I don't want to, but I need to.

Now that The Kid has graced us with his snuggly self, I'm really stepping up my employment search. While I was pregnant, it was really hard to stay focused on a job search when I knew that my belly would distract people from the fact that I have a brain. I went on three interviews between Labor Day and the first week of last month. Haven't heard a peep from any of them. I did my due and sent my thank you notes and even followed up one with an email. They haven't had the courtesy of telling me to fuck off formally (or even informally), so I assume that I should let those go. Scott believes that I should call them and remind them about myself. It's been at least a month since all three interviews. I feel that if I wasn't a strong enough candidate during my interview to stay on their radar, then screw it - I'm not going to guilt-trip them into hiring me.

Part of me wants to believe that it really does take an average of five interviews to land a job, but the realist in me says that they didn't want to hire a pregnant woman. Period. They can't say I wasn't qualified (because I was) so I'd be interested to see what the rejection letters would look like.

Anyhoo. Over the past week or so I've been tossing my résumé around all over the place at anything remotely close to matching my skillset. Of course I have certain limitations concerning location and pay, but for the most part I've been pretty open to exploring companies I wouldn't otherwise persue. I know for certain that I don't want to work for another super-small business where I'll hit the career ceiling within six months, but I don't have a problem with working at a non-profit or the like if they're financially stable.

I actually went to a staffing agency today and spent three hours filling out stupid forms and taking assessment tests. It turns out that I know how to use Excel and Word! Whoopie! I explained very tactfully what I've been doing employment-wise since Labor Day (not a damn thing) and watched a safety video. If they can put me in something temporary so that I can placate my starving bank account, fine. The staffing manager called me a couple of hours after I left there to see if I were interested in a position way out on the far side of Raleigh (far from here, anyway). Nope. I don't mind the idea of driving 40 minutes to work, but not if it's through traffic.

Someone from another agency called later to see if I would be interested in something in Chapel Hill. The pay is better and I'd be minutes from home, so I'm supposed to go in and see what it's all about on Monday.

As much as I'd hate to abandon the baby to someone else's care at this point, I really need to go back to work. Scott has to go back to work on Thursday so I'm hoping that there won't be a daycare issue. I realize a lot of places won't take a kid until he's six weeks old...if I have to hire some granny to come watch him during the day until he's old enough to lay in an institutional bassinet and catch other babies' germs, so be it. I'd really rather stay home with the stink-muffin, but the way I figure it his quality of life would be so much better if he didn't have to watch Star Trek with me all day.

Posted by Tiffany at December 7, 2006 11:02 PM | TrackBack