Holy #@!$ I haven't updated for 99 weeks!!!
Hello to those of you who remember me! (It's Art ;-) I just realized that I haven't updated in about 99 weeks...that's over 693 days...a big number, far, far too big. I'm not even going to say that I'm going to update more often, because every time I do I seem to set a new record for "not updating." ^_^ I do think I know what my new year's resolution is going to be though, but I'm not going to jinx it by saying I'll write more often...We'll see what happens. :-)
General update: Life is good. I graduated last June (but I was done with school in February :-), moved up to Seattle (yea for living with Liz, and no more Portland-Seattle commuting on the long-distance highway :-), and for anyone who doesn’t know it already I LOVE Seattle!!! He,he,he!!! ^___^
Job search: February-October…I don’t like to talk about this almost fruitless job search experience, decidedly unpleasant. In a nut-shell: I applied for literally hundreds of government (City, State, Count, Fed, etc), & non-profit, & for-profit jobs and usually things went very well until the final cut. In the end one of two thing usually happened:
(1) I was told by State/County/City/Health Dept/etc officials that I was an excellent candidate, but there were other candidates that had more experience. (In all fairness I cannot argue with this. I’m young, and started off in Seattle with no connections real connections. I spent a good 5 months applying for career positions where I was competing with people closer to my parents age, many of whom had been laid off due to the slowing economy and were now re-applying for their old jobs…I did not know this when I was applying for jobs, but once I realized the error of my ways I changed strategies :-)
OR
(2) I was told that I was “over-qualified”…despite my best attempts to shake this label it stalked me for months (i.e. I eventually got rid of the label by…umm…“dumming down” my resume and…well, it worked. I try not to think about the implications too much, it is what it is. )…I wasn’t experienced enough for the more advanced career positions, but I was simultaneously “over-qualified” for the entry level positions that would give me the experience needed for the more advanced positions…Suffice to say, Art was not happy… Well, that’s not true. Art was/is very happy to be with Liz, in Seattle, meeting new people, having bushels of wonderful friends both near and far, etc….In truth Art was, and still is, very happy about a great many things…but with respect to the “job search” and the economy having a “mid-life crisis” at the same time, “that” aspect of Art’s life was not happy at all. My MA was supposed to “help” me get a job, not scare away potential employers. Anyway, enough of that. :-)
I made it to the final cut of dozens of interviews, and it was not until the potential managers looked at my background and said something to the effect of “Oh, he’ll get bored” or “He’s too bright to start off here, he should aim higher” etc., etc…never before have I been so displeased by compliments, BUT I finally got a job with Group Health In October as a glorified receptionist/insurance & billing monkey/admin-assistant.
Note: I must confess that I am largely to blame for the initial difficulty in my job search. I started off “only” looking at government positions…it kept me busy, but on average I had to wait 3 months to get a response to a job application, and then there was a very long series of interviews, testing, more interviews, more testing, etc. After 5 months of this I started applying for private sector jobs, and that is when everything started looking up. (i.e. Private businesses responded in a few days/weeks, other times they contacted me, etc.. Far more productive. :-)
Current job: I like it, and I love the people I work with and for (mostly :-). Technically I’m a PCR (Patient Care Rep) IV, which would probably be identified as some variation of an administrative assistant anywhere else. I’m not using my degree, but I really don’t care at this point. I get to help people, I get paid “enough,” and while I certainly have no intention to do this sort of work longer than I have to, it is in fact good, solid, honest work that I actually feel kind of good about doing. But I’m predominantly just grateful to have a solid job, with job security, and in a field that is actually related to my long term goals. I like working with people (lots and lots of people) at the front desk, on the phone, in the Dr’s offices, etc. Plus I’m getting the basic experience and field-training that will hopefully help me have a more successful attempt at job searching whenever I start looking again (i.e. 1-2 years in the future, depending on how things go here :-).
Oh, and while I’m busy at work, this is SOOO MUCH EASIER than college/grad school/being an RA “ever” was. I only have to work 8-9 hours a day, I get “paid” to work (instead of “paying for the privilege” of working ;-), so far no one has attempted to: vomit/defecate/assault/set aflame the building, my person, or any of my effects, etc. And 99.99% of the time, if a patient is angry or upset, they have very good reason to be and the negative feelings really are not directed at me at all. I work with a lot of very ill people, and if venting helps them feel better, I really do not mind at all.
Where do I work? I work on Capitol Hill (East“ish” Seattle :-), and I help with almost all aspects of the front end business operations for Cardiology, Nephrology, Pulmonary, Internal Medicine, and the Travel Clinic portion of Infectious Diseases. I have the good fortune to work with an awesome team, and I really like my manager (i.e. he’s strict but consistent, demanding but honest, critical but constructive…I like him. :-)
And…I’m tired. Blah. I promise my next update will be about happier things. Sorry, the whole “job search experience” pretty much dominated my horizons for 7 of the last 10 months. I like to think of myself as a generally pleasant and positive/proactive person, but…being unemployed as not fun, and I didn’t feel that I had much to share during that time that was worth sharing. Builds character I guess. :-) Next time I’ll talk more about falling in love with the different neighborhoods of Seattle, the snow & ice storms (lots of exciting buss rides and walks/slides to & from work, replete with no less than 7 buss crashes! :-), good books, good people, good food, and more good stuff. ^_^
Oh! And please do comment to let me know how you’re doing and what you’ve been up to! I miss you all terribly, and I know that’s my fault because I’ve done such an awful job of keeping in touch…“But” I’ve got my new year’s resolution all worked out. *fingers crossed* ^_~
Take care,
Art
PS
If you’re reading this, then thanks for reading. *hug* ^_~