The last time I was in an all out hunt for a full-time job, it took 4 months. And I got the job that I held for the last 5 and a half years. Which let's be honest . . . I've said some vague things about, and my readers have gotten the impression I didn't like much. A lot of my readers know me personally, and have for awhile, so that's not a pure view. A lot of them knew, outside of evidence in this blog, I was unsure this was a good job for me, and had been for some time.
I wasn't thrilled with some of the things I had been asked to do, but I still felt I was doing something worthwhile. I put it this way to one friend," I didn't hate what I was doing, but I was unhappy with some of the situations doing it had put me in." In this blog what I said specifically was something along the lines of realizing I had probably outgrown the job. What I said less than specifically was that I had concerns about the lifestyle the expectations of the job was creating. and how I passively accepted things like not eating dinner until 9pm or working out at 10pm.
But it wasn't always like that, and even when it was, I learned a lot from that job. While not all of my almost 6 years in that job were contented ones, there were happy years, and times I felt very fulfilled by what I was doing. And even if that weren't as true as it is, that job was still a decent place to start my career after leaving grad school.
So, finding myself suddenly without that job means an all out search for the next step in my career. And not just an online search, but a networking search. And not just a job search, but some real soul searching in terms of what I most want out of my next job.
One of the things I really want is a job that I'm in for longer than 5 years. I want some stability. Which isn't to say I want to do the same job, day-in and day-out for 10 years. But I would adore being hired somewhere here that wanted to keep me, challenge me, and advance me for awhile.
That being said, if it took me 4 months to find the job that lasted me for almost 6 years (and kept me happy and challenged in a good way for about 3 of those) I probably need at least half again that time to find the job that will do me one better. Six months sounds like a reasonable time frame. That seems logical. And yet, some part of me never truly pictured myself entering my 4th week of unemployment. I didn't paint that illustration in my head when I was spinning the story of my job search.
Which is really silly. I can't expect what happened as the result of 4 months of searching to happen in 3 weeks now. And I certainly can't expect a BETTER job to come of 3 weeks of searching.
The problem is, I don't have 6 months, or 8 months, or 4 months, or whatever the reasonable time frame would be. I have maybe another 2 months before things get so difficult that I would lose the ability to make them better by moving in to someone's basement (or, really, the guest room that is waiting graciously for me on the East Coast). I need to believe that because I know more now about job hunting, and because I am working really hard to accept help and support that I can get this job done faster than the 4 months it took me in spring of 2006.
I need to believe that then, I was still teaching as a full-time grad student, and thus, job hunting only about 5-10 hours a week. I need to believe I'm working harder and smarter now. I need to believe that it matters that I have a stronger personal and professional network now. I really need to believe that the fact that it's been 3 weeks, and I've had 3 interviews in that time is a reason to think that in another 3 weeks, or another 6 weeks, I'll have the RIGHT interview for the RIGHT position and get a job! Those are the things I very much need to cling to today.
It's nice to hear from friends that I am smart, savvy, capable, and will "be all right," or, "will definitely get something." It's even nicer to hear from a recruiter that "qualified applicants like you don't stay on the market for long." But what would be best of all to hear is, "You're hired (with amazing benefits)!"
But I also know this is a numbers game. And the numbers on the clock may be working against me in terms of racking up the number of jobs searched and applied for in time. I don't think this is the time to panic, but I am looking at my 3 weeks in and trying to get a clearer picture of the next 3 weeks.
It's hard to tell this from this post, maybe, but I'm not depressed today. (you can tell because the dishes and laundry are done, I'm out of my pajamas, my condo is uber-clean and I'm making a to-do list that I am excited about. Ok. So you can't tell by that, but I can) Today I have 3 offers of part time work on the table. Today I have a possible calls back from 2 different project coordinator positions, which, while not perfect fits, would mean I could keep a roof over my head for some time. Today I have a bunch of other jobs to apply to that could be perfect fits. So, today I'm optimistic. But I am also trying to frame that optimism in realism as well. Because that, as much as the bank account, will keep me going for the next 3 weeks.
No comments:
Post a Comment