The Scoop

All right, some of you have heard, and some of you haven't, so I'm going to explain now.

The last few months were kind of crazy at work, and due to the stress (and somewhat due to not having certain skills when it came to MSAccess and/or a new eCommerce software we were using), I kept making mistakes. The last mistake I made was on Friday, September 11, and when I went to work on Monday the 14th, my boss told me about it and said that my other (higher) bosses said it was the last straw and she had to fire me.

So I went home a little shaken that day, and used the time I had at home to relax, as I found out this past Tuesday is usually recommended to people who just lost their jobs. The next day, I started my job search and looked into unemployment benefits, but I didn't sign up for those until the day after that.

That first week, I looked at the prospects for seven different jobs. On Friday the 18th, I had an interview at Colonial Jewelers. Sarah Horwitz said that it was kind of interesting that I'd chosen to walk in and apply the day before, since they were only just thinking about adding an office position to their staff. They hadn't even decided whether or not to create the position (or what the duties would be), but they liked to interview everyone who applied for a job there anyway. I also applied for a job at Dulles Airport that week, because I think it would be fun to work at an airport. I had to take a computerized assessment. It was scheduled to be 2½ hours long, but I got it done in less than an hour, and passed.

Getting jobs with the Transportation Security Administration can take up to a year or more though, so I'm not holding my breath on that one just yet. I'll just get a different job for now, and if the TSA people offer me a job then I might even take it, even if the just over $30K they're offering for the position is less than what I make in that other job, just because it would be fun.

The next week, I applied for two more jobs (as is required by the unemployment people), and had an interview at FSK Automotive. They told me that they would make a decision on Tuesday of this week--I didn't get a phone call, so I didn't get that job.

I applied at Jo-Ann Fabrics and CitiBank yesterday. Jo-Ann's said I didn't meet the requirements of the position for Merchandise Team Leader, and CitiBank said they'd forwarded my application to the hiring person, who would contact me later.

I got half a paycheck from my old job, and I'm about to use the few hundred dollars that gave me to pay the bills that matter most right now, and then I don't know what I'm going to do. I haven't gotten any money from the UI people yet, but I've got a phone interview with them to talk about eligibility. If they somehow decide I'm not eligible, then I will have no income whatsoever, and I'll have no way to pay my bills.

I've thought of getting a part-time job somewhere to at least help, but that won't pay all of the bills. The pros of getting a part-time job are that I'll at least be getting some money, I'll get out of the house for at least a little while during the week, and I won't be bored all the time.

The cons are that the schedule I'd have could prevent me from accepting a full-time position right away if one is offered (which is what I have to do per the UI people), it would possibly make me get less UI money than they'd give me if I actually am eligible, and most of the places I can think of to apply for part-time jobs also have full-time positions but I wouldn't take the full-time position since the pay is little more than half of what I was making before.

So getting a part-time job seems like a waste of time, but not a waste of time also. Anyone else have any thoughts on that? I could use a second opinion.