Two Steps Back, Two Steps Forward...
A little bit of news to report...
Two of the three phone interviews I had a couple of weeks ago unfortunately did not pan out, which was extremely disappointing. However, I do have a second-round phone interview on Friday afternoon with the hiring manager for a job in Long Beach, CA. It’s about a 25 minute train ride outside Los Angeles, which is what I do now in Boston so it wouldn’t be a difficult commute at all. Of course I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high, but the fact that I made it to the second round with at least one position is encouraging.
If this job does not pan out, I will of course continue to look. Wells Fargo has been unusually active with their administrative job postings this year - I usually see a mild upswing in the first quarter, but this is more than even I expected. I’ve had more phone interviews in the last two months than I had all of last year. I mentioned in my previous post that I was going to pack it in and move back to Los Angeles at the end of my lease in August. Well, that is now officially a "go".
What I didn't mention last time is that there was a slight road block to my plans to move back. The one person who did not initially support my idea to move back without a job was my dad. And because he is one of the people that I will need to rely on for help during that time, it was important to me that he was on board. My intent was to convince him that it was not realistic to find a job before moving back to California; the odds are miniscule, and I would have more luck if I lived in the state. As I better express myself in writing, I composed a long letter to him - a "State of the Union" of sorts - which laid out my current situation, both emotionally and with the job hunt, neither of which are all that great at the moment. He sat on it for a week, discussed it with his wife, and then got back to me on Saturday with a nice e-mail indicating that he understood my position and was willing to help however he could. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised with the response, as up until now he had been steadfast in his position that I needed to have a job before I moved back home. He called me last night, as well, and we had a good conversation about the move and what would need to be done. Needless to say I will be busy, and that’s just fine with me. I’ll also need to buckle down with my finances, and get my taxes filed so I can put that refund toward moving expenses.
It would be ideal, of course, to be able to simply pack up now and leave, but my financial situation will not allow for me to continue paying on my current lease without a steady source of income; I would be obligated to do that until the lease ran out, or a new tenant was found. Considering that the apartment directly below mine, which is much nicer, has been empty for five months, the odds of finding a new tenant in a reasonable amount of time are not that great. On the chance that I do get a job prior to the end of my lease, I would probably be able to enlist my parents for temporary help, at least until I start receiving regular paychecks. But for now, that's not an option.
One caveat is that Dad has no space for my cats, now that he and his wife have a dog (a cute little rescue mutt they christened “Mr. Rogers”). Essentially everyone in my immediate family (at least those who still live in California) has at least one dog that doesn’t like cats, which severely limits my options. Before Dad got married two years ago, he’d suggested that the cats could live in his two-car garage, which had a lot of room. It is also accessible by a side door and there would be no concern about the cats getting out, since he used the garage at the time mainly for storage, and to house his little red GT sports car, which he only drives periodically. He parked his other car outside. Now that both he and his wife use the garage regularly, there is just no room for the cats. The only option I will not consider is giving them up for adoption - they are my boys, and I made a commitment to them. So now I have to come up with an alternate solution, perhaps a close friend of the family who might be willing to foster them for a little while. Boarding is very expensive, and I would not want to leave them in a kennel for that long. But otherwise, the wheels are in motion. If anyone has any ideas in relation to the cats, I’d welcome suggestions.
I chose not to tell Dad about this week’s phone interview - no one in my immediate family is aware of it - mainly because I feel less pressure when my family doesn’t know. That way if it doesn’t work out, no one is any the wiser. I’d like nothing more than to share it with them, as they are always very encouraging, but I’d rather the next news I share be positive rather than yet another rejection.
I am also starting therapy this week to deal with all of the stress I’ve been feeling the past few months, and I’m hopeful this will allow me to make some sense of everything and be able to deal with it more rationally in the time that I have left here in Boston.
So that’s where I stand as of now. I’ll of course keep everyone updated as news warrants, but it is such a huge relief to know that I finally have an "end date" - depending upon whether this interview works out - and that by this fall at the latest I will be back in Los Angeles.
