Keep your fingers crossed. . .

Just when I thought I was doomed to be a temp for the rest of our stay in residency. . .I saw a fabulous job posting this morning in the Sunday paper! It is with a non-profit organization (check one!), deals with children (check two!), and requires creativity (check three!) It sounds like the **PERFECT** job. It deals with recruiting and training volunteers for a literacy program - ooooooooh, I hope they give me the time of day! I could really use a great job right now! I think they will probably think that I'm overqualified but I just want to write on my cover letter - I will take any pay that you offer . . . I just need to stop temping. Hoping, hoping, hoping. . .please hope and pray with me.

Go Claudia, Go Claudia! This sounds perfect for you...I'll cross my fingers and toes!!!



Kris

[DCJenn]

I'd sacrifice a virgin- but I don't know any. So- I'll just keep my fingers and toes crossed.



Jenn

[houseelf]

I'll put a prayer in the hopper for you! Good luck and keep us posted.



BTW--Jenn you crack me up. I burst out laughing at work and had to explain myself to my office mate!



Kelly

[Meenah]

Good luck Claudia. I busted out laughing too, but the cat just stared at me.

Luanne

[Phoebe]

Crossing fingers and toes!



Jennifer

Well, that job never called me back. Typical! They didn't list a phone number either so I have no way of doing a follow-up.



However,



I have an interview this afternoon at a community college here! I'm actually nervous about this one! Not about the interview per se, but the job itself. It would be as a part-time instructor in my field. It would be fun and very, very challenging. We'll see. . .I'll talk to her this afternoon and get a better feel for it. I think I drive my husband UP THE WALL with these job potentials every week. With every real potential, I start planning out my schedule and spending my paychecks and worrying about this or that aspect of the job - to which he responds hmm, why don't you just go to the interview and see what it's like? Wow!! That's a great idea! Ha.

Well, I still don't know anything for certain. We spent most of the "interview" trying to collect transcripts and get contact information for my references. She is verifying all of my information and said she would call today to discuss my program of study. EEK! This is so much more stressful than I thought it would be - I just want a job! I don't know how much longer I can stand this job search stress! My temp agency has ticked me off to the nth degree and I hate the thought of going back to them if this doesn't work out.



What could I do to bring some money home for the time being!?!?!??!

Well. . .It appears that I got the job at the community college! She checked my references today and all were good. I'm meeting with another instructor tomorrow and she said that she would put me in charge of two classes (most likely). Soooo, excellent news. Then why am I so stressed out?!? I guess because it's not a cake job. Isn't that awful to say? I don't know. . .it almost feels like going back to school again! Yikes! I don't know anything about the pay scale either - how much do community college instructors make per class?



On a related note, I think what is stressing me out so much is the fact that we have a week vacation planned for October and I don't know if I should say anything or not about it to this woman. One of the classes meets in the evening and therefore, I don't think it would be a huge deal to miss one week of class. The other one meets three times per week so that would be a bit more to miss - but then again you can look at it as they meet three times per week the rest of the semester! What do you think? Should I mention it to her? Changing the vacation is not an option. Not going on the vacation is DEFINITELY NOT an option. I would rather continue temping for the year. We have been looking forward to this vacation for so long and well, I know that you guys understand!



Errrrgh. And I thought getting a job would make my life less stressful.

[mommax3]

Congratulations, Claudia!!!!!



I know this job has brought its own set of concerns with it, but relax a minute and enjoy the fact that you have found something and won't have to temp anymore!



You will have to bring the vacation up sooner or later -- maybe not right away, but definitely sooner than later would be my vote. Hopefully you will be able to work things around so it is not a big deal.



So what classes will you be teaching? I am so proud of you!



I hope you will be able to celebrate tonight or this weekend with dinner out or something!





Sally

Thanks for your reply, Sally!! I was about to write "don't you love how I'm having this little dialogue with myself?" Heehee. Well, I answered my own question - I just called her and she wasn't in her office but I left a message about the week in October. I told her that it has been planned for awhile and if there was some way that I could alter the lesson plan that week or if there is someone available to cover. Sooo, I guess we'll see. Hopefully it will be OK. If not, I'll just keep looking! No biggie.



It's in the communication department. The courses are public speaking and oral communication. I taught one of those during my last year of graduate school and it ends up being a LOT of student speeches and presentations - some very entertaining! I know that I just need to calm down and be excited. This is actually a job that is perfectly ideal for me in many ways. I'm just not comfortable with the idea yet - I'm sure it will come as I get acquainted with the students and the campus. This is a blue collar city (NO offense at all intended) and most of the schools here fit the description of the classic inner city school. I feel very out of my element and while I'm not intimidated, I feel as if the students aren't going to be able to relate to me and vice versa. Yet at the same time, I'm very excited by the challenge and this is the type of work that I always run my mouth nonstop about wanting to do! Now I am faced with a challenge and I feel like running away!

[Phoebe]

Congratulations Claudia! Now that I have offered my support for your job, I have to disagree with you! I think students would very much be able to relate with you. You are likable, enthusiastic and creative. You have experience teaching the material and like you said one of the class is mostly students doing the talking. Once you get going, you will feel much more comfortable. One of your positive attributes of being an instructor is that you were very recently a student and can remember what it feels like to be one. I think that will give you one leg up on teaching no matter who the students are.



Congratulations again!!!!



Jennifer

[houseelf]

CLAUDIA~!!!!!



WOOOO HOOOOO, girl! Congratulations! Teaching sounds like a dream come true! I was laughing when you said that you were nervous even though this is the type of job that you talked about for awhile. Sometime the dreams that come true are just as unsettling as the ones that don't.



Good for you, Claudia. I can't wait to hear more. By the way, no job is worth giving up a vacation. We used to have makeup classes at 8 a.m. (a time when no other classes where scheduled) when a professor had other obligations. You will work it out.



You go girl!



Kelly

[DCJenn]

Claudia-



congrats!



During (both) of my Master's degrees, we would regualry plan classes to meet everyone's needs. Sometimes we held class outside, other times at people's homes. just feel free to be as creative as they will allow you!



And I think that you will find that at the community college level you will have a great variety of students- some straight out of high school- maybe planning on going to a 4 year school, some out of the military- getting their feet wet again, and returning students either looking for a career change but not quite ready to commit, or returning to the classroom after a long time away. I loved the community classes that I have taken over the years- the discussions were always way more lively!



Jenn



PS- the best accounting professor I ever had was at the community college in my hometown,