Job!!

Most might know, and others might not. I officially have a job!!! I received a call on Wednesday, July 13th, from the City of Loveland for the Solid Waste/Streets/Storm Drainage divisions. I will be an administrative specialist. I am excited because I have worked in a solid waste division before and loved it, which helped me become the recycler I am today. I start on July 19th.

I also received another job offer on the 13th for the Good Samaritian Society Community. It was actually before I received the call from the City of Loveland. Since I wanted the City of Loveland job a lot more, I actually called the HR person that was handling my background check and asked about my application and informed her of my situation. She was very understanding and actually called my new boss, who was on vacation, to see if she could speed up the process, so I could get an official answer for the position. The job with the Good Samaritian Society Community was a job I would have liked as well, but it is located in Greeley, which is about 22 miles from where we live and it paid a couple of dollars less than the one in Loveland. I felt lucky to have been in that position after having a lull for about five weeks.

Alex and I find it intersting how everything worked out. We were trying hard to rent a place in Fort Collins, but ended up with this wonderful place in Loveland, which we had come to terms with the fact I might have to commute. Then I get a job in Loveland, about fifteen minutes from where we live. We both thought how horrible it would have been if we both would have had to commute! Life has it's paths.

I realized how much of a process it is for health care workers to start at a hospital! Well, I guess I am assuming it is the same procedure within other hospitals. I've talked about the part-time job with Banner Staffing in Greeley, and I started that process on Wednesday, as my plan was if I hadn't heard anything official from either positions. I had to go to an occupational health clinic within the hospital to start the paperwork. When I was there I had to bring my immunization records, go through my medical history, take part in a TB skin test, take a urine test (for drugs), give a tube of blood, and train on how to use a N95 medical mask. I then have to go back after July 20th to do another TB test. Holy cow! I understand the logic behind the process, it's just intense. Props to the healthcare workers, and I have a lot of friends in that field. How did I not know about this?! Now I do!

Amber D.

Job?!

I feel pretty great today, because I received some awesome news yesterday. The job I had interviewed for on Friday, for the City of Loveland, called and told me that I have made it to the next step, which is the background check. I had asked the HR person if that meant it's just me, or are there other people being considered. They told me that I was the only person at this time. As bad as I want to say I have the job, I don't want to, because I haven't received an official offer. It's an administrative specialist position, which is about the same duties as an administrative assistant; the specialist just allows a higher pay. I had another interview with a different company today, which I had been trying to decided whether or not to interview for, but I decided that I would since I don't have an official offer. A couple of my references actually called to tell me that the company I interviewed for today, have already called them, which is still exciting. I'm still going to try to make the training requirements for the hospital job for some extra hours. Hopefully I will know something about a full time job this week!

Amber D.

Job Hunting... Still

It's been five weeks now since I have made it to Colorado, and I'm still job hunting. Weeks one through three were full of optimism. I had just started job hunting and knew it would take some time. By the beginning of week four, my attitude had taken a slight turn for pessimism. I am a very independent woman and have strong feminist thoughts, so just sitting at home, cleaning, and cooking for Alex does not sit well with my ego, and then not getting any calls for interviews, really had made me feel inadequate. Then Thursday June 30th, I got a call for a job interview for Friday July 1 - FINALLY! I was so excited. It was only part-time, but a foot in the door, and my ego finally felt a little better. I interviewed, and didn't do too well. It was for a Natural Resources Engineering Consulting company. The owners were doing the interviews. The interview was very informal and we just didn't make that connection, I had to giggle, because one of the last questions the wife had asked me, in almost of a desperation to make a connection or to find something in common, was if I had any hobbies. I replied calligraphy writing. She kind of looked at me like, "really?", and said, "Oh, well, that's interesting, because most people move to Colorado for the outdoor experience." So then, with one more attempt from her, she asked me if I liked to go rafting, and that was another cluster. When I left, I knew I didn't get it. You know when you just have that feeling of "that just didn't go well", yeah, mine was pretty strong. After having a little taste of interview, even though it wasn't my best, my optimism went straight back to the top.

Alex and I enjoyed a nice July 4th, and did a little hiking on the Devils Backbone here in Loveland, went and saw Transformers 3, which I thought ended up being a little long, and finished the weekend off being bums in the house with some hot dogs and potato salad. All weekend I kept thinking about all the wonderful phone calls I would get next week for interviews.

Then on Tuesday July 5th, I received a call for an interview with the City of Loveland Solid Waste, Streets, and Storm Drainage Divisions for July 8th! SHAZAM! Then on Thursday July 7th I received two more calls for interviews, one was with Banner Staffing agency on Friday july 8th and the Good Samaritian Community on July 12th.

My two interviews went really well. I feel like I did really well at the Loveland Solid Waste position and connected really well with the people there. Since I have previous solid waste experience I was able to connect with the people of understanding on how picky people are about their trash and recycling. I am hoping that I get a call next week, when they make their decision, that would just be perfect! Then I got offered a position with Banner Staffing agency on the spot. They're basically an agency that hires people to staff shortages at the main hospital in Greeley, which is about 20 miles from Loveland. I accepted the position. It's not a guarantee of hours, but it's something. Training starts on August 4th, which is a few weeks away. My hope is that I get the City of Loveland job and then keep the Banner Staffing job for extra hours. I'm still applying for jobs, because I can't do anything less than 40 hour weeks. I received an email about the possibility of getting an interview with the US Dept of Forest Service, which is Federal. Hopefully I get that call next week!

I'm still cleaning, cooking, doing yard work, lifting weights, and working on my calligraphy, trying to keep busy and staying positive until the next round of interview phone calls.

At least Norman is keeping me company...

When he's not sleeping...

Amber D.

A day of days

I hit a wall today. I feel I've had pretty good luck in finding jobs to apply for, just no calls for interviews yet, and I had a hard time with that today. Alex was lovely enough to bring me store bought flowers, which I love. Oh, and he bought me Maple Nut Goodies, which, again, are my favorite! To say the least, he brought my mood right back up.

I made chicken with artichokes tonight, and the artichokes were delicious. I never had fresh artichokes before until I had them for my birthday dinner that Steph Martin made for me, and now I think about them all the time. Since I don't have a job and there's no grocery store like WinCo, I use the weekly ads from the grocery store and make our weekly meals around them, and artichokes were 2 for $3. Dinner tastes even better when you get a deal.

So all in all, even though the day got a little rough at the end, between dinner and Alex, my night came right back up. Even Wilson found a little patch of sunshine to finish the day out.