Very superstitious

I refuse to jinx this. That's why I haven't been posting news about my job search. Just know that, after five interviews, I got a good phone call today. They're checking my references and my background tomorrow.

After that... well... I'm trying to make myself assume that I still won't get the job because then, if I really don't, I might not blow my brains out. Maybe.

This tactic doesn't sound quite as healthy as the "positive thinking" method of getting through life's tougher times. But superstition and positive thinking are hard to reconcile, so I'm sticking with the former.

Dead air

Forgive the recent radio silence. I swear to god I'm going to write a book on the psychology of job interviews when I'm through with all this.

I'm on interview number four at a very special place. I won't write the name of the organization here, as I've become very superstitious in my unemployment and am afraid to jinx it.

In other news...

The high today was 12 degrees.

Also, I saw a homeless guy on the street downtown gently cradling what, at first glance, appeared to be a baby but was, in fact, a cat. He was holding a sign, but I was too distracted by the cat to read it. I'm left wondering: Did he count on people not looking closely enough at the cat and taking pity on a poor homeless father with an infant? Did he believe he was actually holding a human baby? Or is he one of those cat people who treat their pet as though it were a human baby (cough cough, Jane)?

Pictures from the 'hood

I took some pictures of our place with the furniture set up, and also a few around the neighborhood. Check them out here!

It seemed like some of you were confused about how to view the last pictures I posted. When you click on the link, it will take you to a screen that shows all the photos at once, in small thumbnails. To view them, you'll need to click on the first picture. It will show up larger, and you can then read the caption under it. When you're ready to go on to the next one, either click on the photo or click the "Next" link at the top right of the photo. Enjoy!

(If the link above won't work, here's the full url that you can copy and paste: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2302965&id=22204543&l=44adea3aef)

I went

Because I am dumb, I actually went to the Mary Kay thing tonight. I'm still processing what I heard there. Will try to write about it tomorrow. For now, suffice it to say that it was a fascinating sociological study during which I alternated between anger, embarrassment, and holding back giggles.

Well Put-together

I had an interview on Monday. The interviewer didn't ask a single standard interview question. You know the ones - "If I asked your previous supervisor to name one area that you could improve, what would they say?" or "Tell me about a time when you overcame a personal conflict at work." It was wonderful. We actually discussed, as two equals would, what the job entails and how I might contribute. She asked me practical questions and told me at the end of the interview exactly when I'll hear about the next steps. She also promised to call me even if I'm not selected to move on in the process. This is unprecedented in my interviewing experience.

On the way home from the interview, as I was about the walk up the stairs to the train platform, a woman behind said, "Excuse me" and I turned around to face her. She said, "I don't mean to startle you, but you are very well put-together." Not knowing where this was going, but curiosity piqued, I said, "Well, thanks! That's really nice." I did not mention that I was wearing the one and only nice outfit I own.

She inquired about my profession, and I told her I had just come from a job interview. She asked about my professional background, and I talked a bit about my nonprofit experience. She then said, "Well, I'm in leadership development and I'm looking for a new director and think you'd be great at it. Can I give you my card?" Hmmm. I still had no idea what this was all about. A scam? A pyramid scheme? A come-on? A legitimate opportunity? Surely it couldn't be the latter, but I said, "Sure, I'll take a card from anyone." And she handed it over. I gave her one of mine, the curiosity again getting the better of me.

When I looked down at her card, I saw that she works for Mary Kay. The look on my face must have said "Oh Jesus, no way, this chic is trying to sell me makeup" because she immediately said not to worry, she wasn't trying to sell me makeup.

She called me a few hours later and wanted me to come to a meeting with her directors that's happening tomorrow. Now I have to decide whether to blow it off, call and cancel, or actually go. I'll let you know what I decide tomorrow night.

Juxtaposition

The following two updates were posted on my Facebook newsfeed in the past hour by friends in North Carolina:

"Well back from hunting..... however I decided to take my son who doesn't like being quiet. What can I say he is only a kid what did I expect, lol! Though I got me a buck this morning so overall it was a great day!"

"Civil war reenactment at boone hall plantation"

By contrast, the following two updates were also posted in the past hour, but by friends in Chicago:

"Up early this morning doing volunteer work for the chicago public schools - it will be so much cleaner after today."

