Gah, Finally!

Basic resume and basic cover letter? CHECK. And, just as I suspected, they really didn't take that long to do. And my sister helped me word things because I was having vocabulary issues today. And wanted to get the resume out today for UI claim purposes.

So! I applied for a job at my university. It'd be a pretty silly position for me to have, but I think I could have a blast with it. I also applied at a medical office that's only a couple blocks from where I live. Just think...I could run home for lunch. I'd save stupid amounts of money! Whoever wrote the job posting had fun with it and I feel as though I meet the qualifications remarkably well. One strange thing was that the job listing asked for a resume and wage requirements. Wacky. I think I did an okay job wording that business in the cover letter. But, man, is that awkward.

Okay, so fingers crossed on those! I think both could be good.

Done:
-simple resume
-simple cover letter

To do:
-work with (former) boss on epic comprehensive resume
-clean my apartment (yeah, still haven't done that. and it's a good idea as I've been spending ages in it.)
-buy groceries
-go out less often for meals. it's fun, but not practical with my current finances.

Playing Tourist

I've had a few days lately of getting to play tourist in my city. I have an annual pass to the Space Needle and got to take a good friend up for a sweet view of the city. A few days later we went to a chocolate factory for a tour and saw the Fremont Troll (which I'd never been to in the 20+ years I've lived here), got some soup and ice cream, and got to spend a ton of time catching up.

I met with a couple former coworkers yesterday and we went to a sushi buffet, which was wonderful.

These superfun excursions have provided excuses for me to be a bit lazytrousers. I haven't really worked on my resume. And I haven't yet gotten insurance sorted out (bad news bears, that, as I got a couple letters from my doctor saying I need to follow up on some tests I had a few months ago...whoops). I'm also starting to think that when the HR manager at my last job told me that they'd be giving me two weeks' pay, she really meant that they'd be sending me the check for the last two weeks I worked. So there's a thousand bucks that I'm not getting. That's pretty frustrating.

I've decided to apply for administrative and marketing positions at the university I went to. They do a lot of hiring from within, so I'd like to get a foot in that door. Plus, I love my school and it's ridiculously close to where I live. I checked out their benefits and they're amazing. Medical, dental, and vision are all paid for, plus free tuition and gym membership on campus. If I worked there I could totally start on graduate studies. That's something I've been considering for some time and the main hindrance was lack of funds. Fingers crossed!

Also, I made an appointment to get my hair cut! It's going to be my last splurge until I get a new job (that's the plan, anyway), but I'm going to get a cut that will be good for a job interview. I want to look put together and not like I've spent the last month sitting around and internetting.

Done:
-Um. Tourist things?
-hair appointment!

To do:
-omg, resume
-resume sent to university
-get my sleep schedule back in order!

Paperwork and Travel Bug

I still haven't figured out what I want to do. The Seattle weather last week made it very easy to be lazy. I did manage to apply for three more federal jobs, but nothing I really felt strongly about. I still haven't figured out if I want to follow my passions or just get a job.

So, yeah, gotta figure that one out.

I met with my (former) boss this week for a couple hours over coffee. We talked about options for professional references and we figured out a plan for getting the best resumes together. I'll be working this week to write up a Master Resume. This will have every task and responsibility I've done and had in each job and volunteer position I've had. I'll pull information from this master copy for each resume I send out for the non-federal jobs. I'm excited to have this document put together, but, man, just rewinding my brain to the days in retail and food service weirded me out. Spending a couple hours concentrating on that may cause irreparable damage to my mental and emotional well-being.

I kid. My time at a toy store and in a couple coffee shops were pretty great. So long ago, though!

Another occurrence of this week was that I got my last paycheck from my (former) place of employment. Also included were paid out overtime and vacation hours. In nearly four years at this job I took about two hours off. So it's a significant amount of money.

For now it's mostly going into savings (after making a credit card payment and a student loan payment). But my plan since the lay off day was to get a new gig as quickly as possible so I'd be able to splurge on something. I'm thinking of a few more tattoos (easily hidden in case the future job frowns on that sort of thing) or a trip. I started looking into the prices of tickets to far off places and there are some more than reasonable plane tickets to be had out there! The farthest I've been from Seattle is Ottawa, so this travel option is looking really appealing. I've found some under-seven-hundred-dollar tickets to European destinations, so this is looking pretty feasible. I've got a nice passport that needs some stamps in it!

To do:
-work on Master Resume
-find some more jobs to apply for

In Which Applications are Distributed and Lolz are Had

I woke up early today, hit the snooze button, finally rolled out of bed (before 9am!), showered, dressed, and took a trip to my parents' work. Turns out the job my mom had tracked down wasn't listed on the federal jobs website and I needed to print and fax about five hundred forms. And I couldn't find a cord for my printer.

So my dad picked me up and took me to his office and I hung out there for a while. I filled out the needed form...and the fax machine was under repair. I sat in my dad's office reading Sherman Alexie's YA novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (I'm only 40 pages in and am recommending this book). Then joined my parents for lunch (thanks for buying my lunch, Parents!), and by the time lunch was done the fax was back up and running.

