Looking for work in the worse job market in decades is not fun. In fact, it sucks. It seems that things are getting better, (there seems to me to be more jobs to look at), but the pace of job growth is dismally slow. This combined with the number people out looking is making it very tough. Also, I read an article today that companies are trying harder to make better employment decision in the first place, which translate into longer time to evaluate candidates up to twice as long to make decisions.
Unemployment 1890 to 2008
Unemployment Jan 2007 – Jan 2010
It is not just the unemployed that are looking. I have friends at Boeing that have decided it is time to leave. Several are beginning the process of building up their resumes and dipping their feet in the waters of job searching. Protecting what they have, but giving up the dream of staying with Boeing. My point is there are many employed people that are looking to change positions or companies and are actively out looking.So far, I have had 78 job applications or interviews. Accompanied by 61 rejections. John Gottman the relationship expert says that in order to have healthy relationships you need to have a 5 to 1 ratio of positive interactions to negative interactions. Unless somebody radically changes the job hunting process, I will never be able to build a healthy relationship with job hunting.
My hope lies in the current 17 open job requisitions which have not responded, some date back to May. Not saying that one of the local airplane manufactures is slow, but I have given up hope that I will be getting a call these. I dare them. I double Dare them. Hell, I Double Dog Dare them to prove me wrong.
So how am I doing on the other things I was trying to accomplish. I wanted to do more than just job hunt. I had the following areas that I wanted to focus on:
- Find a Job (Priority 1)
- Be a great stay at home Dad
- Get healthy (lose weight and get in better shape)
- Remodel the house
- Define a non profit that I have been thinking about.
Finding a job.
This progresses, but I feel like a failure here. I keep bashing my head against the wall and hoping that it busts through soon. This is a class the I feel I’m trying hard, but so far I don’t quite understand what the teacher is looking for. I would say I get a C here.Being a stay at home Dad.
I think I’m being more good than great. I have been focusing on other areas and could keep the house cleaner. It isn’t bad, just still trying to find the right mix of when things need to be cleaned and developing the self discipline to complete the task when it comes up.I believe that we are eating healthier and I pretty happy about that. I use more whole grains and have tried to reduce the amount of corn syrup. Also, the amount of fruit in our diet has gone up.
Getting healthy.
Here it is a mixed bag. I have done lousy in the exercise department over the last month because I injure my foot and have tried to let it heal. It doesn’t seem to be getting much better. So I may try building up my walking again. I could also be lifting weights, but I have been bad about getting over there. I hope to improve in this area significantly in September.
Image via WikipediaLosing weight I’m doing great, at least for me. I’m not at the Biggest Loser level that you see on TV, but I’m afraid people’s addiction to quick changes is what holds many people back. I am much more satisfied to slowly take it off and then work to keep it off. Since the beginning of the year I lost over 15 lbs. I still have a ways to go to get to my perfect weight, but I am starting to see and feel the difference. My blood pressure has been trending down since the beginning of the year and if it keeps going the way that it is, I should be able to stop my medication before long. So over all, I give myself a B in this area. A B that I am pretty happy with. If I can get back at the exercise, then I will have an A in this area.
Remodeling the house.
This is going slowly but we are making progress and September promises to be a month of big changes here. The master bath is being rebuilt this week and by next Friday we could be able to take showers in there (using a temporary shower curtain instead of a door that will have to be ordered.In the basement the tear down is proceeding and hopefully by the end of next week will be complete. We have the cabinets in for both bathrooms and the old bar area. And we have the tub in to replace it. We are waiting for the other shower to get operational before tearing into the main bath.
I am meeting with a Sheet Rocker tonight and will find out what he can do. He has a regular job, so he will only be able to work nights and weekends. I have seen his work and it is great. I’m excited to get this going.
We are trying to figure out what we want for electrical, carpet, and other colors downstairs and in the main bath. So we once again have samples laying around the house.
In this area, I give us an B- with most of the grade coming in September.
Defining a non-profit.
Here I have done great. I have thought about this and decided that I idea that I had was not worth pursuing . There are many institutions that are out their, adding another one isn’t of great value. Many later on I will get back to this, but for now this is complete. This turned out to be a Pass/Fail endeavor and I ended up with a Pass.I titled this the officially sucks, mostly. It has it good points. I am in better health physically and mentally than I was in February when this all started. I feel that I am closer to my kids, than I would have been if my job would have continued. I feel that I am having more of an effect in their lives than if I was working over this whole summer. Could I have done better, you bet you, but the progress I have made is good and I like that I have been given the chance to change my focus. I feel less stressed, I think that is why the weight is coming off; I’m doing less stress related stuffing of my mouth out of boredom.
The hardest part with this all is in the inability to have enough structure to plan for the future. Instead, every day is a work day, a day to do something related to looking for work. Others things are thrown in as best I can.
Overall
My nervousness has gone up in the fourth month. I can feel the end of my severance pay coming up. The unemployment checks are a welcomed addition to our finances, but it is not enough to sustain us with one in college and another one headed that way. We are comfortable, not at our wits end yet. We are lucky to have all that we do, and I wish we had a little more stability that we could bank on. I appreciate the chance to improve in others areas than just being a working stiff.I pray for the many, many people that are worse off than we are.
Today’s quote, I think as a society we have a lot of this that we must do. I know I have to work hard at getting my heart in order:
To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.
-- Confucius
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