Job application/interviewing disappointments

[Ultralight]

As I mentioned, I was declined the job at the University down in NC.

This is despite making it all the way through the interviews, the background check, and the reference calls.

Now I am waiting to know if universities in IL and MD are interested in hiring me.

I have been through a bunch of interviews. The one in IL called all my references on Monday. The one in MD asked for my references and for writing samples on Monday as well, which I provided.

But I have not heard a peep from them since Monday.

Probably not a good sign. More likely a bad sign.

I put a ton of time and work into finding another job. And it is looking like I am coming up empty handed. This is really damn depressing.

So I have to face another year at my my current job, which is just chock full of problems and dysfunction.

[Teacher Terry]

Probably 2-3 people made it all the way through and then they made a choice. Universities are slow so you are not out until you hear officially.

[iris lilies]

No way you are out of the running. It takes ages to hire people. You are in vacation season where everyone who has a piece of the hiring process is going on vacation, actually on vacation, or coming back from vacation.

I was probably the fastest hiring manager in my organization and that is because I made open positions top priority. My colleagues did not. I watched positions open and stay that way for months. Ridiculous. Any decent candidate moved on to other jobs.

[Ultralight]

No way you are out of the running. It takes ages to hire people. You are in vacation season where everyone who has a piece of the hiring process is going on vacation, actually on vacation, or coming back from vacation.

I was probably the fastest hiring manager in my organization and that is because I made open positions top priority. My colleagues did not. I watched positions open and stay that way for months. Ridiculous. Any decent candidate moved on to other jobs.


My apartment lease ends July 14th. At which point I need to:
1. Have another lease signed here in Columbo and abandon these unresolved job prospects
2. Couch surf with sister and friends (hoping that these job prospects resolve rapidly).
3. Get real minimalist so I can store my stuff in my car, let my sister watch Harlan for a month or two, and get an Air BnB until these job prospects resolve, and then find long term housing.

[iris lilies]

My apartment lease ends July 14th. At which point I need to:
1. Have another lease signed here in Columbo and abandon these unresolved job prospects
2. Couch surf with sister and friends (hoping that these job prospects resolve rapidly).
3. Get real minimalist so I can store my stuff in my car, let my sister watch Harlan for a month or two, and get an Air BnB until these job prospects resolve, and then find long term housing.

UL, I think you should eliminate option #1 above.

You have Flexibility that most Americans don’t have —you can move on a dime. That is a great place to be, that your house full of stuff does not control what you do.


It seems to me that you should not renew your lease. You should take Action #2 for a while, not too long to make yourself and Harlan unwelcome, then move to action #3. Give yourself 6 months in this limbo, then if no new job appears, sign a lease in Columbus.

It seems to me that if you are getting close to the hiring process in these several jobs, you have a decent chance at getting a new job. But of course if you were paying a lot out-of-pocket for interview expenses that is a limiting factor right there.

Trying to time it new job with the end of the lease seems super difficult to me.

[Tammy]

Can you go month to month on the lease?

[jp1]

I agree with IL and Tammy. In another thread you were contemplating whether you wanted to move out of the apartment anyway. You have so little stuff that you have plenty of options that don't involve tying yourself to that apartment for another year.

It's a shame Ohio isn't like California. Here the standard is that a new lease is typically for a year and then it switches to month-to-month until you leave. Every May we get a letter from our landlord advising what the annual rent increase is. Since we've lived in our current place over 9 years if we want to leave we'll just have to give a month's notice.

[Ultralight]

Can you go month to month on the lease?

Only for one month, and that is subject to landlord special approval.

[Zoe Girl]

I understand. When I saw the signs in my last job I started looking, and then looking in earnest. It doesn't happen quickly or easily, and is almost a part time job in itself to search. I would treat it more like a learning experience half marathon.

I found a roommate through this Silvernest website. It was very easy and we could even do background checks if needed. Some people do the roommate thing for a short time, some places are more furnished than others that are more of a bare room. I agree with not signing another year lease.

