Yesterday we went over what happened right after I got laid off from my dream job. Continuing our story, here's why I picked a job that was 100% the opposite of what I was looking for:
By the end of July, having been out of work for more than 2 months and
really not doing well bills-wise on Unemployment, it was time to start panicking
about a job.
Start panicking? Please. Other than feeling a certain amount of rage after
getting let go in May, my primary emotion had been panic. Hubby was super
supportive, like always, but that really didn’t help and here’s why: hubby’s job
changed significantly at the same time. Instead of having a company car and
getting to drive around on company gas, his job went 100% remote and the
company took the car. Which meant we had to dip into savings to buy a car.
Geez, just when we actually HAD a savings account.
Now, I don’t have to tell anyone that finding a used car in 2022 is a
challenge. And finding one when you’re on a strict budget…well…
But we found one. It’s nothing glamorous, but it suits him and everything
works on it mostly. But the result is we still have to pay for gas and insurance on
this thing. Which is a big change for the negative.
The other thing that changed is Hubby started working longer hours. Like,
ridiculously longer hours. Up before 5AM to get a start on emails and still working
well past 5 or 6 in the evening. He’s hourly, so the overtime is a big boost, but I
felt a significant amount of guilt not working. (One would think I’d over
compensate by keeping a super clean house and being completely organized in all
things home related. One would be wrong.)
So, by the end of July, after going through dozens of interviews, I got a job
offer. It was a for a company I’m going to call Stuff, Empowered for two reasons:
1) Remember Stuff, Installed, from my Elsie W books? Once again, for my
protection, I’m not going to, you know, spill the name of the company.
2) This company is one that empowers stuff. Hence…stuff empowered.
The offer wasn’t anything like what I was looking for. It wasn’t remote. It
wasn’t in my pay range, and it wasn’t part time. Panic will make you do
funny things and the mere fact that they offered me a job, I felt was some
kind of miracle. When you’re 54 and you have really bad knees, you start
to feel sort of like you have to take anything offered to you.
Oh, I didn’t mention the really annoying interview I went on right
before I interviewed at Stuff, Empowered. It was for a company that
packages gift jars and boxes of nuts. They wanted “Someone” to do “stuff”
in the office and “maybe other departments in the company.”
They didn’t know how many hours it would be. They didn’t know
what the duties would be. They didn’t know what days the job would take.
They didn’t even know which building the work would be in.
For that one, I got all tarted up and met with two girls.
Seriously…younger than my daughter. They were clearly recent retirees
from the Texas beauty pageant circuit, and not happy about it, which
meant they seemed extra judgy about my appearance.
Could have been in my head, who knows?
Anyway, I thought, given what we didn’t know about the job, the
interview went well. I even thought I would at least get a call for a second
interview. I honestly believed I won those pretty little gals over with my
winning charm and my flexibility to fit into a job that had no parameters at
all.
I wasn’t even out of my “first interview” outfit when I got the “thanks
but we’re going with someone who better fits our needs” emails.
Better fits our needs? What does that even mean? They didn’t know
what they needed! They told me that!
So I called the woman who’d conducted the phone interview with
me. (Remember, these aren’t really interviews, they’re more like cattle
calls, making sure the person applying is actually an adult human and not
some 8 year old or a bot that just applies over and over to jobs.) Anyway, I
got her on the phone and said, since I had nothing to lose, “What’s the deal
with this?”
“Oh, well, um..” insert long, uncomfortable pause here. “They
decided they’re going to put the job on hold right now.”
An interview that went so bad, they gave up trying to hire for it five
minutes after I left.
Thus, when I got the call from Stuff Empowered, I was…well, I was
relieved I had an option for employment. But I wasn’t super excited about
the job at all. I mean, 40 hours in a cubicle, with an hour unpaid lunch?
Huge company? Complete call center job, including the low starting wage?
It was everything I wasn’t looking for.
But, beggars can’t be choosers, right? Plus, well, I’d get to decorate
my own cubicle, and that was…something.
My start date was three weeks out, and I was still looking. I had a
number of phone interviews with small companies looking for an office
person for 30 hours a week, and they were possibly willing to go remote.
Spoiler alert: None of them were actually willing to go remote.
There was one other job offer I got, one that shocked me. It was a
customer service position for a company that made automatic doors. The
job was one I could definitely do. The guy who interviewed me was quirky
and the wage was spot on what I was looking for. They weren’t going to go
full remote, but they could offer a hybrid position, which was nice.
I didn’t think I’d get that offer because, well, let’s just say I ended the
interview with a really awkward joke that I didn’t think landed.
See, they make automatic doors, right? And as we were leaving the
conference room, he pushed a button and the door swung open. But it
squeaked a little.
He said, “The swinger doors tend to squeak and I hate that. I’m going
to have to nail it down a bit better.”
And I said, “Wow, I hate it when the swingers get nailed.”
Think about it.
Nope, not nearly as funny as it was in my head.
Apparently he was okay with it.
Unfortunately for that gig, the drive was more than 3x that to Stuff
Empowered, and over roads that, in a Wisconsin winter, might not be a
clear as one would hope. Having not driven to work in 7 years, this was a
real concern for me. So I went with the shorter drive time and the lower
wage.
Did I make the right decision? I haven’t a clue. And I certainly didn’t
know back then, at the end of July. All I knew was that I was NOT going on
another job interview. Like ever.
Up next time: Zombie cubicle life on the restroom highway.
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