Here we go again

Sometimes, life gets bumpy. Boyfriend's company has hit some snags due to economics and politics. The result: he was laid off...indefinitely. Yeah, it sucks.

The implications of this include that we'll likely have to break our lease and find a new place to live. Without jobs, that may mean a move back to the parents' houses. Not ideal but it's better than a refrigerator box under the overpass. Both sets of parents have offered assistance but both are also retired. Moving is a headache. We're hoping that we'll at least be moving to a city where we have jobs waiting but the economy may not allow that.

On the upside, I can expand my job search from New City. This opens the door to some new possibilities that did not really exist in New City. It also makes it more difficult because the geographic constrictions are gone. Yes, Boyfriend still needs to finish the rest of his residency. However, this experience has taught us that we need to find jobs first and then work toward living near each other. If it happens this time around great, if not, we'll deal with that.

I'm now expanding the hunt to all of the Midwest + Washington, DC/Maryland. Still looking for research administration or data analyst jobs in the Midwest. However, there are several possibilities in DC/MD that appeal. I'm not a fan of big cities but if that's where the jobs are, I'll find a way to make it work.

There is also the possibility of a job at GradU. It's in the overarching grad school administration, not affiliated with my old department. The idea of such a job is appealing as it does not require me to deal with my old faculty necessarily while still living a city I'm very comfortable in.

We're trying to stay upbeat. Really. We have a chance of moving to a part of the country where we fit in better - where we can both get jobs. So, here we go again. Expanded job hunt. Building new networks. Another move.

New Roads, Old Blocks

About mid-December of last year, I took a hiatus from applying for jobs. At the time, due to several unfortunate incidences, I was working full-time for Boyfriend's company. It wasn't great money but it was enough to get by. Since then, the hours have dropped to nothing. Obviously, this is not good for our financial health but we're still (mostly) afloat.

So, I've been taking the time to wander new roads for careers, rather than just applying to anything that sounds promising. Research administration and learning consultant jobs have some appeal. They use many of the skills I have and nearly all ask for a minimum of a masters, if not for a Ph.D. outright. They also ask for experience in education and/or research. I'm a little more optimistic about these leads.

Boyfriend and I have also connected with the local alumni chapter. At various points, we've both gone to GradU. The head of the alumni group has offered to circulate my resumé, like they have for several other alums. I'm working on revamping my resumé to include my research more centrally and to write a cover email that explains the kind of position I'm looking for.

I'm networking and focusing and hoping something comes from this. Of course, this may all be for naught...but that's another tale I'll tell if it comes to be.
-------------------------
On an utterly unrelated note, I'm working on a new fitness routine. It's all body weight exercises, not just lifting free weights. My goals are to be able to do an unassisted pull-up and multiple legitimate push-ups. It'll take awhile. I can barely lift half my body weight.

I'm also trying to start running again. This is easier said than done as I get really bad shin splints after about 50 ft of running. I recently used some of my limited tax refund to pay for new running shoes. The store I got them at has customers run on a treadmill and they videotape your lower legs and feet so you can see how you're hitting the ground. I pronate something fierce which is, apparently, not good. So I have new shoes that should help with the shin splints and I'll stick to running on trails, not sidewalks, for awhile.

So the plan is to keep looking for work, focusing on research admin and consulting jobs, and to take care of myself. Here's to keeping on keeping on.

Radical Shifts

For those who missed it, I have been working as a part-time administrative assistant. One thing I have learned from this job is that I cannot sit at a desk for extended lengths of time. Literally, if I don't need to be at the computer or the phone, I'm walking around or pacing or moving somehow. Trying to stay sitting just results in my shifting in my chair a lot or spinning around or moving folders from one side of the desk to the other. I think I used up all of my ability to sit still in grad school.

And no, it's not the result of too much coffee. I've tested that hypothesis already.

This puts a wrinkle in my job hunting plans. I have been looking for administrative or data analyst jobs. Jobs that would go well with those transferable skills one picks up in academia. The problem is, well, you have to be able to sit for a long time in those jobs. They're desk jobs. Since I seem unable to do this, a change in job hunting strategies is needed.

Now, I'm shying away from straight up desk jobs. I only apply to jobs that ask for at least a "Masters degree preferred." The description needs to include a large variety of tasks that seem an unlikely find in any schmo off the street. Of course, those types of jobs tend to be higher up on the corporate food chain and require experience in a specific field that I don't generally possess. This will be interesting. At least I have a lot of experience in project management, public speaking, teamwork, networking, and managing people (classes in academic-ese).

I've also taking to working out more. The apartment complex has a decent gym. The upshot of being underemployed is that I can use that gym during the day when everyone else is at work. I managed to do 4 legitimate push-ups today. Not "girl" push-ups or push-up variations. Actual push-ups. Not bad for someone still recovering from dissertating chub-up. I think I'll work to being able to do a pull-up next. Or running a 5k. I haven't decided yet. Working out has given me a lot more energy of late (probably part of that whole unable to sit down problem). Maybe I'll take up kick-boxing again. Who knows? Hope y'all out there Blog World have found a few utterly non-work related goals on your recovery path.

