My Exciting Week (I have nothing else to do)

I have three big reasons to be excited for this week:

  1) I have a big interview on Wednesday morning.

 

• I really hope something works out soon because although I’m really enjoying unemployment, I don’t have a lot of money anymore and that kind of sucks.

 

  2) I’m hosting a Top Chef finale party on Wednesday night.

 

• Please pack your knives and go. I love this show and love having friends over, and eating and drinking, so it’s the perfect combination. Go crazy-eyed Carla. 

 

  3) I have two free tickets to the Maury Show on Friday.

• Last week, I was watching Maury and a little thing came up and said “for free tickets to the Maury Show, call this number”.  So I looked at it for a second, and then thought, “well, I have nothing else to do.” So I called and got two free tickets a taping on Friday.  I think it’s going to be really, really fun.  Everyone should be jealous. 

 

My new unemployment motto is officially: “I have nothing else to do.”  This way, I’ll do as much as possible and see as many people as possible while I have my freedom.

Updates on my life

Hey world, sorry I’ve been MIA.  I’ve been traveling around the tri state area with my broken toe (freak bar accident last week) for a funeral and then a wedding.  Now, here I am.

 

So, I had an interview last week and I think it went fairly well. But it was only with HR, since the hiring manager was out of the office.  I got good vibes from the HR lady, though.  So I did the whole thank you thing and yet…nothing. No call, nothing.  This whole job-getting process is so slow… SNAIL PACED. I can’t stand it.

 

In other news, I emailed a posting for a dog walker/personal assistant in the city and it turns out that the woman who posted the listing used to work for my old company.  So we met up and she was cool, and said she didn’t want me to walk her dogs, but that she wanted to get me a real job because she felt like fate brought us together. Long story short I’m meeting with her business partner on Wednesday about a job. HMMM. Fingers crossed!

Today I am…

Wearing my new Snuggie on the couch while catching up on my DVR’d shows until happy hour when my friend is bartending.

Sometimes, it’s really good to be unemployed. 

 

Not a picture of me, but what I will be doing all day today.

 

Another day, another interview

The good news: I’ve got an interview today. The bad news: I’ve got an interview today.

 

So, I’m trying to approach this interview with a different attitude than I did with my last so I don’t self-sabotage and continue to be unemployed forever. Plus,  I really need to come up with a better strategy for nailing interviews, especially since they’re kind of few and far between at this point.

 

Here’s what I’ve resolved to do differently today:

1.  Put less pressure on myself.  It’s just a job interview, not the end of the world.  At this point, I have nothing to lose, so I need to just have fun with it.

2.  Actually believe I’m right for the job.  So what, I don’t have the specific experience that the job description calls for.  The experience I do have combined with the fact I’m smart makes me as strong a candidate as anyone else.  I actually believe that I could learn to do any job and do it well. I just need to project that confidence in the interview.

3.  Wear a good outfit.  I bought a rockin new interview outfit  to wear today so that I look professional and stylin.  If I know that I look good, I know that I’ll  feel good too. In my last interview, I wore old yucky clothes that didn’t fit  well and I think that contributed to my nervousness and awkwardness. Not today!

 

I think we could all learn a little about good interviewing from this video:

To Link, or not to link? That is the question.

When people find out that you lost your job, something they like to do is to give you  unsolicited advice.   One thing I keep hearing over and over again is that I should  join LinkedIn.com.  And to be honest, I’ve resisted. And I don’t even know why I’ve resisted.  I’m on Facebook, Twitter, Asmallworld, etc, but Linked In just feels weird to me. I think it boils down to the fact that I’m skeptical of the whole magical recruiters contacting you myth. Oh, and it feels like it’s for grownups, which I, (at 23), mostly certainly am not. How rude.

 

But hey, since my job search isn’t exactly going swimmingly, I’m willing to give LinkedIn a try. I joined it tonight, made my little profile and asked some people to be my friends.  Since I’m still in the pretty early stages of my career, my profile isn’t all that impressive though. So I remain skeptical.  I guess only time will tell what, if anything LinkedIn will do for me. 

So, I’m just wondering…has anyone out there actually had a positive experience from LinkedIn?   (Positive being job or interview-getting experience).  Let me know if you have, or have not – I’m curious.

 

FML: for when I’m feeling bad…

When I’m feeling bad, I just hop onto F My Life for a little perspective. It works, you should try it.

