Still Seeking Employment

At the present time I have 8 consulting job submissions and 17 regular position applications outstanding.  I've heard that I was passed over on a couple consulting gigs and one regular position.  I am continuing to scourer the Internet and take phone calls from recruiters.  In moments of fatigue I get very worried and anxious.  Ed is trying to help, but he is contributing to my anxiety.  He hasn't directly said he doesn't think I'm looking hard enough, but he hasn't denied it either when I asked him.  I think he doesn't realize that this process is a lot of waiting.  I'm trying not to get upset with him.  I know he is getting concerned now that we are dipping into the savings to pay our bills.  But we knew that might happen when I left my job.  We have a solid amount in savings so we are not in dire straits financially.  I firmly believe I will have a job within another month or two.

As I mentioned previously, I have been working on cleaning up my craft room and getting my stash organized.  During this activity I discovered lots of UFOs.  I'm pulling a few out to work on as stress relievers.

The Falling In Love scarf is a project that I had in my office for years.  I don't remember when I bought the yarn and pattern, but I do remember that I used birthday money from my mom and dad for it.  The yarn is a yummy cashmere/merino blend from Karabella named Boise.

When I cleaned out my office this project came home and got tossed in the UFO bin.  I decided to start working on it as my take along project.  It is very portable.  I'm falling back in love with it.

Blake's Gradient blanket is moving along.  It does get boring since it is miles of stockinette.  I will get it done in plenty of time for him to take it to college.  I have 5+ months to finish it.

Relax is also moving along slowly.  I am up to the increases below the armhole.  It is a good, mindless project.  Looking at the other photos on Ravelry for this project, this photo is a truer representation of the color.  Last week while I was knitting on it while visiting my mom, she commented that she loved the color.  I have to agree.  It is a soft shade of orange.

The spinning of the yak is slowly coming along.  The fibers are so fine I end up covered in them after I'm done.  It helps if I wear jeans instead of my usual yoga pants when I spin it.

Knitting UFOs are not the only projects in my craft room.  There are numerous quilting UFOs.  I can't remember when I bought these Block of the Month kits.  Whenever it was I started working on the first 3 months but stopped.  They have been retrieved from the depths of the craft room and will (hopefully) get finished over the next year.

At this point you may be thinking "Gee, she has a lot of craft projects going.  Her husband might be right that she isn't devoting much time to the job search."  In my own defense, it may appear that I am doing nothing but crafting, but that isn't true.  Just compare the progress from one post to the next and you'll see things are moving very slowing on the craft front.  And refer to the number of positions for which I've applied.  As I mentioned earlier, I am keeping my spending in check.  To do that, I am not leaving the house much.  My crafting is the mental break in between hours of job hunting.  A girl's gotta do something to break up the monotony.

News From The Job Front

The search for employment continues.  I've expanded my efforts.  Hopefully something will come of it soon.

The "interview" I thought I had last week was actually what I would just call a "meet and greet".  The recruiter from the consulting company and one of the account managers just wanted to "put a face to the name".  It was actually a bit disappointing.   We did talk a bit about one of the companies they service.  It is a place that I am quite familiar with and I would love to work there.  They commented that I would be a great fit given my background.  The downer part, though, is that they mentioned several times how slowly this company is to take any kind of action.

After the meeting, I went home and decided to post my resume on one of the many job websites.  My resume attracted immediate attention.  The rest of my week was spent taking phone calls from various recruiters and responding to emails containing job descriptions. Because many of these companies target the same clients, I've had to create a spreadsheet to keep track of who is submitting my resume to whom.  At this point in time, I think I can be a bit choosy on which jobs I apply for.  Some of the recruiters quoted pay rates that were insultingly low.  One in particularly was upsetting.  This particular recruiter is someone that initially reached out to me last fall before I left my job.  When I reconnected with him last week, he immediately presented a position with a local company.  We talked about the job, benefits and an acceptable pay rate.   I tailored my resume for him and hunted down examples of past work that could be submitted to the client.  Things sounded very encouraging.  After 3 days of effort, just before my application package was to be submitted to the client, the recruiter comes back and tells me that his boss said that the rate I'd be paid is going to have to be reduced by 20%.  I told the guy that this was a deal breaker.  I withdrew my permission to have him represent me and did not apply to that client.  

