Clarity, At Last

I have to say I'm pretty impressed with myself today. My first day without a job and I've been very proactive.

I woke up early this morning to get ready for a 10:00 appointment with the staffing agency. They had quite a bit more paperwork for me to fill out, videos for me to watch, and questions for me to answer. It all went pretty well, though. I was a nervous wreck before hand, but once they gave me my test scores I realized I've been very hard on myself these last few months, feeling very incompetent and unworthy of employment, but those scores were, well, impressive. And when I asked if they recommend any tweaks or adjustments to my resume, they said it actually looked great just as it was. The whole experience was eye-opening, and I could finally see that I really do have what people are looking for, it's just unfortunate that not many people are looking right now. We'll see how it goes and what comes of it. They couldn't give me a firm time line of when something will be available, of course, but my whole reasoning behind going to a staffing agency was simply to get my foot in the door somewhere. My skills and work ethic can take me from there.

Other than crossing the t's and dotting the i's with the staffing agency, I've also started my claim for unemployment. I'm not exactly sure how it's going to work given my very generous severance package, but that's why I called it in instead of filing online so the unemployment office would be aware of my situation. And even though it was frustrating to be on the phone for over an hour, I figured this way I won't find myself in debt up to my eyeballs because they paid me too much or in prison because they think I tried to screw the system. They'll be sending me more paperwork to fill out and some specifically regarding my severance pay which is a relief to me, because it's this particular phone call that has been boggling my mind for a while now. For some reason filing for unemployment looked like a gigantic mountain lurking off in the distance and I wasn't sure if I could climb it. Once I got started though, I realized it was only a small foothill.

I've also found quite a few more jobs to apply for. I'm keeping my options open, but what I would really like to do is be an office assistant. I'm definitely open to more customer service--I'm really good at it--but I enjoy the clerical aspect of the office more. I like spreadsheets and fax machines and daily reports and keeping things tidy. I would love to do all of these things for a small, locally-owned company. These positions seem to be few and far between, but they are ideal for me.

And last but not least, I have my new pitch, so listen up all you employers: I, Kate, am a very valuable employee. So valuable that I was part of only 20% of my company that was asked to stay an extra 4 months to help close the company. I am so dedicated, competent, and good at what I do that I was 1 of only 2 non-management positions given the opportunity to continue working.

That really says a lot, doesn't it? Those 4 months were so nerve-wracking and wild that I was unable to see what staying behind said about me--as a worker, as a person--until I was finally outside of the situation.