I recently went to a family reunion. At said family reunion I got asked the “What’s next?” question a grand total of 17 times. Boy, if that didn’t make me feel the urgent need to get a job (or at least some sort of sign to wear that reads: [f]un-employed*), I absolutely do not know what will.
After I tell people that I’m just at home looking for a job, the next most popular question usually has something to do with either what kind of job I’m looking for or what I’m interested in doing. This particular set of questions is even harder to answer. To tell you the truth, I honestly don’t have an answer. Not even a snarky one! But, I think it’s imperative to my job search to start to answer this question. In order to do so I think I will employ one of my favorite pastimes: list making!!!
I think I will start with what characteristics I would like in a job:
– I want my job to mean something. I don’t just want to sit behind a desk shuffling papers, I want to help other people.
– It would be great to somehow work with kids. At first I thought that the only route to working with children would be going down the teacher path. I even applied for Teach for America and went through the whole interview process. In the end I was not offered a job and I was devastated, but I thought everything through and I came to the realization that working with kids does not necessarily confine me to being a teacher. There are many different opportunities to work towards the empowerment of youth.
-Ideally I would work and live in the bay area. The bay area is where I’ve always lived and it’s where my heart is. Plus, the weather is perfect for me! It has some semblance of seasons, but not to the extremes (both extreme heat and cold scare the living daylights out of me, and don’t even get me started on snow!). I say “ideally” because I don’t want to limit myself. If I were to have a wonderful job opportunity in a different location then I would definitely consider relocating.
I really can’t think of anything else to add to my list, but I do have one disclaimer to add (here is where things start to get confusing…). Going to events like the Life After Scripps Conference (which I must recommend!) and talking to the lovely ladies of CP&R, I have heard multiple times that there are sooo many jobs out there that you don’t know exist or that you don’t think of as a job, but could possibly the perfect career for you. I am ABSOLUTELY convinced that my future job will lie in this category, and because of this I must say again that I don’t want to limit myself. Yes I said that it would be great to work with kids, but I don’t want to look solely for jobs involving kids. Perhaps more resumes and cover letters that I send out will be directed towards jobs having to do with children, but who knows what’s out there? Just like with candy, it doesn’t hurt to LOOK!
I want to end this post in a semi-self-indulgent way with one more list. I figure that I can use a little self-motivation in finding a job, so this list will consist of reasons why I want a job.
-Most of my friends from home have either moved away for their own jobs or are still at school (Celine Dion would say I’m “Alll by myyyyselllfffff”). Having a job will provide me with the opportunity to get out of the house and meet new people and make some new friends.
-My new “smart” phone has a calendar and I would like to have things to put in it other than “Season 5 of The Office on DVD Today!”
-Insurance would be nice.
-As much as I love my parents, I also look forward to living independently. Right now as a personal assistant to a realtor, I’m earning about $100/week (sporadically) which adds to at most $5200/year. This amount might pay for a cardboard box rental for about a week in the bay area.
-Last but not least, I look forward to the next family reunion where my sign will read: Gainfully Employed.
*Courtesy of L.R.