Thursday, March 3, 2011

The Job Hunt

I have been unemployed for one year. Luckily, it has been my decision to be unemployed for a year, until now. Now, I'm ready to get back to work, feel the satisfaction of earning a paycheck, and wear my cute heels everyday. As I am in the midst of searching for job openings, revising my resume and preparing for interviews, I thought I would share a few thoughts that go through my head on a seemingly regular basis.

  • I HATE looking for a job - probably the consensus of most people. The process requires patience, something I don't have, yet have been praying for a lot lately.
  • I think cover letters are dumb and a waste of time. I know they are "necessary" and required for most of the jobs I am applying for, but still, dumb. While their purpose is to help the employer understand why I, the prospective employee, applied for the job and help decide if they should spend any more time looking at my resume, it seems like a waste of time on both our parts. Instead of summarizing my entire resume in a completely unique and personalized letter to you and your company, just read my resume and decide if I'm worth an interview. If letter-writing skills are a make-or-break kinda thing for the job, then check out my handwritten thank-you note on my super cute stationary that you'll be getting after the interview. Booya.
  • I will never understand the purpose of including an "objective" at the top of my resume. My objective is and always will be to get the stinkin' job! That's why I'm applying for it! I guess I could put "to successfully obtain employment at _____ company." That sounds a little nicer than GIVE ME THE JOB! It seems the only thing an objective really does is shorten the already limited space I have as I try to fit everything on one page.
  • Please put the salary range on the job posting. I know what I'm looking for and you know what you can afford.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Dating

I hate dating. Let me rephrase that. I hated dating. That's one of the reasons why I love being married, I don't have to date anymore. The awkwardness of being asked out, the torture of making small-talk and "getting to know each other", sitting around waiting and wondering when you are going to hear from them again, wondering if you should initiate contact this time, should you call or text or maybe email, not knowing what the other person is thinking or feeling about you and the relationship, wondering if it's even really a relationship yet, having to have "the talk" about whether you're exclusive or not, ugh, just all of it, I hated it. And here I am, back in the "dating" scene.

Have you ever noticed how making new friends is kind of like dating? Do you ever remember saying, "Oh, I want a boyfriend/girlfriend soooo bad"? Well, that's like me and friends here in Washington. I want new (local) friends soooo bad. I've been on a couple of "dates" with some prospective friends, we've done the awkward get-to-know-you-chit-chat, but it's to the point now where I am wondering if they like me. Do they want to be my friend? And how do we take it to the next level, beyond the weather and our husbands' work schedules? Since when did making friends become so difficult?

I feel like friendships in the Army change depending on the season. They go to a whole new level if both the spouses are deployed at the same time. The friendships tend to go into a "lull" or just put on hold momentarily when the husbands come home, and understandably so. Right now, thankfully all of our husbands are home at the moment, so maybe that's why the friendships are going a little slow right now. It's just tough being so far away from friends and family....the comfortableness (is that a word?) of it all. I am so anxious to get back to a new "normal" that I sometimes I can't even enjoy this season of our life. If we make new friends here, maybe we won't be quite so homesick. Maybe so, but instead of hoping and wondering and wishing, I'm going to try to relish in this newness and just take it one day at a time.

Or I'm at least going to try!