I Got A Job!!

Finally! It's been 21 months of un- or underemployment all together and over 100 job applications sent in. And now it's done!

I mentioned in my last post about a job at a local U that I thought was an inside job and had a weird interview. Whether it was an inside job or not, they offered me the job. It is a nonacademic position working for a nonprofit center that works with a lot of civil organizations.

So here's how the interview process went all together: I applied in October last year. I got a call for an interview in December. The interview was several hours long, most of it involved being given a case/project to do an abbreviated round of what I would be doing full time in the job. And then there was another wait of several weeks.

When they initially called to ask if I was still interested in the position, we talked a little about salary and I asked if they could get the salary higher. This was tricky since this position was offered to them by the university. Most of the positions there are grant-funded. They were able to raise the starting salary slightly. The position already came with my own office (don't know if it has a window but I think it does).

I'm not sure what the benefits package is in total. I know it comes with insurance. I'm seriously looking forward to dental insurance. You can't begin to imagine how much I miss the dentist! Down the road, I'm hoping I could get some flex time or be able to work from home, since it will be about an hour commute.

I'm looking forward to having income. There are all sorts of things I want to do that I've put on my wish list. If I tried them all at once, I would have no income for six months! Thankfully, I won't get paid until after I've worked a month (they only pay monthly). So I'll have time to figure out my schedule and figure out what all I can do with the non-working time I have before I actually have the funds to do anything.

One of the things being unemployed for so long has taught me is the need to diversify my income streams. I'm hoping to start a side business of data analytics consulting. The general wisdom is that it takes at least two years to get a livable income stream from a business like that. The position I've been offered is guaranteed for three years so, with a little luck, I'd have my own business by the time the money runs out.

So, there's an update and a bit of hope for other folks looking to make a plunge.