Here are a few choice examples:

 

• Today, my girlfriend dumped me proclaiming she wanted someone more like her “Edward”. I asked her who Edward was. She held up a copy her “Twilight” book. She was talking about a fictional vampire. FML

 

• Today, I received my passport in the mail. They got my birthdate wrong. Then I picked up my birth certificate that I had sent in with the application. Turns out my parents have been celebrating my birthday on the wrong day for 16 years. FML

 

• Today, my fiance told me that he no longer loves me, that he still has feelings for an ex. The wedding is off and he needs the ring back to give to the right woman. FML

 

• Today, I texted my boyfriend saying hi. His response, “I got your best friend pregnant”. FML

 

• Today, at the elementary school where I teach, the kids all voted for their favorite teacher. I was the only one to receive zero votes. When I asked a small group of students why no one voted for me, one boy replied “because you’re the ugliest”. FML
  

Still waiting

Waiting, waiting waiting. And watching season 2 of Lost.

The waiting is the hardest part

So I’m waiting to hear back from a few different prospects and man, it’s hard.  I carry my Blackberry around with me everywhere I go waiting for it to ring and it never does.  Whoever said “a watched pot never boils” really knew what they were talking about.  So, I’ve resolved to leave my phone in my bedroom and stop looking at it every two seconds.  Maybe someone will call, maybe they won’t. But at least I’ll stop making myself crazy waiting!

 

A letter to my former emloyer

Today I found some (other) really rad blogs about being unemployed.  One of them is called Letters to Your Former Employer.  Needless to say, I was immediately inspired to write a letter.  Not even to the boss from my last job who was a tool and laid me off (the two are not connected…he’s a tool AND he laid me off, which only served to increase his already off the charts  toolishness).  Anyway, I digress. Another former employer definitely deserves a letter from me. 

 

A letter to my former employer: (I also emailed this to the blog above…here’s to hoping it makes it on the blog)

 

Dear (name redacted),

Thank you so much for everything you did for me while I worked for you.  I feel as though I’ve gained not only a mentor, but also a friend.   We’ve grown incredibly close over this past year and a half, and I’m really going to miss you and all of the idiosyncratic things you do when I leave. I’ll miss your frowning face every day, but at least I’ll have the memories of you to keep me going.

I’m not sure what I’m going to miss most because there’s just so many things I adore and respect about you.  The one thing I’ll probably miss above everything else is doing your expense reports. The way you throw crumpled up receipts at me…or how you leave a hotel bill on my chair when I’m away from my desk. Whenever I go to process your hotel bill, I can always count on excessive mini bar charges without explanation. But most of all, I think I will miss processing the $50 worth of porn movie charges you rack up in one night at a hotel.  Even though everyone knows to shut off the porn before they fall asleep, you’ve always done things your way and just left the porn on. I really respect that about you.  

Aside from your travel habits, I’m going to miss so many other small things about you.  The way you must buy a soft pretzel and soda every time you travel through an airport. The lunch receipts you give me with names of people who are neither business associates nor employees of the company we work for. The way you creep in the corner at work happy-hours and sometimes bring your bike to the bar.  The way you drop dirty socks in the hallway outside your door. The way your backpack is so stuffed with belongings that you hunch over when you wear it and walk at the same time.  The way your shirt is always too small and always wrinkled and also you smell.

Especially during the summer, I’m going to miss when you leave all the lights on in your office at 3pm with papers scattered on your desk, and then try to creep out the other door.  I’ll really miss catching you do that while you think you are fooling everyone.  And last but not least, I’m going to miss the way you take car vouchers from my desk and use them to take your girlfriend out to dinner downtown and then home to Long Island.  

Oh, and I almost forgot, I’m really going to miss the way you ask me to do things, and then take credit for them in emails, to our bosses, and in meetings.  

It’s been a good run. Thanks for teaching me so much about how to conduct myself in the workplace and how to also be a decent human being. I’ll never forget you.

Best,

(Name Redacted)

Hmm…winejobs.com

So, I’ve been spending some time at home, and after preparing myself a gourmet dinner last night of Eggo waffles and a glass of Merlot (my mother was disgusted), I got to thinking.  Wouldn’t it be great to just forget trying to compete with the other bajillion unemployed people in the metro-New York area and go off do something fun and badass for a year or two?  Then, once that’s run its course, the recession will be over and bam, I’ll be money and will get the first high-paying job I apply to when I come back to New York.

 

Right, so anyway, I did some online searching and found this website called Winejobs.com .  Dude, forget Monster.com and careerbuilder.com, Winejobs.com is where it’s at.  I applied to about ten jobs at vineyards in California to do assistant, marketing or PR work.  I wonder if I’ll hear back at all…I think that would be be pretty badass to work at a vineyard and become a wine connoisseur.  I wouldn’t even be necessarily opposed to picking a few grapes off the vines here and there…I’m not above it.  Anyway, a girl can dream.