Big events for each month of the last year - yep, that's right, I go a months without saying anything and then post a novella:
January: Got fired six days into the year. With this auspicious beginning, DH and I both start looking for work.
February: No one has found a job yet. Despite the financial stress and mounting credit card bills, the whole family seems to be generally doing better than 2008 (when we were dealing with many health issues and family struggles, and the girls were not getting the parental attention they needed).
March: Our credit card debt grows and our bank account empties completely. I find a year-long contract position and start March 15th. DH keeps watching the girls and looking for work. The UI check for all my UI payments for the last 2.5 months arrives one week after my first paycheck, just in time to pay for the mortgage for April.
April: Birthday celebrations for all! Grandparents are very generous to our daughters. There's also an anniversary in there, but as usual, no one makes a big fuss about it. DH keeps applying for jobs, and has it down to a fine art. He applies to 3 or 4 jobs a day when they are available, and does this in about 2 to 3 hours a day.
May: We have an unplanned pregnancy, as expected. The only surprise is that it took so long to happen. Although we are both quite worried about how we'll manage the birth in this economy, there is also a subtle resurgence of hope and motivation that our family sorely needed.
June: Stupid car keeps breaking down. I garden when I'm not working.
July: Not only does the stupid car keep breaking down, it's going to need a $2,400 repair in 6 months. We decide it's worth adding to our huge pile of debt to get a new car using Cash for Clunkers. We mitigate our embarressment over having a new car (and the accompanying debt) by getting the vehicle with the lowest Total Cost to Own that we can find, which turns out to be a Honda Fit and quite possibly the car we would have bought anyways if we'd had money. The girls promptly name "her" Bluea.
August: Outdoors projects! A new firepit, one fish pond turns into a sandbox, the garden grows and we eat lots of fresh snow peas. Blueberries come to adorn our front yard. DH starts getting rejection notices occasionally, and we both find this immensely encouraging and take it as a sign that the economy is improving.
September: I realize we're two weeks behind on our mortgage, and try budgeting with Mint.com, which is a really neat service. DH starts getting scheduled for phone interviews that then get cancelled because the job filled before anyone actually interviewed him. My sister gives us a free car that she'd located for us back when we were having car troubles.
October: It's a girl! I make a spreadsheet of all our expected income and predictable expenses through the end of the year, in addition to the budget at Mint.com. DH starts actually getting interviews in person and on the phone, rather than just scheduling and cancelling interviews. The girls have to use last year's Halloween costumes, but still have a great time trick-or-treating with the grandparents.
November: I start putting effort into stocking the freezer so we have food when the baby arrives. DH and I finally agree on a name for the baby. DH gets a job offer for a seasonal tax software support position, and accepts it. I get a holiday bonus for Thanksgiving. We come home from a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with the step-family in-laws with butternut squash and an excellent bottle of home-made wine.
December: During a cold snap while we can't afford to heat the house, the shower drain freezes solid for about a week. The girls get excited about Christmas despite the lack of decor. I get extra hours at work plus holiday pay, but then lose some money when the family gets sick. We still have enough money to buy work clothes for DH and a few gifts and much needed things. We go to the San Juan Islands to visit the in-laws for Christmas, and a gloriously relaxing time is had by all. DH starts his job the last week of the year, and I start working from home on a schedule that is flexible enough that I can also care for the children. It's a little crazy, but works well enough.
And, looking forward to early 2010, here is what we expect to have happen:
January: DH continues to work while I care for the children and work from home. The baby is due January 22nd, which means 95% chance of being born between January 8th and February 5th. My family tends to run late, so bet on early February. I won't be taking maternity leave at all unless I absolutely physically must. The laptop comes to the hospital with me, and I could conceivably return to my work before I return to my home. DH will probably take a day or two of unpaid sick time to be with me until I leave the hospital.
February: DH could lose his job this month, but I'm guessing he won't. So this month will probably be him working full-time in the office and doing all the housework and cooking (he'll have a good freezer stash to work with) while I work full-time from home and care for the children - including the baby, who will essentially live on the nursing pillow while I work. I suspect I'm going to need some help, especially immediately after the birth.
