I have received very little response on the job applications that I have sent out. I had two interviews at Boeing, a phone interview with Children’s and an interview with Liberty Mutual that was later canceled when the job requisition was rescinded. That is not much after 63 days under the warn notice and 81 days after being laid off, 144 – that’s a gross.
And lately, I have not been seeing any jobs that I could seriously apply for in the last couple of weeks. Since the week before the 4th of July it seems to me that things had dried up, at least in the areas that I have been keeping track of.
Boeing, as part of the severance package, pays for the first 3 months of health care. The end of July is the last of our free ride. The monthly cost $1715 with $125 being dental insurance. Since Boeing is a trade affected company, I’m covered under the TAA act. One of the benefits under TAA is that it will cover 80% of the full cobra cost. They don’t cover dental but will cover 80% of $1590 leaving $318 and $125 or about $443 per month to continue the Boeing insurance.
How could people ever afford to make it without the 80% paid? We are fortunate in that my wife was able to find a job with good benefits, so we are discussing whether to just go under her this plan.
In addition the end of my severance pay is quickly approaching, about two more months and it is gone. Then things get tight.
All of this is combining to be both disconcerting and a bit depressing. It seems the August summer economic doldrums started early and have no sign of ending anytime soon.
That is the depressing back drop, I entered into the week with. I have have seen myself quickly slide back into the doldrums myself when searching, reading through 50 or so job requisitions and not coming up with anything to apply to. Then this week some hopeful glimmers. First, I was focused on the the remodeling, so Monday and Tuesday My searching was rushed and didn’t bother me as I moved on to getting the bathroom sheet rock installed. Then yesterday, I found a few jobs that looked more promising.
One is very interesting and I spent several hours today creating a cover letter and redoing my resume to fit the job. This is a change. I use to change a few words on my resume and use a slightly modified previous cover letter. Now it is major rewrites, tailoring both for the specific job. It takes lot longer, but hopefully will result in a greater number of interviews.
On May 7th, I put in a application for a job that I really wanted. On May 20th, I had a phone interview. I had given up on this as long gone. Today, I received a call that they want to interview me next week. I’m very excited, because of all the applications that I have put it, many for exciting job possibilities, this is the job at the top of my list.
Maybe I’m not completely crazy in thinking that my resume was good. Maybe, I have been on the right track and it is just a matter of time for the right job to come along.
Now if all the other applications that I have put in will please start calling for interviews and I would be appreciative.
Today’s Quote:
Flow with whatever is happening and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.
-Chang Tzu
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