Friday – Interviews and Other News
Oct. 22nd, 2010 05:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ninanevermore.
.
.
My first week of job hunting is drawing to a close. I had an interview today, and it went well. They usually do. I am very good at interviewing; too bad it doesn't pay so well. The job is for a compliance and licensing position with an insurance company in The Woodlands, about 20 miles from where I live. Anything less than 25 miles from me meets my commute requirements. In a lot of ways, the commute is more important to me than the compensation is. It is a growing company, despite the down economy. It comes with full benefits and a 401K. I would answer to a nice woman (Really. I met her. She’s nice.) as opposed to a sexist jerk.
I won’t get my hopes up. I'll just wait and see. I'm good at waiting, and sometimes at seeing, too.
The Woodlands is a Master Planned Community north of Houston. It started out as a lot of really nice neighborhoods and shopping centers, but in the last decade there has been a growth of industry there. Anadarko Petroleum built their new headquarters in The Woodlands, instead of downtown Houston. At one time, it would never have occurred to me to look for work in the area. Now, it is my main focus since there are so many companies there.
The interview was in the Woodlands Mall, which surprised me. I had no idea there were offices in the shopping mall; I just assumed it was all retail space. I must admit that this would be a boon to me as far as Christmas shopping goes; I could get it all done on my lunch breaks. The office spaces are behind the food court, which beats the heck out having a deli run by a Korean family like most office buildings in Houston seem to have. I like the little delis and I usually like the Koreans who run them, but the menus are limited. This job would come with an entire food court, and a Barnes and Nobles within walking distance (it’s just across the courtyard) if I forgot to bring something to read on my break.
If I get the job, it will be nice. If I don’t, then oh well. That’s the cool part of having only been out of work for a week; desperation has not yet set in. I was desperate when I accepted my last job, and it was a poor fit.
Being home for a week has been sort of nice, too. When my son got to laughing so hard in Kindergarten one day that he wet himself, I was home to take the call and bring him some extra clothes at school. The school nurse called to tell me what had happened; she keeps spare clothes in her office for just these occasions, but she didn’t have anything small enough for my son, who is 6 years old but only about 4 years around the waste. The pair of jeans she tried to lend him dropped to his knees, and so she had to call me. I think I will donate a nylon cord to her office that can be used as an emergency belt, if the need should arise again.
Jeff and I were also able to attend the YMCA’s After School Lights on Day, where parents were invited to play games with the kids from 4 to 6. It was on one of Jeff’s days off, so had I been at work he could have at least done it (there were two other fathers there), but Sweet Pea was the only child with both parents to play with. We played games and then went out to eat.
The little boy from the book store the other week, who recognized Sweet Pea but who Sweet Pea didn’t know until the boy reminded him they were in YMCA After School together, was there. Sweet Pea still did not know his name, so I asked him and he told me his name is Everett. He is in first grade, and his birthday is December 11th, which makes him 10 months older than Sweet Pea.
Sweet Pea played with his father and me, but he tends to play next to, not with, other children. Everett stayed close to Sweet Pea for awhile and they shared some toys. I noticed, but Sweet Pea did not seem to, that Everett was courting him for friendship. I don’t know how else to describe what small children do, other than “courting.” They approach another child and hover close, inviting play. Sweet Pea did not react negatively, and he did interact a little with the other boy, but he seemed unable to recognize the invitation for friendship that Everett was extending. Now that I know Everett’s name, I will bring it up and ask questions to try to get the name, and perhaps the boy, to make an impression with him. Sweet Pea does not complain of loneliness, but he has no friends. The desire for friends (though not the occasional desire for companionship – they are different) seems to be missing in him. I don’t want to force the issue, but I think a friend would do him good.
The school has an aide who sticks with Sweet Pea throughout the school day, and this has helped him. Most days he goes to the principal’s office at least once, but there don’t seem to be as many days where he goes two or three times. Usually the problem happens when they try to make him stand in line for something. He tends to disrupt the line by getting out of line or, on occasion, lying down on the floor rather than standing with the other children.
And so the saga goes, to be continued next week. Will Nina find a new job? Will it suck less than her last one? Will Sweet Pea ever bring a report home with all Smiley Faces and no Frowny Thumbs Down faces with notes that his shoes were confiscated when he threw them across the room? Stay tuned, gentle readers. Only time will tell.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * # * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
.