Two of the three phone interviews I had a couple of weeks ago unfortunately did not pan out, which was extremely disappointing. However, I do have a second-round phone interview on Friday afternoon with the hiring manager for a job in Long Beach, CA. It’s about a 25 minute train ride outside Los Angeles, which is what I do now in Boston so it wouldn’t be a difficult commute at all. Of course I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high, but the fact that I made it to the second round with at least one position is encouraging.
If this job does not pan out, I will of course continue to look. Wells Fargo has been unusually active with their administrative job postings this year - I usually see a mild upswing in the first quarter, but this is more than even I expected. I’ve had more phone interviews in the last two months than I had all of last year. I mentioned in my previous post that I was going to pack it in and move back to Los Angeles at the end of my lease in August. Well, that is now officially a "go".
What I didn't mention last time is that there was a slight road block to my plans to move back. The one person who did not initially support my idea to move back without a job was my dad. And because he is one of the people that I will need to rely on for help during that time, it was important to me that he was on board. My intent was to convince him that it was not realistic to find a job before moving back to California; the odds are miniscule, and I would have more luck if I lived in the state. As I better express myself in writing, I composed a long letter to him - a "State of the Union" of sorts - which laid out my current situation, both emotionally and with the job hunt, neither of which are all that great at the moment. He sat on it for a week, discussed it with his wife, and then got back to me on Saturday with a nice e-mail indicating that he understood my position and was willing to help however he could. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised with the response, as up until now he had been steadfast in his position that I needed to have a job before I moved back home. He called me last night, as well, and we had a good conversation about the move and what would need to be done. Needless to say I will be busy, and that’s just fine with me. I’ll also need to buckle down with my finances, and get my taxes filed so I can put that refund toward moving expenses.
It would be ideal, of course, to be able to simply pack up now and leave, but my financial situation will not allow for me to continue paying on my current lease without a steady source of income; I would be obligated to do that until the lease ran out, or a new tenant was found. Considering that the apartment directly below mine, which is much nicer, has been empty for five months, the odds of finding a new tenant in a reasonable amount of time are not that great. On the chance that I do get a job prior to the end of my lease, I would probably be able to enlist my parents for temporary help, at least until I start receiving regular paychecks. But for now, that's not an option.
One caveat is that Dad has no space for my cats, now that he and his wife have a dog (a cute little rescue mutt they christened “Mr. Rogers”). Essentially everyone in my immediate family (at least those who still live in California) has at least one dog that doesn’t like cats, which severely limits my options. Before Dad got married two years ago, he’d suggested that the cats could live in his two-car garage, which had a lot of room. It is also accessible by a side door and there would be no concern about the cats getting out, since he used the garage at the time mainly for storage, and to house his little red GT sports car, which he only drives periodically. He parked his other car outside. Now that both he and his wife use the garage regularly, there is just no room for the cats. The only option I will not consider is giving them up for adoption - they are my boys, and I made a commitment to them. So now I have to come up with an alternate solution, perhaps a close friend of the family who might be willing to foster them for a little while. Boarding is very expensive, and I would not want to leave them in a kennel for that long. But otherwise, the wheels are in motion. If anyone has any ideas in relation to the cats, I’d welcome suggestions.
I chose not to tell Dad about this week’s phone interview - no one in my immediate family is aware of it - mainly because I feel less pressure when my family doesn’t know. That way if it doesn’t work out, no one is any the wiser. I’d like nothing more than to share it with them, as they are always very encouraging, but I’d rather the next news I share be positive rather than yet another rejection.
I am also starting therapy this week to deal with all of the stress I’ve been feeling the past few months, and I’m hopeful this will allow me to make some sense of everything and be able to deal with it more rationally in the time that I have left here in Boston.
So that’s where I stand as of now. I’ll of course keep everyone updated as news warrants, but it is such a huge relief to know that I finally have an "end date" - depending upon whether this interview works out - and that by this fall at the latest I will be back in Los Angeles.