Ok, lets see. What has happened since my last update?

Well, for one, I got a call from Blue Cross Blue Shields, and they wanted me to come in for a professional writing test. I applied for the position of Instructional Writer I some time ago, and I guess they just wanted to make sure I knew my stuff before they decided to even considered me for the position. Fair enough, I guess. The test wasn’t too bad. I had to write one business letter and a memo in a forty minute time frame. Since I have never really written a business letter or a memo in my entire life, I doubt I got points for structure. In the grammar and spelling department, I probably did pretty well. I may not be a perfect English major, but there are a few things I learned in college that refuse to leave me. If you have anything drilled into your brain for four years, it is hard to forget it.

Supposedly, I will hear from them in a week or so. That is when they will tell me whether or not I passed, passed with training, or out right failed. If I pass, I guess they’ll ask me in for an interview and then we will go from there. I think it would be funny if I ended up working for the same company as Phil. If they call me up and tell me I failed, I am going to cry myself into an eternal slumber. I mean, if I can’t pass a simple writing test . . . well, I’d rather not go there. Just keep your fingers crossed for me.

The day after my writing test, I had an interview with the Lexington DSS office. This one is much closer than the Eastover office – 28 miles closer – but the salary is much lower – $8,574 lower. I knew that before going, but I figured considering my current position, I should at least go and talk with them in order to keep my options open. It’s an entry level position, so at least there would be a ladder to climb. While I was there, I did take note of the bars at the reception desk and how every single one of the doors in the building were locked. All of the staff members have a key on this pull cord around their neck. One of the women I was sitting beside said, “I think someone went off.” I just nodded my head. Something must have happened. They should make a decision by the end of this week.

Last night, I got an email from a school called Agape English Language Institute. They are located right here in Columbia, and they teach English to foreign nationals. They are a pretty small school, but they finally may need a new teacher beginning in March. It sounds interesting. I’ve yet to actually sit down and talk to the guy who may or may not hire me, but at least now there is a possibility that I could end up teaching English again.

And lastly, I got a call just a few hours ago from the University of South Carolina. The woman wanted to let me know that I was in the top two for the position I had interviewed for before Thanksgiving. This is the Human Resources job if you are trying to keep up. She said she still had to contact my references and that another guy wanted to speak to me before she made her final decision. She said that she hopes to have the position filled by February first. Maybe she will make a decision sooner.

And that is pretty much it for now. All I got to say is that I never want to have to look for a job again. It is one big pain in the ass.

Well, I had my interview.

I’m not sure how I feel about it though. The interview itself went well, but it seemed rushed and unorganized. For instance, the woman I met while waiting in the reception room was supposed to have her interview at 9:00, but she didn’t get seen until about 10:00 or so. My interview was scheduled at 9:30, and I didn’t get called until shortly after she got ushered away. I was confused on why we were getting taken to two different rooms, but I soon figured it out. They were just trying to get the paper work part of the interview out of the way. The woman sat me down, told me to review my application, had me read the job description, and asked if $28,822 was good for me. I thought 28K floated my boat, so, I said, “Sure, 28K sounds delicious.” However, when I got done reading the job description, I asked if I could have a copy because I had never seen it before. It was a lot more detailed than the version I had seen on the State website. She looked at me very nicely and said, “No, we don’t give these out.” That really confused me, but I didn’t protest. She had me sign a few things, and then ushered me back out to the reception room. “We’ll be with you in a minute, Ms. Cook.”

Another applicant had shown up for her interview. I sat beside her and started up a conversation. I had to size up my competition, you know. Heh. She seemed interesting enough, but came off a bit stiff. After a lot of small talk, we concluded that this was a strange interview process. Through the walls we could almost hear the woman who went in before me being read her interview questions. A few questions later, the door opened and the girl left. The woman beside me said rather emphatically, “Are you kidding me? Only 4 questions?” I gave her my “I don’t know” face and shrugged my shoulders.

The woman who had politely refused to give me my job description stepped in the doorway and called my name. I walked in, sat down and we said our “how you dos”. There were two women. One was the reader and the other was the writer. Quite literally, the interview started out like this: “Number one, how do you feel . . .” I answered the question and the writer took note of the important things that I said. When I finished, the reader continued with: “Number two, how do you . . .” And that is how it went on for 17 questions. I was quite sad that they didn’t ask me the “where do you see yourself in five years” question. I like seeing the look on peoples faces when I tell them I see my self herding sheep in Ireland or whichever country I think of at the time.

I asked them a few questions, and then it was time for me to leave. If I get the job, the only bad thing will be the cost of gas to get me to and from work every week. It’s 40 miles away from where I live. That would be 400 miles a week and 20,000 miles a year. Ouch, man. That’s a lot of miles.