.
My first week of job hunting is drawing to a close. I had an interview today, and it went well. They usually do. I am very good at interviewing; too bad it doesn't pay so well. The job is for a compliance and licensing position with an insurance company in The Woodlands, about 20 miles from where I live. Anything less than 25 miles from me meets my commute requirements. In a lot of ways, the commute is more important to me than the compensation is. It is a growing company, despite the down economy. It comes with full benefits and a 401K. I would answer to a nice woman (Really. I met her. She’s nice.) as opposed to a sexist jerk.
I won’t get my hopes up. I'll just wait and see. I'm good at waiting, and sometimes at seeing, too.
The Woodlands is a Master Planned Community north of Houston. It started out as a lot of really nice neighborhoods and shopping centers, but in the last decade there has been a growth of industry there. Anadarko Petroleum built their new headquarters in The Woodlands, instead of downtown Houston. At one time, it would never have occurred to me to look for work in the area. Now, it is my main focus since there are so many companies there.
The interview was in the Woodlands Mall, which surprised me. I had no idea there were offices in the shopping mall; I just assumed it was all retail space. I must admit that this would be a boon to me as far as Christmas shopping goes; I could get it all done on my lunch breaks. The office spaces are behind the food court, which beats the heck out having a deli run by a Korean family like most office buildings in Houston seem to have. I like the little delis and I usually like the Koreans who run them, but the menus are limited. This job would come with an entire food court, and a Barnes and Nobles within walking distance (it’s just across the courtyard) if I forgot to bring something to read on my break.
If I get the job, it will be nice. If I don’t, then oh well. That’s the cool part of having only been out of work for a week; desperation has not yet set in. I was desperate when I accepted my last job, and it was a poor fit.
Being home for a week has been sort of nice, too. When my son got to laughing so hard in Kindergarten one day that he wet himself, I was home to take the call and bring him some extra clothes at school. The school nurse called to tell me what had happened; she keeps spare clothes in her office for just these occasions, but she didn’t have anything small enough for my son, who is 6 years old but only about 4 years around the waste. The pair of jeans she tried to lend him dropped to his knees, and so she had to call me. I think I will donate a nylon cord to her office that can be used as an emergency belt, if the need should arise again.
Jeff and I were also able to attend the YMCA’s After School Lights on Day, where parents were invited to play games with the kids from 4 to 6. It was on one of Jeff’s days off, so had I been at work he could have at least done it (there were two other fathers there), but Sweet Pea was the only child with both parents to play with. We played games and then went out to eat.
The little boy from the book store the other week, who recognized Sweet Pea but who Sweet Pea didn’t know until the boy reminded him they were in YMCA After School together, was there. Sweet Pea still did not know his name, so I asked him and he told me his name is Everett. He is in first grade, and his birthday is December 11th, which makes him 10 months older than Sweet Pea.
Sweet Pea played with his father and me, but he tends to play next to, not with, other children. Everett stayed close to Sweet Pea for awhile and they shared some toys. I noticed, but Sweet Pea did not seem to, that Everett was courting him for friendship. I don’t know how else to describe what small children do, other than “courting.” They approach another child and hover close, inviting play. Sweet Pea did not react negatively, and he did interact a little with the other boy, but he seemed unable to recognize the invitation for friendship that Everett was extending. Now that I know Everett’s name, I will bring it up and ask questions to try to get the name, and perhaps the boy, to make an impression with him. Sweet Pea does not complain of loneliness, but he has no friends. The desire for friends (though not the occasional desire for companionship – they are different) seems to be missing in him. I don’t want to force the issue, but I think a friend would do him good.
The school has an aide who sticks with Sweet Pea throughout the school day, and this has helped him. Most days he goes to the principal’s office at least once, but there don’t seem to be as many days where he goes two or three times. Usually the problem happens when they try to make him stand in line for something. He tends to disrupt the line by getting out of line or, on occasion, lying down on the floor rather than standing with the other children.
And so the saga goes, to be continued next week. Will Nina find a new job? Will it suck less than her last one? Will Sweet Pea ever bring a report home with all Smiley Faces and no Frowny Thumbs Down faces with notes that his shoes were confiscated when he threw them across the room? Stay tuned, gentle readers. Only time will tell.