March: DH could lose his job this month, and it's actually pretty likely that he will. I will definitely lose my job this month, as my contract ends March 15th. I'm supposed to be in the office to train my replacement from March 1st to March 15th. If DH is still working, we will need childcare during that time. I have no idea who or how that will work. Once the contract ends, I will get UI. We shouls also have a $1,000 emergency fund and may have some additional savings. There is a small chance that our mortgage payment might be reduced by $1,000 a month permanently starting about now if our application last October for a Home Mortgage Loan Modification finally goes through, but we aren't counting on it.
April: If DH hasn't lost his job yet, it will end by the 15th of this month. If he does get this far without being laid off, he might get UI. It won't be much, but every little bit helps. Either way, he's going to be looking for any work he can get to keep us from going broke, so I can focus on getting the best job I can. I don't want to end my "UI-paid maternity leave" for anything less than enough to cover our expenses and get us out of debt pretty quickly, too.
May: Our emergency fund and my UI will keep us in the black through this month even if DH's job ends back in March or earlier and even if we put all his income to paying off our credit cards. However, we'll need some additional income between March 15th and the end of May to make it through June in the black. We are pretty optimistic about being able to manage this.
Looking beyond May gets pretty hazy . . . things could end up being really messy financially, in the worst case, which could result in rough times for the whole family. Things could end up being really great, in the best case. So much depends on us finding jobs, and maybe even finding good jobs, and we only have so much control over that. However, I can say that baby Audrey will probably say her first word in 2010, and might even take her first steps near the end of the year. The twins will continue to grow up, and by December they will be 4 years 9 months old. We'll need to start deciding if we will put them into a public school kindergarten in September of 2011 or not. And, of course, we'll be in God's hands no matter what happens, and we will have each other (barring tragedy). There are some things that just don't depend on finances, and I would be a fool not to consider them worth mentioning.
Showing posts with label job loss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label job loss. Show all posts
Friday, January 1, 2010
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wow, what a great recruiting company!
I just finished an interview with a great recruiter at Robert Half Technology, and WOW! I have never felt such an interest in my personal goals, qualifications, and talents while working with Volt. The Volt recruiter I am working with is definitely the best match I've had yet, but Robert Half is clearly taking a longer term approach to our relationship. And guess what? It works! I absolutely want to work with these people, especially my recruiter, and will prioritize their job requests over the ones I get from Volt.
And the specific position she has for me to interview for sounds like a great opportunity as well. Very excited am I!
Not that it takes much to get me excited. Even the automatically generated responses to online applications get my hopes up, LOL. And losing on an interview with Amazon made me cry for hours. Hey, I enjoy my emotional extremes! The occasional crying jag when things go wrong is totally worth it to feel elated over every small step in the right direction that came before - and all the ones that will come after. I guess I see life like I see marriage . . . when you commit to feeling joy over all the good things, you also accept that you might get hurt by the bad things as well.
And the specific position she has for me to interview for sounds like a great opportunity as well. Very excited am I!
Not that it takes much to get me excited. Even the automatically generated responses to online applications get my hopes up, LOL. And losing on an interview with Amazon made me cry for hours. Hey, I enjoy my emotional extremes! The occasional crying jag when things go wrong is totally worth it to feel elated over every small step in the right direction that came before - and all the ones that will come after. I guess I see life like I see marriage . . . when you commit to feeling joy over all the good things, you also accept that you might get hurt by the bad things as well.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
I need to stop disappearing
Just a quick update on our family.
The main reason that there haven't been many posts is that I've been sick ever since the last time I posted - first with a cold, and then with what seemed likely to have been bronchitis. Between getting healthy and looking for work, I've been out of energy long before I ever get to posting on this blog.
However, I have started on another blog, called "Homeschool Bright and Early". Very simply, it's about homeschooling toddlers and preschool-aged children. So far I'm just getting started, but I'm building up posts and ideas very quickly, and am very excited about it.
