Well, in the last 48 hours, my life has changed quite drastically. It looks like we are reaching a conclusion to the eternal job search. I'm not going to mention specific company names as there are several situations that are still pending. It's a lot to keep up with, but it's a fun ride to hop aboard.
I was supposed to do a phone interview with School A, but I found out it had to be rescheduled to Wednesday. Another day of finishing homework.
I interviewed with School B on Tuesday in person. Now this is a good school on a local campus. It's a financial aid position and it's full time. The people in the office are a great group too. However, there are a couple of drawbacks. For instance, the hourly wage is a low range and even if I got the upper end of it, it would not be a great amount of money. The truth is it is a receptionist job within the office and I am overqualified for it. I felt okay about the interview process and I felt if they would offer me the position that I would accept it. But I knew they had more candidates to interview throughout the course of the week, so I couldn't feel too confident about it.
Later that afternoon, a temp agency called me. They asked if I could come in and meet with them to discuss my skills and see if there were any matches. So even if there wasn't a specific offer, it could lead to some possibilities.
So we come to Wednesday morning. I didn't wake up overly happy. I scoured the job sites and the college employment pages, looking for whatever I could find. That afternoon, I had a phone interview with School A. I have a manager who I used to work with who recommended me for a job at this school. I spoke with the employment manager, who was a really nice lady. She thought I might be suited for another position at School A. So we had Job A1 and Job A2. We talked about the first job, which is what my boss does. It's full time and I could develop a career doing it. I liked that I could get up to six weeks of travel, going to other campuses around the country and I would have my expenses covered. However, the more I thought about it, the less enamored I felt with it. For instance, I'd be working between 11-8 four days a week as well as every other Saturday. And the hourly wage wasn't phenomenal. So I felt better about A2, since it was less of a call center environment.
Fifteen minutes after hanging up with School A, I got a call from School C. They wanted to offer me a job. It's a very good school and I would be an FA representative, which is what I want to do. However, there are two issues. One, it's part time; I can only work 29 hours a week. But that's how companies avoid paying benefits. Two, for legal reasons related to the college, I can't start until March 23. That's six weeks with no pay. So I realized I would be wise to get a part time job in the interim. Even better, it would help if I could keep it a night job so I could do both jobs simultaneously. I promised the employment manager that I would call back with a response. I felt confident I would accept it, but I wanted to know more about what would happen with School A. After all, I wasn't looking for a part time job. But I'd take it if it could lead to a full time job.
Twenty minutes after that call ended, guess what. Another phone call! This was from a mortgage company that I had never heard of. The position was a research staff writer. I have no experience with the mortgage or banking industry. 40 hour week, 8-5, in Lake Zurich, which is about 40 minutes away from my house. We arranged for an interview on Friday morning. The pay is better than the other positions, but since it's such a stretch, I wonder if it's the right fit.
So all those phone calls happened in the span of 90 minutes! It was pretty crazy. Part of me was really happy, but I couldn't help but wonder why this didn't happen sooner! I decided I needed to call School A the next day, as well as look for some part time jobs to do until I could start at School C. I started considering coffee shops, grocery stores, and restaurants. I needed something that wouldn't take a while to learn and could also offer me flexible hours. After all, this job is just a supplement. I drove to a local grocery store and dropped off an application and planned a few other places to go on Thursday morning. Keep in mind, of course, that I had an appointment with the agency on Thursday afternoon.
Now we get to Thursday. I applied at three grocery stores, two retail shops, a restaurant, and a local restaurant. Some seemed promising, some not so much. During the course of the drive, I called School A. I told her about the other offer I had from School B and she felt it was best for me to accept it, especially if I preferred job A2 over A1. She gave me some new news, which was that they were looking towards some internal candidates to fill position A2. And the other factor when I calculated my wages for the year, the part time job at School C was only going to pay me about $200 less than Job A1. And that's working 10 fewer hours a week with a shorter commute. The only advantage of Job A1 was I would have benefits.
I felt best about the liquor store, but I decided to check Pizza place B. The owner greeted me at the door and immediately invited me to sit down. He then offered me a soft drink, which was really great. I sipped on iced tea and he came over and asked me a few questions. He asked everything from if I had transportation, to what I knew about the company, to if I hated any groups of people, to my favorite movie and music. I made sure to tell him I used to work at California Pizza Kitchen and I was an elite Yelp reviewer. After a 15 minute conversation, where he didn't even look at my application, I walked out of that pizzeria with a job.
I then immediately called School C and told them I would accept the position. I asked about what hours I was to work, so I could coordinate the two jobs if necessary. I don't have set hours yet, but the manager is willing to be flexible. The only catch is I must work one evening a week. At this point, since I have Alpha on Tuesday nights, I'm thinking I might try to keep it on Thursday nights. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. As it stands, I have six weeks to figure out the pizzeria before I have to scale back my hours.
But the story doesn't end there. I still have the mortgage interview on Friday morning. And then, I'm making lunch today, on Thursday afternoon. I get a call from an 815 area code. I know that's the south suburbs of Chicago. It's School D. They want to set up a phone interview with me for Monday. It's a full time job that can pay a little less, the same, or a little more than School C. I know I'd have to pay highway tolls to drive there. Of course, there is the possibility of benefits and it's also a financial aid job. Right now, I'm planning to explain that I have another offer, but it's part time. If they want me, then I'm going to need the highest end of the range. I really have nothing to lose by telling them that at this point.
So after 48 hours of insanity, here's what I'm thinking. I'm putting Schools A and B on the backburner. I can't imagine going with them now. As for the mortgage, it's kind of a wild card. I don't know if I'd accept it, unless it felt like a perfect fit in the interview tomorrow. I can only see this going two realistic ways. I take School C and the pizza combination or I will just take School D.
It's taken a long time to get to this point. Nine months of pain, rejection, and frustration. But the end is in sight. Better days are ahead.