[SteveinMN]

Looking for a job is frustrating and too much the emotional rollercoaster. But you've been making good progress on a couple of them, so keep going!

I know you wrote that you could only go month-to-month for one month, but I don't know where that came from. Is there a possibility you could informally go month-to-month for longer? If the housing market for your kind of apartment isn't that strong, they may be open to keeping you there for a few months longer rather than let the apartment sit just based on policy. If your long-term direction is out of the apartment and maybe even out of Columbus, I definitely would not sign another year-long lease.

I like IL's advice on this. You have options. Poking around a little in this area could be of real benefit to you.

[razz]

What are the employment options and opportunities in your field? Libraries are often the first to lose funding in a recession. Would you as a new employee be the first to be let go if you move?

I realize that employment is quite full at present but this can flip quickly; the present conditions are ripe for a recession according to the research that I am reading. Municipalities and governments at all levels have enormous pension liabilities and taxes cannot hope to cope with them.

If you have already discussed all this elsewhere, I apologize for raising the reality questions but that was the first thing that came to mind.

[Ultralight]

What are the employment options and opportunities in your field? Libraries are often the first to lose funding in a recession. Would you as a new employee be the first to be let go if you move?

I realize that employment is quite full at present but this can flip quickly; the present conditions are ripe for a recession according to the research that I am reading. Municipalities and governments at all levels have enormous pension liabilities and taxes cannot hope to cope with them.

If you have already discussed all this elsewhere, I apologize for raising the reality questions but that was the first thing that came to mind.

I don't work in a library.

[razz]

I don't work in a library.

I thought you worked at a university library. Are your universities not dependent on significant support from public funding or are they completely financially independent?

[Ultralight]

I work in university fundraising.

[pinkytoe]

I work in university fundraising.
Ooohhh...check out University of Texas Austin...they love to raise money. And they have lots of it. Lots of pretty women too.

[mschrisgo2]

Oooh, don’t give up on the job search now! I’ve observed over the years that it takes a certain amount of putting yourself out there for the universe to see that you are serious, at which time things fall into place, and you will get a good offer. You have come very close, which means you are doing all the right things. And yes, universities are slow, especially in the summer. But summer is short, 8 weeks at most. You outlined some great options vs renewing an apartment lease that you don’t want anyway. Ils suggestions and reasoning sound great to me. Go for the gold! Don’t settle for less!

[rosarugosa]

I don't work in a library.

I thought you worked in a library too. Did you at one point?

[Zoe Girl]

I agree to keep at it! You will keep improving how your resume matches the job descriptions, get better at interviewing, etc. Sometimes if you are very close and the new person does not work out it can still lead to a job. I had so many times I was told I was 2nd, or to keep applying for future jobs. That is how I got my current one.

[Ultralight]

I thought you worked in a library too. Did you at one point?

As a student at university, for a summer. 15 hours a week.

I have a Master's degree in library science. But I never did anything with it because when I graduated it was during the Great Recession. As a result no one was getting jobs. So I decided to branch out to something else and became a strategic campaign researcher for a labor union. I had a job 2 months before graduation. There are people I went to library school with who, still today, don't have jobs in libraries or in any other profession. They work in Starbucks or Whole Foods, but they still try to get library jobs.

[Ultralight]

If the two jobs I still have applications out for don't work out, then I will sign another lease and stay here for another year. Next year I will try again.

I cannot extend my lease more than one month -- and even that is a "maybe" because the owners approve or deny those requests on a case-by-case basis. And my sis probably cannot watch my dog more than a month, if I was to get an Air BnB. So it is these two jobs or bust (until next year, anyway).

My whole life I have been eating humble pie. A few more big slices won't kill me.

[Ultralight]

Another week of playing wait-and-see.

[SteveinMN]

My whole life I have been eating humble pie. A few more big slices won't kill me. I'm sorry to hear that, but it sounds like the best course of action right now.