In other news as October opens, the dog I went to see at the shelter was no longer available when I got there. He's going to a rescue up in Washington, DC where a nice foster home is waiting for him. He was chosen for the program the day before I went to see him, so it just wasn't meant to be, I suppose. We're still deciding whether a second dog is a good idea anyway, so it's just as well for now.

The job search has stalled. It's going nowhere. I've looked hard for two months, and only one job has even been worth applying for. I had hoped to be giving notice by the beginning of October, but that is not meant to be either. I'll be taking a week off later this month with vacation days I'd been saving up to use for job interviews. A week off at the end of the month will be glorious...and not a bad consolation prize for the lack of interviews I had hoped to be having. And it will give me some time to do last minute crafty stuff for Halloween, too!

I'm excited October is here!