Part of the motivation is to share an important part of my life (the raising and education of my children), and the information I learn while trying to do that, with others. However, I have another, ulterior, motive: See if I have what it takes to build up a good blog and maybe even make a little money off of it. I hear rumors of a few bloggers making significant amounts of cash, and am wondering if I could do it. Yes, I recognize that this isn't the most lucrative subject matter - but it's economical with my time, since I would be doing the research I do for the blog anyways for our own family (but perhaps not in quite so much depth). Plus . . . it's something I care about.
Meanwhile, DH and I are looking for work, making several job contacts a day each. We're learning that, unlike previous job searches, the phone might be our best friend in this economy. I've had two recruiters express thankfulness that I called them to get their attention just today alone. We both hate talking on the phone, especially to strangers, so . . . yuck.
Today was the kickoff for 40 Days for Life. Last time I was pretty much invisible, praying and offering a very small fast and only giving an hour of my time in vigil outside of the local Planned Parenthood. This time, I plan to be much more involved. At least until I get a job.
Now that I'm starting to feel healthier, I'm also starting to remember how to get myself to accomplish more on, say, my job search: Hold myself to higher standards across the board and keep busy. If I don't take on enough activities, I will do worse at the few I do take on. I don't get it either, I seem to be weird this way, but pouring effort into one area of my life seems to have a synergistic effect on every other area I want to pour effort into. Of course, there is a saturation point, and if I cross that line things do go downhill a little - but I'm generally better off taking on too much rather than too little (when I am healthy - which I currently am).
So, I currently have a job search, 40 DfL, a homeschooling blog, mothering my children, and . . . Lent. I like to write down my Lenten commitments so I know what I'm holding myself to, so here they are:
1) A rosary a day for 54 days starting on Monday (two days ago) and ending on Divine Mercy Sunday (or maybe the day before .. . I forget) offered for the conversion of my beloved husband. Yes, he knows about this. It's become a tradition :-)
2) Participation in 40 DfL
3) Giving up leaven (yeast, baking powder, baking soda) and products made with leaven (leavened breads, etc.).
There is the possibility of a 4th commitment, but only if my friends decide to give it a try with me. Rikki-san, that's the idea you came up with during the homeschooling meeting BTW. If you and / or Annaberri are doing that, let me know so I can join in!
I still feel like this isn't really quite enough for me, so I'm also going to be starting a garden next week, helping DH build closet bunk beds for the girls probably the week after, and possibly rejoining the choir. And I'm also seeking out volunteer opportunities for my technical skills.
The biggest problem with my job search so far has been a lack of energy, I suspect. Hopefully getting more active will help a lot with that. Of course, finally getting over bronchitis should help as well.
You know how you can tell this was a quick post? It's very long and wordy. My short posts are the ones where I've heavily edited myself and polished my words. The long ones are the equivalent of frenetic scribbling, jotting, and brainstorming and take very little time to produce. If you visit my homeschooling blog, you'll notice the posts tend to be a lot shorter.
The main reason that there haven't been many posts is that I've been sick ever since the last time I posted - first with a cold, and then with what seemed likely to have been bronchitis. Between getting healthy and looking for work, I've been out of energy long before I ever get to posting on this blog.
However, I have started on another blog, called "Homeschool Bright and Early". Very simply, it's about homeschooling toddlers and preschool-aged children. So far I'm just getting started, but I'm building up posts and ideas very quickly, and am very excited about it.
Part of the motivation is to share an important part of my life (the raising and education of my children), and the information I learn while trying to do that, with others. However, I have another, ulterior, motive: See if I have what it takes to build up a good blog and maybe even make a little money off of it. I hear rumors of a few bloggers making significant amounts of cash, and am wondering if I could do it. Yes, I recognize that this isn't the most lucrative subject matter - but it's economical with my time, since I would be doing the research I do for the blog anyways for our own family (but perhaps not in quite so much depth). Plus . . . it's something I care about.
