Sometimes timing is everything

Last night Geoff and I had a talk.  It was one of those, “Ok, if something doesn’t change now we’re going to have to sell off our belongings and move in with our parents.  What are we going to DO?” talks.

It wasn’t fun, but we had to do it.  The job market isn’t getting any better, my unemployment isn’t going to last that much longer, and we’re at the point where we can’t afford COBRA x 2 for February along with rent and all our other bills.  It just isn’t going to happen.

So, there’s more work to be done to figure out that little thing called survival.

Someone was, apparently, listening.

Nothing major has happened.  But something sort of funny has.  You see, there is one particular institution of higher learning in the greater Boston area where I’ve wanted to work for a long time.  Years.  Each time I’d apply there I’d be rejected.  It became sort of a running joke.  “Let’s see how fast Kelly is rejected this time!”

Once I was rejected for a position in under 20 minutes.  Really.

I once toyed with the idea of applying there as a faculty member just to see if that application would take longer to reject.  I finally gave up on ever getting a job there.  Clearly there was either a bug in the system that was just rejecting my applications, I was doing something REALLY wrong, or it was just destined not to be.  Anyway, back at the very end of December a friend emailed me and told me that she’d seen a job that I would be absolutely perfect for.  It was at that school.

I told her about my history with trying to get jobs there and she told me to go ahead and apply anyway.  So I took a look.

It was perfect for me.  In every way, it was perfect.  So on 1/2/12 I applied.  And I waited for my rejection.  And waited, and waited.  And it didn’t come.

And then, on 1/17/12 I got an email telling me that the position had been withdrawn.  The email was a canned one, of course, but it did tell me that if they were going to re-open it that it would be under a new requisition number and that I was encouraged to re-apply.

And I laughed really hard.  That was the first time ever, in years and years of trying, I hadn’t been rejected outright.  I chalked that up to some kind of small victory, and went about my business.

So today, when I got an email from the head of that department, I think I’d have fallen out of my chair if I hadn’t been sitting on the couch.

She said that they’re not able to hire for the position and that the responsibilities are being parceled out among various people in the department.  But!  But, they’re looking to hire some hourly weekend people to fill out the ranks.  She said they liked my resume.  Oh, and was I interested?

Um, let me think about that… YES!

I haven’t heard back from her yet, so I don’t know all of the details, but I’m excited.  Just the chance to work for that department in that university is HUGE.

Is it the solution to our problems?  No.  Is it a shot in the arm at just the right time?  Absolutely.

And so, onward.

~Kelly