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Have I mentioned that I hate Job Hunting? I thought so. But you know what, I probably shouldn't. I mean, for me, historically, it hasn't been the royal pain that it could have been. My first job after I left home (I didn't have to work while I was in high school) was in Odessa, Texas. The area was in a boom, and jobs were EVERYwhere. Anyone that could was working in the oilfields making great money, so Sears and other retail places were more than happy to pay well for someone that could speak English well and count back change. It wasn't so much "Why should we hire you?" as it was "When can you start?" When the boom crashed, my husband couldn't find a job to save his life-- Welders were working in McDonalds trying to make the payments on their welding rigs and trailer homes. Although I still had my job, it wasn't going to take me anywhere I wanted to go. So we then moved to Dallas to go to college. College jobs weren't hard to find for me either.. I don't remember having any trouble at all. I was an experienced cashier willing to work retail hours. The story wasn't quite the same for my husband, but that's another story-- let's not go there right now. When I left college, I got the First job I interviewed for. At Wang Laboratories, doing phone support for PCs. I stayed there for 7 years, until they closed the center. When they announced the closing, in my initial panic I sent out a wave of resumes. Then I realized the severance package was generous enough that I could take maybe a week off to relax-- but it was too late. I got an interview with that first wave of resumes and they gave me an offer I really liked-- more money, doing non-phone support on Non Wang ;-) products. I had to start on the exact day I left Wang. I went to the goodbye-luncheon, changed into a suit and went to work at Mobil. Again, I got the first job I interviewed for. Go figure. I only left Mobil when I got the offer from Microsoft; so I wasn't even looking then. I stayed at Microsoft until severe burnout and management conflict made me feel like I was being forced to choose between being a good Microsoftie or a good Mommy. That was a no-brainer, but the decision was not without pain. I took the summer off, stayed 'off' through the fall, then figured the pre-Y2K holidays were a wash. I still had money, so I started looking for a job 'full time' only when my daughter's school holidays were over. By that time I was ready to go back to work; I was full-time BORED. So, here it's the end of January, and while I got scared at first because No one seemed to be jumping at the chance to even talk to me, things warmed up eventually. Maybe I didn't get the first job I interviewed for, but considering I've been off for more than six months, I never expected to. I just got notice of intent to offer on the first job I actually wanted to get, so maybe that counts! So, for something I hate, I guess I'm not really that bad at it, although I have no 'finesse'. I hear about people that get to choose between several offers, and that boggles my mind; I've never had that experience; and I'm BAD at the negociating part... :-( I'll be absolutely joyful if I like this job as much as Bob likes his, or Cheryl likes her new studies. It's got potential; it's enough in my comfort zone where I know I can start contributing right away, and enough out of my comfort zone that I will be able to stretch myself and grow. There's also some good career paths available, whereas at Microsoft, nearly all roads lead to Redmond. :) So, wish me luck. Oh, wait; didn't I say that already? ;-D Hugz Songbyrd |
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