Meanwhile, DH and I are looking for work, making several job contacts a day each. We're learning that, unlike previous job searches, the phone might be our best friend in this economy. I've had two recruiters express thankfulness that I called them to get their attention just today alone. We both hate talking on the phone, especially to strangers, so . . . yuck.
Today was the kickoff for 40 Days for Life. Last time I was pretty much invisible, praying and offering a very small fast and only giving an hour of my time in vigil outside of the local Planned Parenthood. This time, I plan to be much more involved. At least until I get a job.
Now that I'm starting to feel healthier, I'm also starting to remember how to get myself to accomplish more on, say, my job search: Hold myself to higher standards across the board and keep busy. If I don't take on enough activities, I will do worse at the few I do take on. I don't get it either, I seem to be weird this way, but pouring effort into one area of my life seems to have a synergistic effect on every other area I want to pour effort into. Of course, there is a saturation point, and if I cross that line things do go downhill a little - but I'm generally better off taking on too much rather than too little (when I am healthy - which I currently am).
So, I currently have a job search, 40 DfL, a homeschooling blog, mothering my children, and . . . Lent. I like to write down my Lenten commitments so I know what I'm holding myself to, so here they are:
1) A rosary a day for 54 days starting on Monday (two days ago) and ending on Divine Mercy Sunday (or maybe the day before .. . I forget) offered for the conversion of my beloved husband. Yes, he knows about this. It's become a tradition :-)
2) Participation in 40 DfL
3) Giving up leaven (yeast, baking powder, baking soda) and products made with leaven (leavened breads, etc.).
There is the possibility of a 4th commitment, but only if my friends decide to give it a try with me. Rikki-san, that's the idea you came up with during the homeschooling meeting BTW. If you and / or Annaberri are doing that, let me know so I can join in!
I still feel like this isn't really quite enough for me, so I'm also going to be starting a garden next week, helping DH build closet bunk beds for the girls probably the week after, and possibly rejoining the choir. And I'm also seeking out volunteer opportunities for my technical skills.
The biggest problem with my job search so far has been a lack of energy, I suspect. Hopefully getting more active will help a lot with that. Of course, finally getting over bronchitis should help as well.
You know how you can tell this was a quick post? It's very long and wordy. My short posts are the ones where I've heavily edited myself and polished my words. The long ones are the equivalent of frenetic scribbling, jotting, and brainstorming and take very little time to produce. If you visit my homeschooling blog, you'll notice the posts tend to be a lot shorter.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
I've been fired
Yep, fired. Tuesday morning. I haven't gotten around to blogging since then. I need to hurry with this post - lots of work to do.
Tuesday was spent mostly reacting. I was okay for about four hours, which I spent thinking out the first couple of steps and working out our new 'normal' schedule: DH takes the kids out in the morning, and I work until around lunch. The kids come back, we eat, they take their nap. DH and I both work on finding jobs. Then I take the kids out when they wake up and he keeps working until we get back, dinner, and kids to bed.
Then I started getting weepy, and decided I could get started on the work 'tomorrow'. The rest of the day was spent trying not to let things spill over to the kids too much (who were definitely reacting to the stress), watching movies as a family, and calling a couple relatives to tell them.
Our planned schedule didn't work on Wednesday; we'd brought one of the kids' carseats in after she'd vomited, and after we'd cleaned the cover a cat peed on it. Bjorn spent the rest of the morning putting the cover through the wash and getting a special spray to dry while keeping the girls out of my hair.
This blog is going to get really boring for a while. I'm going to use it to measure my progress and keep on track, using the SCRUM questions: What have I done? What am I going to do today? What is blocking me?
So, for the first SCRUM entry:
What have I done:
- I called around about getting health coverage; I need to wait until the last 30 days show our lost income, and then apply to Apple Health, a website that should be able to work out all of the things that we will qualify for on our 'new' income.
- I also applied for unemployment.