"Just learned that at the height of a food crisis in Somalia the Obama administration did not send food or humanitarian aid...but $10 million/40 tons of weapons...and the Nobel Committee looked the other way."

This unrepresentative sample, of course, proves nothing. But it's pretty funny, nonetheless.

Another Interview!

I guess this job search is going to go in fits and starts. I got three interviews in September, none in October, and two already in November. The newly scheduled interview is on Tuesday afternoon. Will report back when it's over!

Let's hope the biggest decision I'll have to make in the coming weeks is which job offer to accept, rather than how best to start all over with the search. I'm getting pretty sick of unemployment.

By the way, my informational interview last week was amazing. The guy gave me an insider's perspective of what it's like to work in higher education and gave me ideas on everything from career possibilities to thesis topics. Definitely worth the hour's time and the $7 I spent on our coffees.

Quick Update

Whoops - forgot to blog for awhile! Just a few quick updates before I go to class.

We're getting settled in to the new place. It really feels like home. We've had some friends and family members over, and everyone has ooooed and ahhhhhed over it and made us feel great about our choice. All that's left to do is paint the second bedroom, which can't be done until Charlie finishes our furniture piece.

After a month of not getting any job interviews, I finally have one for November 16th. I'll let you know how it goes, but no details until then - don't want to jinx it.

I've started receiving unemployment benefits, which help but are nowhere near what I need to survive for the long term. I'm diversifying my job-hunting strategy to include more informational interviews with organizations that don't necessarily have vacancies posted. I have one of these interviews scheduled for tomorrow morning, which I'm really excited about.

For a teeny bit of extra income, a friend suggested that I register with market research firms, which often offer paid focus group opportunities. Get paid to give my opinion on trivial consumer goods? Count me in! I got a sweet gig recently that pays $150 for setting up a blog on which I posted three entries - one describing myself, one giving my opinions of seven different brands, and one describing how I used/use/will use technology in the past, present, and future. I also got chosen to do a follow-up interview with this company, for which they will be paying me another $200. I could get used to this...

I'm almost finished with school, thank god. Just three more weeks to go and my courses will be over. January through June I'll be working independently on my final project, and then I'll officially have a Masters degree.

More later!

Home Sweet Home

We've completely moved into the new place now. We closed on Friday and went straight to pick up the rental car to start moving our stuff in and begin the painting party. By painting party, I mean that we convinced our friends Shaun and Julia to spend approximately 20 hours helping us paint our walls. Additionally, we commissioned our friend Charles to make a custom piece of furniture - a combined bar-bookshelf - for us. He worked in our second bedroom all day, measuring and sawing and making a beautiful piece exactly how we wanted it. We started prepping the walls for paint at about noon and finished for the day at midnight.

The next morning, the movers came at 8:00 AM and loaded up their truck with the rest of our stuff. Shaun and Julia met us at the new place to finish the painting. We wrapped up by dinnertime and went out for Thai food while the paint dried. We then ceremoniously peeled off the painter's tape to unveil the gorgeous colors with crisp edges. We broke open the champagne our realtor gave us and sat back to admire our work.

Some observations thus far:

• The previous owner of our place did a crappy job painting, so her colors are still encroaching on our baseboards.
• Speaking of baseboards, they need a lot of work. The previous owner never touched them, except with her paintbrush.
  
• The upstairs neighbors have at least one small child.
• The across the hall neighbors have a dog - quite a large one from the sounds of it.
• We are fantastic at picking paint colors - our place feels incredibly warm and comfy now.
• A two bedroom apartment, relatively speaking, is enormous.
• Our furniture looks much smaller and shabbier than it did two days ago.

I'm currently sitting by the living rooms windows, sipping my coffee, listening to NPR, and feeling wonderfully at home. I can't wait until we get unpacked and establish our flow. I love this place so much.

Pictures coming soon! And a date for a housewarming party, too!

Skool

I stumbled upon this website while searching for examples of nonprofit ad campaigns to bring to class on Wednesday: http://osocio.org.

I'm definitely learning more from this site than from my Marketing for Nonprofits class. Some of these campaigns are freakin' brilliant.