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Right now I'm |
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November 19, 2002Well, crap. Except, *not*, so much.As you can probably surmise by the title, I didn't get the job I was going for. Really, after about five seconds of disappointment, I'm okay with it. Pissed that they put me through three interviews over one month, told me it was down to me and one other candidate, left me hanging for *another* month, and gave me the impression that I actually had a shot, but still okay. I listened to my boss' explanation of why they went with the other person; outwardly understanding, inwardly cynical. Reason Number One: I have not completed my degree. Said degree will give me analytical abilities that cannot be obtained otherwise. That's a load of crap. I've gone through so many problem solving classes at AcronymCo I can analyze things in my sleep. Besides which, if *that's* what an Electrical Engineering degree gives you, then a lot of engineers I know lied about their education on their resumes. Completely disregarding, of course, the fact that they obviously think I'm analytical enough to perform the job RIGHT NOW. Degree-less, but not without common sense and good old OJT and experience. Gah. Reason Number Two: There is a low (read: none) success rate of people transferring from an hourly to a salaried position in my organization. They don't want to "set me up for failure". Also, bunk. For reasons I can't really go into in such a public forum. But suffice to say, I am DOING THE DAMNED JOB RIGHT NOW. Which I'm very good and successful at. And my position wouldn't have changed if I'd gone salaried. So how would I fail? Unless I suffered a complete breakdown of my current work ethic, that is. Yeesh. This point also aggravates me because if my hourly status was such a mitigating factor, why in HELL did they let me go so far in the interview process to begin with? Again, yeesh. Reason Number Three: They have one open position in the department. If they fill it with me (internal transfer), they can't back-fill my position with someone else. If they fill it with a new person, they still keep me, *and* they get another person. Now this, I can understand. We're painfully short-handed and everyone in the department is spread dreadfully thin. So. My manager tells me "this isn't over by a long shot", and "don't give up hope". She is going to "take me under her wing." She's going to be "harder on me than everyone else" because she "really wants to challenge me". She's going to put me on "projects with high visibility" that are "definite and valuable contributions". She's going to get me a couple of mentors from other departments, and she's going to go with me to ASU to talk to the EE department heads to get me set up for school next semester. Actually, despite the perhaps sarcastic tint to the above paragraph, I really do believe my manager has my best interests at heart. She seemed to take my position personally, and fought for several weeks for me to get the job. Ultimately, the decision was out of her hands, though she tried hard to influence it. In the end, though, it's not a big deal. One of my primary complaints is that they expect me to do the work of a salaried employee, but with the time restrictions of an hourly employee, with no opportunity for overtime. My manager secured me permission to work as much as 10 hours of overtime a week if I need it. So basically, I can get my job done and probably get paid as much as if I'd gotten the promotion anyway. It's all good. ******************** The other good thing about the overtime is that I no longer have to consider taking on a second job in order to be able to afford everything we want to do during my sabbatical. The overtime pays more than a part-time job ever would, so if I tuck away every bit of overtime pay I make, I'll have a good chunk of change to throw at our vacation plans. Which are as follows: Maine: In talking to my sister this weekend, we are planning on renting an ocean-side apartment in Old Orchard Beach for a week or so. Those familiar with Maine will know that Old Orchard is rather to the left of the classy side of things, but my sister's sister-in-law (got that?) owns the property and takes very good care of it. Only Marie and I will be going (and maybe one of Marie's friends, if her parents are willing to pay for the airfare), since Calvin has limited vacation time that he can take advantage of. My sister's husband can't make it, either, since summer is the busy time of year in his profession (excavation). So it's just going to be us girls, and my sister's kids. We're going to spend our time sunning on the beach, eating pier fries and steamed clams, braving the questionable rides at Palace Playland, and taking day excursions in the rental car. Hawaii: A tropical vacation is necessary. Maui is expensive, but I only get a two month vacation every seven years, and I want to do some fabulous things in it. Calvin, Marie, and I are going to attempt a last-minute type of vacation to see if we can get some good deals. AB has volunteered to help, since she's a travel agent and is up on all the discounts and cut rates. I love AB for herself first, of course, but I do love the profession she's in. Which is a good lead-in to... Europe: AB won a trip to London, with two free air tickets, hotel, and (I think) land transport. She also has an extra free ticket with British Air, and tons of discount coupons and rates. On top of being a travel agent, which gets her *additional* discounts. So the five of us (Calvin, Marie, myself, AB, and AB's daughter) are going to slouch around Europe for a week or so. There are two things I MUST see - Westminster Abbey, and The Louvre. If we can figure a route during our week that takes us to those two places, I'll be happy. Did I mention how much I love AB? The fact that she thought of *us* while planning her own European vacation, and is being so generous with her travel-agenty skills and services... well, it's just part of her generous personality. Love, love, LOVE that girl. Marie is going to have a LOT to write about in her "What I Did For Summer Vacation" essay the following August when she returns to school. And it is my hope that after all that traveling, I'll be looking forward to going back to work just so I can relax. Yeah, I doubt it too. 195 days and counting... ******************** I had not one, but two winners of the 30,000th visitor give-away. They sent me screen shots and everything. Odd, but what the hey. As soon as I get myself organized (this week! I promise!) their prizes will be on their way. I will be venturing into the world of e-Bay (thanks for the advice, Robyn!), trying to sell off some of our cra... erm, very valuable and want-able items in an effort to supplement the aforementioned Very Expensive Vacation Plans. I'll let you all know when I have items up for bid, so you can be the Very First to have a shot at buying my stuff! (Unless that's against the rules? I'm new at this.) I'm also going to give Cafepress a shot here in the near future, so keep your eye out for ~Snerkology~ swag! Perhaps I'll call it the "Help Fund Laura's Sabbatical" fund. However, I don't think I'll go as far as this to get the money. Believe you me, though, I was tempted. Man. I wish I could get debt free in 20 weeks. That's WEEKS, people. Man. |