- I found a career fair in Seattle in late January, and it's on our calendar.
- I found a couple of potential child-care resources so that Bjorn and I can both be looking for work at the same time on some days; we will be scheduling child-care swaps with some, others are family and glad to help.
What I am going to do today:
- Compile a list of job sites to search so I can keep notes on how effective they are
- Compile a list of possible opportunities to apply for - at least 15 options
- Apply to one opportunity with a polished resume and cover letter
- Apply to at least three opportunities with a quick-and-dirty application
- Start a list of opportunities for Bjorn, since I will probably also find things that he could do.
Blockers:
Nothing, really, except maybe lack of time if the kids come back too soon or don't nap well
I think Friday will be my "Fun work" day, when I focus on networking, reorganizing, brainstorming, maybe getting books from the library, and quick chores like cancelling appointments.
If anyone wants to help:
- If you know us - swap child-care with us. Best times for us to receive child-care are mornings. We will need to drop our kids at your house so we can work effectively. Best times for us to offer child-care is in the evenings. If you've been looking for a date night without babysitter costs, here is your chance. We can either have one of us come over to your house to babysit, or you can drop the kids off here.
- Pray for us. DH and I are both looking for work, so keep us both in your prayers.
- I'll get my resume up on the blog - probably tomorrow - and ask DH to let me post his as well. Let us know if you hear about anything that we might be able to do. I can do entry-level programming or software testing with about three years of experience; DH is looking for phone tech support positions primarily.
- Introduce us to people who work in our areas, if you know anyone, so that we can expand our networks.
Tuesday was spent mostly reacting. I was okay for about four hours, which I spent thinking out the first couple of steps and working out our new 'normal' schedule: DH takes the kids out in the morning, and I work until around lunch. The kids come back, we eat, they take their nap. DH and I both work on finding jobs. Then I take the kids out when they wake up and he keeps working until we get back, dinner, and kids to bed.
Then I started getting weepy, and decided I could get started on the work 'tomorrow'. The rest of the day was spent trying not to let things spill over to the kids too much (who were definitely reacting to the stress), watching movies as a family, and calling a couple relatives to tell them.
Our planned schedule didn't work on Wednesday; we'd brought one of the kids' carseats in after she'd vomited, and after we'd cleaned the cover a cat peed on it. Bjorn spent the rest of the morning putting the cover through the wash and getting a special spray to dry while keeping the girls out of my hair.
This blog is going to get really boring for a while. I'm going to use it to measure my progress and keep on track, using the SCRUM questions: What have I done? What am I going to do today? What is blocking me?
So, for the first SCRUM entry:
What have I done:
- I called around about getting health coverage; I need to wait until the last 30 days show our lost income, and then apply to Apple Health, a website that should be able to work out all of the things that we will qualify for on our 'new' income.
- I also applied for unemployment.
- I found a career fair in Seattle in late January, and it's on our calendar.
- I found a couple of potential child-care resources so that Bjorn and I can both be looking for work at the same time on some days; we will be scheduling child-care swaps with some, others are family and glad to help.
What I am going to do today:
- Compile a list of job sites to search so I can keep notes on how effective they are
- Compile a list of possible opportunities to apply for - at least 15 options
- Apply to one opportunity with a polished resume and cover letter
- Apply to at least three opportunities with a quick-and-dirty application
- Start a list of opportunities for Bjorn, since I will probably also find things that he could do.
Blockers:
Nothing, really, except maybe lack of time if the kids come back too soon or don't nap well
I think Friday will be my "Fun work" day, when I focus on networking, reorganizing, brainstorming, maybe getting books from the library, and quick chores like cancelling appointments.
If anyone wants to help:
- If you know us - swap child-care with us. Best times for us to receive child-care are mornings. We will need to drop our kids at your house so we can work effectively. Best times for us to offer child-care is in the evenings. If you've been looking for a date night without babysitter costs, here is your chance. We can either have one of us come over to your house to babysit, or you can drop the kids off here.