I guess the important question is whether or not I will get the job. If the two women that were interviewing me see race, I don’t think that I will. Eastover is predominantly a black community, and from what I saw, their office was, too. The two other applicants that I met were black as well. I mean, if the other 10 or so applicants are more qualified than me, I would want them to get the job before I did, even though I’m about as broke as a robbed bank. I guess we’ll see what happens in 2 to 4 weeks. That’s the time frame that they gave me.

I also gave USC another call. I’m sure that I’m like a gnat that just won’t stop buzzing in their ear, but if it gets me the job, I don’t care. They said that they should make a decision this week. I had my interview with them the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I would hope they’ve had enough time to figure out who they want for the job. I was thinking though, the other applicants have probably been as unemployed as long as I have. If that is the case, they may have already found jobs and they’ll have to choose me! Hey, I can dream.

Everyone keep their fingers crossed!

I finally landed an interview with the State!

Yippy Skippy as Ms. Piggy would say.  My brother, Nathaniel, always hated when she said that for some reason.  As much as I am happy, I am a little sad.  The place that I will be interviewed and most likely work, if I even get the job, is 30 miles away from where I live.  My interview is at the Department of Social Services and the position title is Human Services Specialist II.  It’s located over in Eastover somewhere.  I’ve heard of Eastover, but I’ve never been there.  It’s one of those places you know exists, but if someone asked you how to get there, you’d wouldn’t know which direction to send them.  Since I don’t know the area at all, I looked up the address they gave me so I would have some idea of how to get there come January 3rd.  Well, I typed it into to Google, and hit the map button, and Google told me it didn’t exist.  If it doesn’t exist on Google, where does it?  Phil somehow was able to find the longitude and latitude and plugged that in, and finally was able to bring it up on Yahoo Maps. But goodness, it shouldn’t be that hard to find a flipping street.  Anyway, wish me luck because I really, really, need a job.

In other news, I think I found out one of the reasons why it has been difficult finding a job – read on.

SC unemployment rate rises for the 3rd straight month

Long time no blog.

I have no real excuses.

I am still working on the post about my trip to the Shenyang hospital.  Most of it is done, but I want it to be as perfect as I can get it.  I’m a stupid perfectionist, what can I say?

Lately, life has been, well, life.  I had $255.00 of work done on my car, so now I am really hurting for money.  It took away a month that I could wait on a good job.  So, to make sure that I don’t spend another unnecessary penny, I sleep all day.  If I am asleep, I can’t drive and waste gas and I definitely can’t eat.  Eating cost money unless there is food stashed in the cupboards( I never knew that word was spelled like that).  My day, on most days, consists of me getting up and applying for any and all jobs that I can find online and then waiting for one of the 120 jobs I’ve applied to already to call me back for a freaking interview. 

As you may have read, Phil was offered a fairly nice job at the State.  He was happy.  I was happy.  Blue Cross Blue Shields(an insurance company) however, was not.  They begged and pleaded him to come in for an interview, knowing full well that he already had a job.  He decided to go and appease them.  I mean, what would it hurt to see what they had to offer?  On the day of his interview, they kept him for 3 hours and gave him an offer that the majority of the people on the planet couldn’t turn down.  I can’t quote the number they offered because that would be rude, and I don’t think Phil would appreciate it, but I can say that it was a heck of a lot more than the State cared to put on the table.  Also, it is probably more than I will ever make annually.  So, if I had a Sugar Daddy before, I must have Sugar Daddy Executive now.  Heh.

Also in the news of Gabe, my mother has told me that I am allowed to turn my backyard into berry farm. 

GabbyGirl1981: I found a raspberry plant that grows in the south
dianacarol47: GREAT
GabbyGirl1981: Now I just need a plot of land so I can start growing blackberries, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries.
GabbyGirl1981: Can I just use the back yard?
GabbyGirl1981: like, all of it?
dianacarol47: SURE
dianacarol47: YEAH

I was so happy that I started walking my backyard to figure out just how many plants I could stuff back there.  If you have ever seen my backyard, it’s not very big, but it could probably hold around 60 plants or so comfortably.  Maybe more.  I am going to have to get out there and measure and what not before I order anything.  First, I need cash, which means I need a job.  Hopefully, that will happen before too long.  Once I get one, I can order from a nursery in Georgia that carries southern varieties of raspberries and blueberries.  For 20 blackberry, 20 raspberry, 10 blueberries, and 10 strawberry bushes, it will only cost $234.00, including shipping.  Not that bad really.  My only other cost would be any soil I would have to buy, as well as any other garden needs.  I might be able to borrow a tiller, but if I can’t, I might be able to rent one.  And then, in a year, at max two, I’d have a wonderful crop of berries to sell to my fellow Columbians.  I never said how big I wanted my berry farm to be when I told you all about my dreams.  My backyard would be a start, and starts are all dreams need.