That wasn't so bad...

So yeah, I got a job!

Of the two second interviews I went on, one of them came in with an offer, and I start next Monday. A great position - senior accountant/financial analyst with some people to supervise. It will finally put me back on a normal career path, and get me into a (hopefully) good company with a good culture (unlike my last two companies).

Now I can enjoy my last week away from work with Olivia (and get a mandatory drug test for work). I know I will look back at this time and think, wow it only took me a month to find a job, just in time for my severance to end, and I will miss the extra time I had with Olivia. But I at least got a great month with her, with all her new words and her curiosity. She rules. :)

Suits & Second Interviews

Ok, I am done wearing suits. The next time I wear one, it better be at a friend's wedding.

So now I play the waiting game. I did my job - I interviewed for two positions, got called back for two second interviews, and made as good of an impression as I could. Both jobs have their pros and cons, but both would be an improvement over what I had. I hope that will here back tomorrow from both of them with good news, and then I can have an awesome problem - trying to pick one job over the other.

If one of these work out, it will really put my life back on track. I know I will look back at this time and think, that wasn't so bad. And I got to spend lots of quality time with Olivia, especially at a time in her life where she is doing and saying so much.

But again, about the suits - I had to put one on four times in the past seven days, and I am done. Why couldn't I make just as good of an impression in a t-shirt and shorts (ok, a polo or button down and khakis)?

Recruiters

Last week I met up with eight recruiters. Include the one I met up with a few months ago, and two others also working for me (one I met a few years ago), that brings the total numbers of recruiters to 11.

You would think that with this many, I could get an interview already??

I remember how it works. Last time I was looking for a job, I met up with a bunch. Most of them I never heard from again. The others would give me a few updates, but nothing that was even close to what I was looking for. The one that actually found my job, I never heard of them before and they had a job ready when they called me.

I keep getting worried that this will happen again - I met up with three of them on Tuesday, and heard back from one the next day, but only to tell me that they were sending my resume to some places. Haven't heard anything since.

Last time I got my job, it took me about four months. Can I wait that long again? I'm not sure. I love spending all of this time with Olivia, and she is getting so attached to me. But I need to start working again. You know?

Eliminated.

So yeah, I got laid off.

And it happened so fast. I knew that the company was not hitting their numbers for a couple of months, and they already started with a couple of layoffs, and I even knew that it could happen to me. Just not as fast as it did. It was not based on performance, but since they have a small finance/admin department, and I was not billable, I was an obvious choice. Four others were let go the same day as me, to go with the two they let go in the previous three weeks. Oh I'm sorry, the real explanation was that my position was "eliminated" and that they are doing some "restructuring." What ever helps you sleep at night.

Also the way they did it... I know this is how companies do this, but it still feels so dirty. I was called into my boss' office with the head of HR there, and they told me. They wanted me to just leave right then and there (it was 4:30 PM). They shut my computer off while I was talking to them (quickly deactivating my email and work account). They didn't even want me to grab any of my personal belongings (I did manage to grab a few things). And they kept staring at me until I left. I felt like some sort of a criminal. I was not surprised, but it still hit me hard.

This all happened right before vacation (worse - they laid off this other guy while he was on his honeymoon!) It didn't ruin the trip at all - we went to Seattle (with day trips to Portland via Aberdeen, and to Vancouver). The trip was amazing. Melissa and I took our own little grunge tour - saw Kurt's house in Seattle and where he grew up in Aberdeen, the apartment complex from the movie Singles, and West Seattle, where Eddie Vedder lives and where Easy Street Records is (Newbury Comics for the west coast). We saw fish being thrown at Pike Place, went up the Space Needle, nearly teared up in the Experience Music Project when we walked through the Pacific Northwest wing with all of the early 90's memorabilia (including hand-written lyrics from Kurt Cobain and Chris Cornell). We even went to Cannon Beach in Oregon, which is the beach in the Goonies. We fell in love with Seattle very easily.

But now we are back, and I have spent all week submitting my resume everywhere. I have gotten calls from tons of recruiters, and i have agreed to meet with all of them, hoping that someone will have something. No matter what they promise, I know what to expect from them - lots of talk, not much else after that, except maybe an interview or two. I can see ten recruiters, and may not get anything at all from eight of them. But all it takes is one.

This is all new to me. I have always done well at my job, and even at my previous job, I knew I was awesome, I just wanted a chance to move up, which they did not want to do. So now I am home with Olivia, feeling like a single dad during the day with Melissa at work. I drop her off at the in-laws when I need to meet with recruiters (which I have been doing all week). I feel bad when I am online or on the phone with recruiters and not giving Olivia all of my attention, but I have to do what I have to do. Right now, she just had her lunch and is napping on the couch, looking adorable.

So I guess I will do what I need to - if nothing comes up right away, I need to try and enjoy this extra time I have with Olivia, because when I do get a new job, I will miss this. I am getting a severance, so at least I will still be getting some money for awhile. And after that, along with unemployment, Melissa can support my jobless buttocks. I would do it for her (wait, I already did!)

Oh yeah, and Melissa's situation - when she got laid off, she didn't find a job for months, then found a crappy job, but left that one quickly and found her current job right after, and she loves it. So there is hope for me! :)