- Pray for us. DH and I are both looking for work, so keep us both in your prayers.
- I'll get my resume up on the blog - probably tomorrow - and ask DH to let me post his as well. Let us know if you hear about anything that we might be able to do. I can do entry-level programming or software testing with about three years of experience; DH is looking for phone tech support positions primarily.
- Introduce us to people who work in our areas, if you know anyone, so that we can expand our networks.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Leave of absence from work
I'm going to be taking a leave of absence from work starting tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be able to do my job better after taking a break. And hopefully that will be enough to keep my job.
Going without an income is going to be a financial stretch. But this is a good job, and losing it will be a longer financial stretch - and finding a new job would be a huge mental hurdle right now. It's really hard to sell yourself when you feel like a loser *and* you just got laid off.
I've been trying to tell myself that it's okay to just enjoy the time off and not feel guilty or like a failure because "I ought to feel bad, it's my fault I need to take time off". I thought I was prepared to be positive - but then I go to blog about it, and I feel like I should be expressing remorse (yet another benefit of the blog - it uncovers bad mindsets I might not otherwise recognize until it was too late).
I can't really afford to take all the blame right now (even though it *is* all my fault, 'cuz I'm SuperWoman and should NEVER fail at anything! And should be completely independent of those around me and never need help or support!). I know it's irrational to think this is entirely my fault. The last thing I need is to get depressed right as I take time off of work, and spend 30 days wallowing in self-pity. I can be really good at wallowing . . . not exactly a skill that gets listed on my CV :-P
Going without an income is going to be a financial stretch. But this is a good job, and losing it will be a longer financial stretch - and finding a new job would be a huge mental hurdle right now. It's really hard to sell yourself when you feel like a loser *and* you just got laid off.
I've been trying to tell myself that it's okay to just enjoy the time off and not feel guilty or like a failure because "I ought to feel bad, it's my fault I need to take time off". I thought I was prepared to be positive - but then I go to blog about it, and I feel like I should be expressing remorse (yet another benefit of the blog - it uncovers bad mindsets I might not otherwise recognize until it was too late).
I can't really afford to take all the blame right now (even though it *is* all my fault, 'cuz I'm SuperWoman and should NEVER fail at anything! And should be completely independent of those around me and never need help or support!). I know it's irrational to think this is entirely my fault. The last thing I need is to get depressed right as I take time off of work, and spend 30 days wallowing in self-pity. I can be really good at wallowing . . . not exactly a skill that gets listed on my CV :-P
Monday, July 21, 2008
What kind of job I'm looking for
First, my background:
- I have a BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Washington, which is a pretty good school for CS (it's often ranked next after Berkeley - around the 5th / 6th best school in the country when I graduated).
- I have 6 months experience as a software development engineer intern.
- Since graduation, I have worked in the test discipline.
* Nine months as an Software Test Engineer contractor at Microsoft (MS) (working for Volt)
* One year as a Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) contractor at MS (working for Volt)
* Eight months in current position as MS SDET in Internet Explorer
- I may be making a career switch to development - but need to conduct some informational interviews first to learn what QA outside of MS looks like.
I'll post a link to my resume once I get around to updating it.
So the first thing I actually need to do is to conduct informational interviews at various companies to see what their 1-2 years experience test development and entry-level software development work is like. I've heard that testing outside of MS is very different, and I'm not sure I'm interested in a test career outside of this company.
Right now, what I need most is contacts for informational interviews with software development professionals and software testing professionals in a variety of companies. I will not be looking for a job in these interviews - rather, I will be trying to decide what kind of company I am interested in working in, and whether I want to continue my career in software testing or make a career move to software development. If I spend time on unemployment, I will *need* to make contact on specific jobs, so I should use this time to figure out the big picture information I will need to make those contacts useful.
