Monday, January 29, 2007
So, the more I learn about this whole real job thing, the more it feels like selling out. Starting wages are low and for the most part, duties kinda suck. In addition, I understand that I am expected to show up to interviews in a suit, so last night I tried to figure out what the difference is between a business suit and a church suit, given that the latter is the only type I've ever owned. I then looked at prices and was astonished by how much the damn things cost. I hate suits and I really hate ties and the idea of spending hundreds of dollars on something I hate makes me sick. I even thought I should get a rope and tie it into a noose and then cut off most of the extra and wear it down like a tie, but symbols like that can only be gotten away with if you are a rock star and certainly won't land me any jobs. The more I read about the corporate world and jobs and interviews, the more it sounds like it is just some stupid game of judging and favours. I haven't even scored the first interview yet and I am already wondering how much individuality and even humanity I'll have to give up to even make a meager existence in that world. Are these feelings normal for someone going from a college lifestyle to the real world or are they some indication that I need to reconsider the whole thing??
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Well, I just talked to those job people again... apparently there are already two people in queue to get hired at the Hartford office and there are no openings in any of the other offices in that general area. She suggested I could interview at the Atlanta office and then possibly eventually transfer up there if I was hired here. Shit.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Well, after today I'll have made two steps toward my new life.
In just a few minutes after I finish this blog post and a couple other assorted tasks at the apartment, I'll be headed to Peachtree City to drop off several boxes at my mom's house for "long-term" storage. These are things which I want to keep but which I will most likely not need in the near future and so I will be putting them into storage so that I don't have to move them. This is the first of what will probably be two loads of things going to Peachtree City for storage and is the first task that will begin showing signs in the apartment that vacation is imminent.
Second, I officially applied for a job. I don't know whether I'll get it or not, but it is still momentous in that it is my first application for a "real" job. The company has offices all over the place, but I applied for the Hartford office since CT is probably still my leading option in choice of places. While still appealing, the other options seem to have less viability right now. I'm still open to people trying to convince me of other places since if this job I applied for doesn't come through then other than needing more research there is no reason I can't apply in other places as well. However, in the absence of other convincing suggestions, I will probably continue to target the CT area.
The job itself, if I get it, will take a lot of work and be long hours, and the work wouldn't even necessarily be exactly what I want to do, BUT I think the positives of it would make it worth it for me long term even if I didn't stay with that job. Basically what the company does is medical staffing, both contract/short-term and long-term/direct-hire. What I would be doing at first is recruitment work of trying to recruit medical professionals. I would have to do marketing work to attract them and then I would have to screen and interview them. I would then manage payroll and scheduling for my pool of medical professionals as well as doing customer service work with the companies that I help place them in.
The main advantage to the job is the diversity of tasks that I would be doing. It would cover a lot of human resources tasks if I chose to go that route later, it would include basic marketing/sales, and it would cover basic management skills. In addition, the company provides training in business and management.
Basically, when I chose to leave the job, then on top of my degree I would actually have work experience in several different areas, including management, which I think would really open up job possibilities for me. The salary is not huge, but I think it is good enough and relatively decent for starting wages. I am holding off on making any real judgments on the salary until I figure out what percentage of it is actually takehome after taxes/SS/insurance/etc. and until I can figure out the cost of living difference (some websites claim it is ~25% more expensive up there).
The woman at the national recruiting center that I talked to on the telephone yesterday is going to talk to the manager in Hartford to figure out whether I'll need to go up there for the interview or whether it can be accomplished by interviewing at the Atlanta office in combination with talking to the Hartford manager on the phone.
More as it comes.
Edit: I forgot to include this when I first posted. The job
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
I think I just got molested...
I was outside measuring a moving truck that I saw parked out there to get a feel for how big they are when a man came up and started talking to me about how depressed he is and how much his life sucks. He had obviously been drinking but I decided to take pity. It sounded like he really has had a shitty life. So, I slowly walked back to the building with him. He asked if we could go to my apartment for a few minutes and I said no to that so he asked if I would come to his for a few minutes and so I thought what the hell, at least I'll be able to make sure he passes out in his own apartment.
So, at this point he has me sitting on the bed and he's just kind of on his knees leaning against my chest. He rubs my chest a little but I figure it is like the good natured back rub comfort kind of thing and that he just feels the need for feel human presence. His other hand gets closer and closer to my crotch area and before I know it he reached in and started rubbing.
At this point I stood up and tried to excuse myself. He tried to get me to stay and even tried to capture my interest by telling me about a rocking chair that he pulled from the dumpster. Then he tried to talk me into taking him out to eat or giving him money. It was only after I told him I'd bring some back that I was able to get out of there without him following me. I took a different route to try to avoid showing him where I live, but still, while I was writing this blog entry he knocked on the door a number of times.
After he just kept knocking, I looked up and dialed the number for the athens police department but it was a recording and said if I had an emergency then to call 911, which I considered doing if he didn't leave. It's now quiet, but I guess he knows where I live. So, now what? Do I report him to the apartment complex, to the police, or do I just forget about it and hope he doesn't bug me again?
Notes to self:
1. never become a social worker who has to deal with people like that on a regular basis
2. Make sure to move away from here
3. Make sure the new apartment complex doesn't do section 8 (which this guy is)
Monday, January 08, 2007
Well, today is the day that Spring semester 2007 begins at UGA... and I'm not there. Kind of weird, ya know? The pattern my whole life, or at least since whatever age you start Headstart at has been fall semester, christmas break, spring semester, summer break, repeat. But I went and graduated. It really didn't feel like it was a big deal at all and really it still hasn't sunk in what I did. The achievement aspect really is not the biggest thing of it to me. The biggest thing to me is that I just changed my entire lifelong pattern of annual behaviour. I haven't seen or talked to any students that are back in school for it to really sink in on more than a conceptual level.
I've jumped off the train. What's fucking weird about time being called the fourth dimension is that in the first three you can "look" and move in all of the directions that they encompass. In time, you can only move forward but you can only look backwards. So that means that I really can't know what I'm jumping into because I have to do it with no sight. The real world is more like an ocean with various waves to carry you forward. Waves grow, strengthen, and die off. Looking back from my jumping point I can make guesses about the waves from their past behaviour. Watching from the train has given me some insight into how the waves work. Being on it longer has theoretically given me a better understanding than someone who jumped off earlier, but the nature of the ocean is far less mechanical and predictable than a mechanical train.
People group together in this ocean to create other mechanical entities like boats (clubs, companies, etc.) to try to get back on a more constant progression and provide some sort of comfort in relative safety. The problem with boats, however, is that they dissociate you with the water a little bit. In times when the ocean is calm, the boats can go faster than you can swim and so it may well be better for you to be on a boat, however, when the ocean is in turmoil, a skilled waverider can, at far greater risk, potentially move far ahead of the boats because of the more direct contact.
I hope that I can learn to know when to ride the boats and which ones to ride.
I hope that I can learn when to get off the boats.
I hope that I can learn to "see" the waves where no true sight (4th dimension) is available.
I hope that I can learn to ride the waves.
I hope that one day I will look back and see the bows of many boats behind me.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Well, my Sanskrit teacher finally turned in grades. Despite leaving 60% of the final completely blank, he gave me a B just like in previous semesters. That gives me a final college GPA of 2.98. For job/resume purposes, I'll go ahead and round it to 3.0, but if I ever choose to do further schooling I'll probably try to get in a summer/night course at a community college to bump it up just that little bit to a real 3.0 first.
School will start for most people pretty soon so it'll be interesting to see if the whole graduated thing sinks in...