The last few weeks have been flurry of activity in the job search. I have mentioned before that it seemed like the job market changed dramatically awhile back. It seems there has been more jobs advertised, leading to more applications , leading to more phone and personal interviews. At the same time I have been increasing the amount of networking that I have been doing which also has caused an increase in activity.
Others have commented that they have experienced this same shift in their search, so it isn’t just constrained to this region or only to the types of jobs I’m looking for. There is no way of telling if this is just a blimp of employers trying to jump into activity at the beginning of the year and will die down here shortly. Or if this is a fundamental change in the job market, indicating that this long recession is finally starting to recover in ways that real people can feel.
This activity has also led to a job for me. Not the permanent position that I have been looking for, but there is some slight possibility that I will be able to turn this into a longer term position. The job is temporary assignment for 6 months at UW, and then depending on how I perform and how the UW budget comes out for next year come out, which right now is not looking particularly rosy will combine to determine if more work will be involved.
It is working in organizational change management which I have been looking for. It pulls on my experience with IT and ITIL that I gained at Boeing and will now be able to translate this experience to help in this position.
I’m looking at this as a 6 month interview, which I much prefer to job search. And in 6 months, I am sure they will be able to make a decision base on really knowing me and what I am capable of doing. If after 6 months they let me go, then I can rest assured in their good judgment and that I was not the right person or that this was not the right time for me to be there.
I’m looking forward to taking a some time off from the job search. I will have to start up again before the end of the 6 months, but I expect to be re-energized, with fresh and new experiences on my resume, and I hope to be looking in a even better economy in 6 months.
While I will be discontinuing the job search for a while, I will not let up on the networking, and will try to focus on this area in the next few months. With this, I am hoping I will be in a better position when I re-engage with the search.
There are still some final administrative hurdles that HR needs to clear, and then I will be cleared to start sometime next week. I’m really looking forward to starting and the chance to be “productive” again, at least productive in my field instead of productive in looking for a job.
It has been almost a year since I received the 60 day notice from Boeing and began this transition. This pause will bring up a another whole set of transitions that we need to pay attention to. More on this in a later blog.
Chris,
ReplyDeleteI am so happy that you have a six-month position at the UW. I can almost feel the relief and adrenalin in your message. I too have a temporary administrative position in education, at Kauai Community College. I like it a lot and I hope you like your new position a lot, and that you can turn it into the long-term job you want.
Aloha and best wishes from Joe
Thanks Joe,
ReplyDeleteYes, this is a relief. And glad to hear you have found something over there.
If nothing else comes along this gets us through 2011, so I feel very blessed.
There are many, many people that are in much worse shape than we are in. So, I'm counting my blessings and saying prayers that things continue to improve.
This is fantastic - for your self esteem, your family's finances, getting back that feeling of normalcy, on just so many levels. Keep us appraised of how you adjust back to work as well as what will happen after the six month period. You deserve this opportunity. You deserve every good blessing that comes your way. Heartfelt congratulations.
ReplyDeleteThank you,hopefully it will be getting back to normalcy for a few months. I know I'm excited about not search for jobs for a while.
ReplyDelete