I am especially interested in companies that match any of the following points:
- Are in or very close to Everett
- Have great benefits, especially health benefits
- Are concerned with making the world a better place, either by directly working towards that goal (like Catholic Charities . . . but I don't think they're hiring for my role right now) or by taking steps to give as a company and encouraging giving and volunteering by their employees (MS does a great job with this)
- Are full of enthusiastic, active people who really love what they do
- Have room for flexible schedules for employees (like 7 to 4 schedules instead of 8 to 5, or "just get the work done and be here from 10 to 4" - like at MS)
I'm still working out what my needed and desired salaries are. I'd prefer full-time work with a great company, but contract work at a company that I *think* is great would be OK if I can find a good, small, personal contracting agency.
Yeesh. Re-reading this post is giving me the shakes. It's very real. The only thing I've been through in my life that had a similar emotional impact was finding out that we were expecting twins. Of course, my first reaction there was happiness - but then I started reading about the health risks and challenges, and I was really roller-coasting emotionally for a while, between excited anticipation and fear. Here, the first reaction was being upset - but the roller-coasting is pretty similar. As long as I keep pushing forward when I'm feeling optimistic, I should be able to coast through the down-periods and just focus on prayer until I'm ready to get back to work again.
I know other people who have been through similar problems before - so that's an advantage over the twin pregnancy. I can talk to friends who have been through this before. Obviously, it's not the end of the world. The really scary parts of job loss are fairly far down the road - a lot of things have to go wrong before we're really in trouble.
- I have a BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Washington, which is a pretty good school for CS (it's often ranked next after Berkeley - around the 5th / 6th best school in the country when I graduated).
- I have 6 months experience as a software development engineer intern.
- Since graduation, I have worked in the test discipline.
* Nine months as an Software Test Engineer contractor at Microsoft (MS) (working for Volt)
* One year as a Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) contractor at MS (working for Volt)
* Eight months in current position as MS SDET in Internet Explorer
- I may be making a career switch to development - but need to conduct some informational interviews first to learn what QA outside of MS looks like.
I'll post a link to my resume once I get around to updating it.
So the first thing I actually need to do is to conduct informational interviews at various companies to see what their 1-2 years experience test development and entry-level software development work is like. I've heard that testing outside of MS is very different, and I'm not sure I'm interested in a test career outside of this company.
Right now, what I need most is contacts for informational interviews with software development professionals and software testing professionals in a variety of companies. I will not be looking for a job in these interviews - rather, I will be trying to decide what kind of company I am interested in working in, and whether I want to continue my career in software testing or make a career move to software development. If I spend time on unemployment, I will *need* to make contact on specific jobs, so I should use this time to figure out the big picture information I will need to make those contacts useful.
I am especially interested in companies that match any of the following points:
- Are in or very close to Everett
- Have great benefits, especially health benefits
- Are concerned with making the world a better place, either by directly working towards that goal (like Catholic Charities . . . but I don't think they're hiring for my role right now) or by taking steps to give as a company and encouraging giving and volunteering by their employees (MS does a great job with this)
- Are full of enthusiastic, active people who really love what they do
- Have room for flexible schedules for employees (like 7 to 4 schedules instead of 8 to 5, or "just get the work done and be here from 10 to 4" - like at MS)
I'm still working out what my needed and desired salaries are. I'd prefer full-time work with a great company, but contract work at a company that I *think* is great would be OK if I can find a good, small, personal contracting agency.
Yeesh. Re-reading this post is giving me the shakes. It's very real. The only thing I've been through in my life that had a similar emotional impact was finding out that we were expecting twins. Of course, my first reaction there was happiness - but then I started reading about the health risks and challenges, and I was really roller-coasting emotionally for a while, between excited anticipation and fear. Here, the first reaction was being upset - but the roller-coasting is pretty similar. As long as I keep pushing forward when I'm feeling optimistic, I should be able to coast through the down-periods and just focus on prayer until I'm ready to get back to work again.
I know other people who have been through similar problems before - so that's an advantage over the twin pregnancy. I can talk to friends who have been through this before. Obviously, it's not the end of the world. The really scary parts of job loss are fairly far down the road - a lot of things have to go wrong before we're really in trouble.
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