Unemployment Update: Employed (Well, temporarily)

Hi remember me? I know it's been, oh five months since last we spoke, but here we are. Finally full of news. I have a three month, part time job, that pays me in the three days that I work the same amount I would make for two weeks at my old, full-time salaried job. No benefits, of course, but I'm still on COBRA, so that's okay for now.

It's been weird getting my reporter feet back under me. I work for a news organization which will remain nameless but shares the same initials as the grocery store chain that was really popular in my childhood and also all those exams we took in high school so that we could skip intro courses in college.

I'd tell you more about the job, but then I'd have to kill you. Plus, I'm still getting my blogger feet back under me.

Ok, so NOT employed

I wound up turning down that job, but between moving and my mom being in the hospital, I haven't really had time to write about it. Maybe next week? Stay tuned.

Employed (and not too happy about it)

I have a job. I got a call this morning — it woke me up, actually — offering me the job and I've been crying about it ever since. I can be emotional at odd times. I cannot, for the life of me, cry at a funeral. Then randomly, at the wedding of a complete stranger, tears. Also, annoyingly, I cry when I'm super pissed off. But that is neither here nor there.

I'm heartbroken because choosing this job means I have to give up my relationship of five months. Five months — just long enough to really like someone, start to get comfortable with them, accept their annoying habits and focus on the positive attributes, start to depend on their company, etc. NOT long enough to fall in love and move to a new city with them because THEY got a job in Charlotte, N.C. Charlotte, N.C. — just far enough away NOT to be able to drive there for a weekend visit, just close enough to feel like you should be able to. I wish Amtrack and JetBlue did Frequent Buyer Cards, like coffee shops do: Buy 9 trips, get the 10th for free.

Five months is long enough to spend an entire day agonizing over the decision on what to do until your brother sends you a text message that says, "What are you? Stupid? You can't give up a job just to move to a city with a guy. What if you break up in a month? Then you have no job and no boyfriend." So I called up the HR person and accepted the job to her voicemail. Then I hung up and started crying again. I pretty sure I'm not in love, but I can't tell any more.

He said, "Everything just feels like bad timing." And I couldn't agree more.

The Job Interview

I'm not sure what it is about New York City and the marathon job interview, but I'm getting a little tired of it.

Granted, this is only my second NYC job interview, and it was nowhere near as bad as the first, but still, am I crazy to think that if you have someone in for an interview you should warn them that it make take many, many hours and that there will be no lunch break, so bring a snack or eat a hearty and late breakfast?

The job interview on Monday lasted from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The first 30-45 minutes was paperwork, which I did not know I'd be filling out, so I had none of the information like previous addresses or starting and ending salaries with me. Then I interviewed with the HR person/recruiter, followed by the director of the communications department. After that, back down stairs to take three writing sample tests (newsletter, flier, letter) and the much more rigorous Microsoft proficiency tests. There was a Word test (fine, I use Word all the time), Excel test (less fine...I only know how to manipulate data, not how to do any of the formulas) and Power Point (what the hell?!!! when do you use Power Point at newspapers!). Each of these tests had 55 questions. I was worn out by the time I got out of there. And hungry. And I needed to pee.

Since then I've heard nothing from them. And so I was just writing the job off, when I got an e-mail this afternoon from my former managing editor who told me the HR Recruiter Lady had called (he's one of my references) and he'd given a rave review of me. It also turned out they had called my immediate supervisor, though he didn't recognize the number and so didn't answer the phone. He called back, but they'd already left for the day, so he expects to talk to them tomorrow.

So now it looks like maybe I will get this job (three weeks of vacation! free healthcare! - though, not sure about the salary yet). Anyway, place your bets now. Will they offer me the job? And if so, will it be before I actually drive ALL my stuff to Mississippi, or before? My money is on Wednesday, as I'm pulling into the driveway of my brother's house.

Bad good luck

I leave tomorrow, returning to New York (via Charlotte) in order to move. I have reserved the U-Haul, had a few minor repairs and maintenance done to the truck, collected packing supplies. So, of course, first thing this morning I get a call about a job. Now I have an interview set up for 11 a.m. Monday for a job in New York City. So, what will happen is this. I will interview, they will love me, but they will wait until I've driven a U-Haul full of my crap all the way to Jackson, Mississippi, before calling to offer me the job. Then I'll have to turn around and go back to New York and find a new place to live. Even when I have good luck, I have bad luck.

In the meantime I haven't heard from the other job I interviewed for in Chicago. The more time that passes, the more I'm sure I didn't get the job. Am I so far out of the loop that I don't even know when an interview has gone well?