Today was mixed with lots of good and bad. First, Julie - thanks for the thoughts (just read them now).
So the goods: my interview outfit is definitely looser than it was the last time I wore it, I avoided the fast food outlets both before and after, I got up early enough to do 45 mins on the treadmill, and I did a good job on the interview (sometimes you can just tell)
And the bads: the short-term job was actually meant to try-out a long term employee, I came clean about not wanting the job past September (this is assuming I get in to college), and my knee is bugging me a bit today
So, unless they are unsuccessful about finding someone else, the job will not be mine. Even if I wasn’t going back to school I couldn’t do it long term. It would drive me crazy. It’s also a little too far away for what they’re paying, but when you’re not making any money this isn’t such a big deal. I did however turn the bad into a possible future good. The HR woman was quite impressed that I was honest about my longer goals that she’s going to see about getting me a work term next summer. That’s not a mistake, it would be the summer of 2009. Technically the program I’m hoping to get into is a co-op, but the first summer term is a break. This is because most students don’t have enough skills to be useful at that point. She thinks with my experience that I would be a good fit in their manufacturing/engineering dept. (although getting me in this summer would have been much better). I was actually going to try and hit up my previous employer next summer as well (at the plant I enjoyed working in, or one of the others).
If it had been any other industry I would probably have lied, taken the job, and then just quit before school started. The thing about the one I’m in now is that it’s very small. It’s unusual to not find someone you know, or someone who has worked with someone you know. In this company it turns out that two different people in the plant have worked at two different companies I’ve worked for the in the past. What it means long term is that you really can’t screw people over. All you need is a bad reputation and you’ll have an almost impossible time getting a job. During my last two jobs I’d been asked a couple of times about people I’d worked with in the past (once I was nice, the other time I was hesitant which in itself is damning).
So, here I am, still unemployed (unless they decide that someone without long term aspirations will do). I’m not really upset, but my pocketbook would have been happier. Now I’m looking at cashing out the rest of my non-RRSP savings and waiting for slips from last year so I can get my tax refund. If I can’t find decent short-term work I’m looking at increasing the equity loan on the house. It’s not really a huge deal, since even doubling it would only be a third of the value. It does mean that no matter what, my mother and I will be sharing a house for the next three years. This in itself isn’t a bad thing, but without actual income for at least the first year I’m pretty much stuck. It’s funny though. We’ve shared this house for the last 10 years, and as long as we both get our space, it works well. I’m not sure if knowing I won’t have many options will change all that.
Now I just have to convince myself to do the next 45 mins on the treadmill. Although if my knee is still bothering me, I’ll just take myself up to 60 mins for the day and consider it a rest day. The last thing I want to do it bugger it up so I can’t do anything. So if it’s not good tomorrow I’ll also drop it back to 60 mins (with no incline).
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