Hired!

I made mention on a few responses on various blogs that I have recently accepted a job offer. I am in the process in waiting to hear back from my new employer regarding my background check and my official start date. I already passed the mandatory drug test just before Christmas. It's just now a matter of when results for my criminal background check and credit reports are received. Since I did not commit any crimes, do not have any pending civil suits filed against me, and I only have one credit card outstanding in which I make my monthly payments timely, I should start my new job next week.

Last year (2010) I temped, volunteered, helped close my father's business, audited some legal classes, and worked in retail while I continued to look (and to also to avoid becoming further depressed about my situation). Timing and luck certainly have everything to do in landing a job these days. I consider just snagging an initial interview with my new employer a miracle. I have no idea who my competition was. Perhaps my background in insurance law, civil litigation, and general contract administration cinched the offer? Who knows; I am just grateful that my hunt to be gainfully employed has ended on a happy note.

When I started my blog, I wanted to write about my experience in being unemployed. December, 2010 has been a whirlwind for me between job interviews, working crazy hours in retail, and moving back home. I was unable to sit down and compose what was happening. Moving back home and having to organize and unpack took up much of my free time. One thing I am happy that I did not do was throw in the towel and give up, although I was damn close in doing that. After nearly two years of job hunting, I was becoming quite disgusted with the whole process in sending resumes, having interviews and never hearing back from anyone, having two companies interested in me, only to be told the companies had hiring freezes, and dealing with staffing agencies and the unscrupulous sales people who work for them. No one knows how difficult looking for a job is until you are in that position.

I’ve heard so many platitudes and lousy advice given regarding looking for a job. I have been told countless times to network, temp, volunteer, and just take any job. I did all of that during the last two years. It all came down to luck and good timing with my recent job offer. I took the chance in sending my resume in applying for a position in which I was fortunately perfectly matched for. (In this job market, candidates have to possess 100% of the criteria the employer seeks.) I spotted the position on Indeed.com, sent my resume, and six weeks later I received a call to come in for an interview. It’s not glamorous and I don’t know what to expect. However I am grateful that finally an employer gave me the chance and did not hold being downsized against me.

I am excited about the new job, but nervous that I am re-entering the legal field in that I am expected to be perfect again. I will also be learning about a new area in law which is not widely practiced. Last few days have been spent reviewing the NY CPLR and my hornbooks so I am ready. I am also preparing to take my Notary Public license test (I actually got away without being a Notary Public for many years). It’s a small legal department, probably the smallest legal department I have worked in. I am expected to be the “hub” (so to speak) between the company, various outside counsel, and executive management. I am relieved that I will be gainfully employed again, granted that my 90 day probation goes well.

I never had the chance to blog about my experiences in temping (which was a miserable experience for me), nor when I volunteered at legal aid (which was comical and disturbing at the same time). I do intend to write about these experiences because I think some may be able to benefit from what I had experienced.

I can say that being downsized and unemployed for two years took a financial and psychological toll on me. After a while in going to interviews and sending numerous resumes, you begin to really doubt yourself. You rip apart and analyze what you had said and what you should have said during the interview. You rip apart how you look, question you age, question if you have enough of experience or even have too much experience. You start to wonder if it is too late to go back to school for another degree, or should you bother spending a great deal of money (which you do not have) to learn the latest software that only a handful of law firms in NYC use. It was a rough two years and I hope I do not have to go through another experience like this again.

I’m not sure what advice I can offer to those who are out of work other than keep trying and do not be too hard on yourself. In working at the food market where I worked at for nearly three months, I have come into contact with many educated and under-employed people. The store manager and the produce manager have MBA’s. I worked with a former sports editor for a newspaper, real estate brokers, art and music teachers, stock brokers, insurance salespeople, small business owners who lost their businesses, non-profit casualties, and recent college grads from 1T UGC’s. If anything I learned while working in retail is that this economy does not discriminate. People of different races, educational backgrounds (some with advance degrees), having prior work experience, being a recent grad, and different generations were all in the same big under-employment boat as I was in.

I know this is a really long post. My blog most likely will take a new direction once I start my new job.