Last Friday morning I had another "meet and greet".  It annoyed me a bit also because it took place downtown at the consulting company's main office.  Before going to the meeting I had to fill out their online application and provide three references.  The young man met with me for no more than 5 minutes.  I bet I spent more time hunting for a parking spot than I did with him.  At the end of our meeting he mentioned that they didn't currently have any positions that I would qualify for.  He just wanted to "put a face to the name".  I wished he had mentioned that earlier.  I would have suggested we defer the "meet and greet" until he had something viable for me.

At this point in time I believe I have had my resume submitted for 10 different consultant positions. No bites yet.

Sometimes I wonder if these recruiters even really look at the resumes they find on those websites. For example, I had someone call me yesterday.  She said she found my resume and thought I'd be a perfect fit for a position she had.  She then went on to describe a telemarketing position, selling life insurance.   Now, my degree is in software engineering and my entire career has been spent designing and developing various types of software applications.  Nowhere on my resume does the word "sales" appear.  I told her I wasn't interested and she acted incredulous that I would decline such a fantastic opportunity.  Experiences like that make me want to not answer my phone.

Today I decided to take a different approach.  I made a list of major companies in my area and looked directly at their websites for jobs.  I found three positions that interested me and submitted my resume.  There are still companies on my list, but I'm calling it a day.  My head feels like it is going to explode.  I'm going to spend the rest of my day relaxing.

It is a good day to relax.  We awoke to this scene. We finally had some winter weather!!!

Blake had the day off school.  It probably snowed only an inch.  I'm not sure why school was cancelled except that maybe since they haven't yet had an inclement weather day and they are coming off of a long weekend, the school district decided to make it another day longer.  At any rate, it was pretty this morning.  I'll take it.

Blake's Gradient blanket is coming along.  I did the first row of contrasting color.

I'm am getting close to the end of my first skein of blue.  I calculated the 1/3 mark.  It is about 7 rows beyond where I am in this picture.  Hopefully I will reach that point before having to start the second skein of blue.  If that's not the case I may have to buy an extra skein as I'd be a couple rows short.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I'm also making some progress on Relax, but nothing photo-worthy.

More Waiting and Knitting

My temporary retirement continues.  The latest word from my vendor is that the job for which I interviewed has run into a snag.  Another vendor working with the client has asked for more money, a lot of money!  Since that vendor is the prime contractor on the job and my vendor is a sub to them, my position has taken a backseat.  It is not likely that my position will have funding.  My vendor is now looking for other positions for me.

Since things are not going as planned with vendor 1, I reached out to another vendor.  I'll call her vendor 2.  Vendor 2 has a position that is a good fit for me.  I have an interview on Tuesday for that.  Wish me luck!

Last weekend I went down to Cincinnati to visit my mom.  While there I finished my Basic Ribbed Socks.  I couldn't stop myself from slipping them on my feet.  They fit like a dream!!  I was so excited.  When I got home I let them soak for a while and let them dry.   Sadly, when I put them on again I realized that their little bath caused the yarn to loosen.  They were too big!  In an act of desperation, I machine washed and dried them.  They now fit much better.  They are not quite as snug as I would like, but they'll do.

I'm making progress on Relax.  The pattern calls for a line of eyelets along the outer edges of the front and back pieces.  The eyelets are made every 10th row.  In between is miles of stockinette.  Each time I pick up this piece, I can't do more than those 10 rows.  It is mindless knitting, good for car rides or watching television.

In my last post I mentioned that Blake got accepted to the University of Cincinnati to study engineering.  It has been my tradition to knit each of my children a blanket to take to college with them.  Blake picked out the Gradient Blanket for his pattern.  He asked that I make it in blue and red.  I decided to make it a little wider than called for in the pattern.  I should have enough yarn.  I calculated the halfway point for each color so I'll know if I'm going to make it or not.  If I don't, I'll be ordering more from Knit Picks.