Special kudos to Currer whose recent post gave me the inspiration to finish this one. Good luck with your Coach!

Not Dead Yet

It's been a bit so I thought I'd throw in an update.

I'm still working for BF's company. I still like the people and my boss. It's their slow time of year now, so I'm not working much. I think I'm going to get a grand total of 14 hours on this paycheck. It sucks a bit but it's more money then we had before.

The end of the year is the company's busy time and there were some personnel issues, so I was working nearly everyday. I was getting used to it. I was feeling like a could fit in and make a life here. The paychecks were nice. The job wasn't ideal but there was some hope there. And then it hit the slow time and things, well, went to what they were originally meant to be and the reality of that was a bit harsher than I was expecting.

Dealing with being replaceable has been rough. Dealing with rapidly changing company policy that makes even my little job unnecessary has been rough. But the biggest issue, by far, has been working with someone who doesn't share my work ethic. There are few things more demoralizing while looking for a full time job than working with someone who doesn't appreciate theirs. I'll admit, it gave me a mental breakdown. I can't get an interview...ze's angling for a promotion.

I have to give a shout out to my BF on that last one. He came home to that after working a long day and still went out of his way to cheer me up and remind me to have a little faith. He found good opportunities, they just took awhile. I'll find some of my own eventually too. It's just easier to have faith some days over others. Yup, BF is all kinds of awesome sauce!

----------------------------

On an unrelated note, I'm working on a couple posts. One is about a radical change in my thinking about what type of job I would like. Hopefully I'll get that one out soon. Yeah, I know, I'm being a tease.

New job updates

Well, this was the end of week three of my new job. Essentially, I'm a receptionist. I answer phones and schedule people for appointments and deal with paperwork. I'm only part-time and a "fill-in". I just keep things afloat while the normal folks are out vacationing, taking care of sick relations, etc.

It's not the most exciting job by any stretch. I am bored most of the time and have little way to change that at this point. And I am using very few of the skills I acquired in academia. It's hardly a dream job. However, it pays the bills and gets me out of the apartment.

So, some random points:

• The people I work with are pretty awesome. They are all intelligent, funny, generally happy people. The clients who come through the office are usually upbeat happy folks. It's generally a cheery place to work and a good remedy for those days when I find myself in a funk.


• My boss is actually also pretty awesome, what little I've seen of him. He does share some of my old advisor's better qualities, which makes me a bit nostalgic and sad for what might have been. Everyone was telling me dire stories of Boss's temper and indecisive OCD quirks. Gotta say, having run into him a couple of times, I don't get the issue. Maybe they should all meet my old advisor and then Boss wouldn't seem so distressing to them. They all say he's actually a really good guy and a great boss for the most part. I could tell you stories about him but it would make you feel bad about all the things you haven't accomplished in your life and what a rotten person you are. Yeah, he was one of those annoyingly talented do-gooders.


• Boyfriend has been acting a bit odd about the whole new job thing. Some days he's fine with it. Some days, he pushes for me to keep looking for a better job (I'm currently taking a break from all the rejection). Some days he inadvertently makes me feel like a failure and like I'm horning in on his territory. It's this last one that's problematic. Our specialties relate to each other, if not outright overlap. He was hired to be head of research for the company, eventually. They want to do research on Chewy things. Well, my research for the past several years was on Chewy things - Boyfriend's was on Gooey things (a related discipline). So I have the expertise they want while his is only related. This discrepancy is something Boyfriend and I keep to ourselves but I think he is worried I might highjack the position he was hired for. That's not something I want. This is ultimately going to be very awkward.


• Nearly everyone in the company is a conservative Republican Catholic. I am nearly as far in the opposite direction of all those modifiers as I can get and still be considered mostly sane. It has been interesting. I try to avoid discussions of politics or religion and find common ground where possible.

All in all, it's not a bad temporary landing space. If I could find something of value to offer Boss that would justify a full-time gig and a raise, I think I'd be happy to work here long-term. Stay-tuned for updates.

Good News: Going from UNemployed to UNDERemployed

I'll be honest, the writing isn't going as well as I hoped. I'm having that same problem I had writing my diss: I need to know everything before I write it but once I know everything, I know how it ends and don't feel like writing it any more. I'm just hanging on to Chuck Wendig's advice to writers: "Finish your shit."

On to more interesting news. I have an offer for a part time job. It's a part-time, as-needed admin gig for Boyfriend's company. There are no benefits but the pay is the same as my GradU paid for anatomy TAs, which is noticeably above minimum wage. If I can get an average of 3 days of work a week, I'll be able to pay the bills. Not ideal but it gives me a chance to make some money and prove that I can work outside academia and have useful skills.