So. That job is applied for. I came home and surfed the federal site some more, applying for 2 more jobs at different agencies (fingers crossed a certain one hires me and gives me a sweet agency windbreaker to wear!).

I then busted a move downtown to meet up with (former) coworkers for some beers. Hangouts were lovely and office gossip was welcomed eagerly. Two of us dashed to the best movie theater to (re)watch Star Trek.

I'm unabashedly proclaiming my love for Star Trek. I'm not as hardcore in my love as some, but I definitely have a few Hallmark Christmas ornaments of the Star Trek variety. And a black and white 8x10 of the bridge crew (circa season 2 of TNG) signed by Wil Wheaton. And I love the new movie. So. Hard.

(Former) coworker and I were leaving and I wanted to dash into the loo, but didn't want to wait in line. She had to swing by the office to pick up her things and said I should just go up with her and do my business there. I felt a little weird going back to the office 2 weeks after being laid off, but, you know, I had to pee.

We got in the elevator and when the doors opened there was someone on the other side. My (former) boss. At 10pm. We all laughed and he and I chatted for a minute, talking about meeting up next week to go over my resume.

Overall this was a productive and fun day.

To do:
-fix up my real resume
-look at local organizations to see who's hiring
-see if there's a position available at my former university and, if so, see if I'd be eligible for free or discounted tuition for graduate studies
-Bacos
-barbeque tomorrow!
-Star Trek again tomorrow (I'm trying to top my personal best in seeing movies multiple times. The current lead is Pirates of the Caribbean 6 times. Seriously.)
-meet with (former) boss for resume talk. and maybe office gossip.

Done:
-applied for three jobs!
-saw Star Trek again

Resume Shenanigans

My parents are federal employees and have sung the praises of working for the government for years. They both started asking around to see what they could find that would be a suitable fit for me. There's a possibility I could work with people who have been family friends for twenty years.

I finally created a profile and resume on the website for federal jobs. Holy heck, was that a weird trip through time. I hadn't just sat and considered everything I'd done in the three positions I held at my most recent place of employment. I had a former coworker email to me job descriptions of two of the positions I'd held recently and I added to those as I saw fit.

My mom insisted that I put as much information in the system as I could. This involved trying to go through the day-to-day operations of the retail and food service jobs I held ten years ago.

It was a crazy little mind trip, but I'm glad to have a resume on that site. I'll take some time later to look at available positions at different agencies. This position my mom found is maybe going to involve printing out various official forms, so we'll see how that goes.

I've also gotten in contact with my (former) boss. It looks like we're going to meet over coffee one day next week and brainstorm more specific roles I filled on his team. He's been insisting since the day he let me go that I keep in touch and let him help me, which is really nice of him. I've also gotten the okay from another former boss and a (former) coworker to use them as references.

Whoop!

To do:
-finish updating my resume!
-send copies of updated resume to former boss and former coworker for opinions
-search jobs on worksource. workforce. work...something
-decide if I want to apply for that accounting position at the big company
-buy some Bacos (still!)
-clean apartment (I kind of straightened up a bit...)
-invite (now former) coworkers out for drinks
-sign up for COBRA coverage
-make a couple more employer contacts

Done:
-got a resume up at the federal site!

Kick in the Pants

Okay. I've been slacking. Monday and Tuesday arrived with me still obsessing over the word "unemployed" being used to describe me. Wednesday saw a friend from university get to town. Thursday was me NOT working on my resume. And Friday kicked off what's been a great weekend that's included two baseball games (go Mariners!), some delicious kebabs, new friends, domino games, staying up way too late, country fried steak at 2am, and walking all over the city. I'll be visiting my parents tomorrow and probably spending a couple days with them. Mom's a bit worried about me. Thanks, unemployment, for making my mom worry. Boooooo.

I started getting unemployment materials this past week, and that was the kick in the pants that I needed. It's really true that I'm without a job. And I didn't know how Unemployment Insurance worked. I didn't know that I'm basically going to have to call in or log in and ask for money every week. Ugh. I hate asking for money. I hate it so hard. I had to borrow $200 recently from my parents to make sure my student loan payment check didn't bounce. That was a loan that lasted for about six days until I next saw my dad and handed him the cash. Six days! And I hated having to ask for the money. Grr.

I need to update my resume and get it sent out. I need to make connections and figure out what the heck I'm going to do. I haven't decided if I'm shooting for finding a job in a field about which I'm passionate (not the case with my most recent employment) or if I just want to be employed. But either way I'm going to need to get called for an interview. I need to stop getting UI before even getting it!

So. That To-Do List? I'm doing it. This week. I'm getting it done. I'm getting my resume updated (there's going to be so much to add to it!). I'm sending that resume out. I'm buying some Bacos (yeah, still haven't done that).

And I'm totally going to keep going to baseball games. I can multitask.

Unexpected Upside

I'm totally eating ice cream for brunch.