get a job in another city

It’s a strange thing. After being unemployed for three months and stuck in a living situation that is slowly killing me, I’m more ready than I can express to get a job and move. And so the steps it takes to get there have become almost instinctive, acts of self-preservation. Yesterday I got an email in response to probably the most adult (read: scary) and well-paying job I applied for, asking me to call the HR rep asap. When I told Lani about this, I spoke of falling-off-the-couch excitement, but really I was quite still (in part, perhaps, because “asap” for me was the next morning); when the time came to make the call, I spoke of my doubts and nervousness, but really, compared to how I have felt in similar past situations, my stomach was settled and my head certain.

I don’t know what this means; surely the three months have left me also less articulate and generally less in the swing of things, but then again, when the time comes perhaps I will go on autopilot and just get the job done. I’m just ready for the next step, even if it is the scary adult job that requires a new wardrobe & professionalism instead of the nothing part-time grunt work jobs I keep thinking I prefer; maybe I’m ready to just jump into that, and have a new life and be sort of (only in job-related ways, understand) a new person right from the off.

Regardless, if anything comes from this return call when it comes, whether it’s a real job or just the opportunity to go to Mpls to interview for one, I’m going to laugh at myself for considering, even for a moment, not pursuing this—and hopefully some lesson will come with it.

I always feel so good about myself when I send an application out there. It doesn’t matter if it’s a crap job I’m overqualified for on the one hand, or something amazing and way out of my league on the other. At this stage just being actively, and consistently, involved in the process is a big boost for me. I know I should have been doing this all along, but it always seemed to me that finding an apartment first would be easier. And it is (if they’d have me without a real source of income), but this is better for my mood: 1) it’s more of a challenge, 2) it’s something real and adult, 3) it’s a way of proving myself, and in talking myself up in cover letters and resumes I know it’s not all bullshit, I know I am actually awesome in a few ways. In apartment hunting, I was always on the defensive. Job hunting forces you to look at yourself positively, and I begin to believe it since in all things I’m easily swayed.

Like exercise or really anything good for me, I always think of the job hunt with dread, but the moment I start I begin to feel good about it. I never WANT to look for jobs. But as with anything in my life, when I get into something my mind latches onto it and I’ll go with it for a long time. Every time I decide to start the search, I expect to find this kind of drive for it. And if I can decide to search every day, imagine how productive I could be. It’s nice to be able to direct my customary obsessive zeal toward something useful for once. :)

Anyway, the jobs I applied to today were more on the crapjobs end of the spectrum, but hey, they’d pay the bills and they’d get me to Mpls. That’s the main thing now: getting there. Once income is assured, I can begin to think about the ideal job and look for it at my leisure, become really prepared to go after it. There are a lot of jobs that could get me there; it’s only a matter of lucking into the one that wants me and works best on my terms. It may require a few dozen applications to find it, so I’ll keep it up!

This week, I’ll apply for at least 10 jobs, concentrating in Minneapolis still, and by the end of the week have a few other cities on the short list.

This goes hand in hand with the morning ritual goal: I’d like to incorporate this into a useful routine, part of a daily schedule, say 10-2 every day on the job hunt, no delays, no excuses.