For those wondering how this happened, given my utter lack of interviews, here's the story. Boyfriend (BF) invited me to his interview with the owner of the company (owner okay'd this). I haven't seen Owner since but I guess I made a good impression. A few weeks back, BF and Owner were traveling between job sites and my lack of luck in finding employment came up. Owner mentioned that they needed a fill-in admin to cover for people who were sick, on vacation, etc. BF mentioned this possibility to me. I sent an email to Owner that I was interested. HR person suggested I shadow one of the admins to see if it was something I'd be willing to do. I was but did the shadowing thing anyway. It went well, so I said I'd be willing to do the job. I start training tomorrow. No application. No resume. No cover letter. Just network of people.

Side note: the shadowing day also gave me the dubious opportunity to discover that most of my pants do not fit. I can get them over my rather generous derriere and even button them. However, I max out the stretch around my thighs - not a very professional look (though I suppose that depends on one's profession). This led me to two realizations: 1) skirts are much more forgiving on thighs and I'm thankful I own several and 2) pants meant for skinny 20-somethings need to give way to adult clothes for women with curves at some point. In my case, that point was clearly about two months ago. On the upside, those curves look damn good in a pencil skirt. Makes me glad I bought all those business clothes when I was in academia - may have overdressed then, look pretty darn good now. See, the universe can be forgiving of your fashion choices.

I'll post an update about this new life soon. Good luck to y'all in your job hunting and turkey day prepping (would that be a food channel version of "Doomsday Preppers"?).

I am not my degree & NaNoWriMo begins

I got my degree in the mail yesterday. The actual piece of paper. It was in a giant cardboard envelope. I made a crack about the size of the degree being equivalent to how much it costs. I didn't open the envelope though. Not right away. It sat in its giant cardboard envelope on the chair in my work room, surrounded by necklace pendants and buttons for a steampunk costume I still need to finish. I left it there. In the dark. All day.

The day before, we had gotten a notice in the mailbox that there was a package for us at the apartment office. So yesterday, I went to pick it up while he was out. It was the giant cardboard envelope from GradU. I knew what it was. I didn't need to open it to be sure and I completely forgot about it until Boyfriend came home. He asked about the package. Then he was kind of surprised I hadn't opened it yet.

Let me offer some explanation why that envelope sat in the dark. I am not proud of my degree. I don't go around asking people to call me "Doctor." I actually avoid putting that suffix into my applications (it is on my resume). I am happy I finished. I don't regret doing it. However, it was just a thing I did, not who I am.

Yes, I know not everyone can do it (though I think more can than actually do) and that it is an accomplishment. But that's all it is. It's a thing I did. I know for people who stay in the Ivory Tower, this degree and the ensuing profession becomes a nearly all-consuming identity for them. And if that's what they want, kudos to them.

It's not me. It wasn't when I was in grad school. I remember other things I did before going to grad school. I remembered I wasn't always in grad school. That I was more than my education. It's helped on this transition out of academia.

The aggravating thing is, I think that's all people see in my resume. They see my degree and assume that I am only my degree, and whatever stereotype they have attached to that identity. I know the psychology behind this - that it's kind of a short-hand our brains do so that we can function at the pace of society. That doesn't make it any less annoying. For that matter, I know the degree intimidates people. If my degree intimidates you, I don't want to work for you. People should never fear a piece of paper or three letters.

So where does that leave me in the job hunting process? I've narrowed down the types of positions I'm applying for. I can't get traction on admin jobs around here. There's too many people with the specific experience they want around here. I'm focusing on data analyst jobs. These are usually considered management positions where you help the company figure out how it's doing and how to be more efficient. I seem to be having slightly better luck with these, or at least more interesting rejection letters.

Also, it is November and National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short. So, I'm focusing on getting a novel written in my down time. The premise of this particular story (yeah, I've got a few percolating) is that the crazy people take over the government and convince people that they can prove there is a grand plan to the universe and that they can tell when you've served your part in that plan. It's a dystopic novel where religious views are used as a political weapon to get rid of the unwanted and political enemies. Once you're declared "Irrelevant" by the government, you get chucked into a Reserve where you're cut off from all government support and the ones you love. The main character gets thrown in since she cannot find a job and is unmarried. She loses everything and all her accomplishments mean nothing in the Reserve and she has to decide what to do next. [For some background: the Reserve has been operating for a few years at this point. People who came before her have created new economies, new cities, and new towns. New societies have sprung up there. Old friends and enemies are here. She is not alone. Oh, and the government is considering euthanizing these people to free up resources for "Relevant" people.]

Out of curiosity, what would you do if you lost it all and were thrown into the Reserve? What would you pay for whatever dreams you have left? Would you find something new to fight for?