The organization of the craft room is still in progress.  I now have all the fabric on one side of the shelves and the bins of yarn are going up on the other side.  There is also a big bag of yarn that I will put up for adoption.  I also created a bin of UFOs.  My goal is to intersperse a UFO project with my other projects. Now that I've finished the socks, I'll pull something from the bin to take its place.  I figure if I maintain the bin I can always toss a project into it if I get bored with it.

Tom Petty Is Right

Waiting is the hardest part.

Blake submitted applications to 3 universities at the end of October.  He received acceptance letters from 2 within a couple weeks directly admitting him into their engineering programs.  Unfortunately, neither of them was his #1 choice.  Where he was hoping to go had 4 options for admissions:  directly admitted to the college of engineering, provisionally admitted to engineering, admitted to the university but not engineering and lastly not accepted at all.  We were sure he'd at least get provisionally accepted, but if that happened, he would have to make a decision.  Study at his #1 choice with the hope of getting fully admitted into engineering at the end of his first year or select one of the other two.  He was getting very anxious to hear.  Throughout January he heard other people say they received their admission letters.  Everyday he didn't hear a thing.  Until yesterday.  The acceptance offer from his #1 university stated that he was directly admitted into engineering, but not into the major he listed as his first choice.  They did accept him into his second choice major.  I asked him if he was alright with that and he said he was.  He said he actually had considered that major first before changing his preference last fall.  He is very excited and relieved.  So next fall my baby will be studying Chemical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati.  I'm very proud!!!

I'm relieved that his waiting is over.  However, I am still waiting to see if I have a contracting job with a particular state agency.  I was originally told that I would start work on January 4.  Before New Year's I was told that it was going to be pushed back a week.  That week became 2 and then 3.  Then I was told that the position had to be competitively procured, meaning I needed to interview for it along with 2 other candidates.  My interview was on Monday.  At the end of the interview I was told that a decision would be made in a day or two.  It is now Friday and I just received word from the vendor that I am trying to contract through that the agency hasn't sent any word yet and won't this week.  I can't even express my frustration.  I'm frustrated with the state agency and a bit frustrated with my vendor.  I thought the position was a sure thing but now I'm not so sure.  I haven't been looking for other work.   The proverb "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" keeps going through my head along with "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched."  I think I need to find alternative baskets for my eggs.  Next week I a going to call other vendors to see if they have anything for me.  I'm not totally giving up on this position.  I'm just tired of giving control of my life to others. 

(Side Note: it struck me this morning during a moment of particular anxiety that the feeling I was experiencing was similar to the angst I feel on an airplane.  I'm not a good passenger when there is any sort of turbulence.  After a quick self-analysis, the root cause of the angst is the same in both situations.  I'm feeling the bumpy ride and I have absolutely no control over making the situation resolve any faster.)

While I have these extra days at home, I am trying to establish a regular exercise habit.  My goal is to get at least 30 minutes of activity as recorded on my Fitbit.  Today was Day 8.   I feel much calmer now.   I know there is no reason to stress about my job situation over the weekend.  Nothing will get resolved by worrying.

Onto knitting topics. 

Kristin's infinity scarf is done.  I added about another 12 inches to the length and then grafted the ends.  It is ready for delivery to her.  She did most of the knitting.  I have to say she did a great job.

The other knitting project I want to show is a pair of gloves I made for Kristin.  After discovering my hand knit gloves in her purse I told her I would make her a pair of her own.  I used the Evil Genius' pattern.  The pattern has you knit each finger first and then attach them together and knit the hand, thumb gusset and finally cuff.  The gloves did come out fitting perfectly, but I don't think I'll do them again.  The finger joins were way too fiddly for me.  I've done gloves both ways and prefer cuff up.

It's almost Happy Hour.  I exercised earlier so I need to get a shower.  After the shower it is time for a glass of wine.