What the hell do I do with this life thing?

[letterblade]

I have been unemployed for eleven months.

I'm going to skip the part where I go on about what I've been doing instead of being a working adult. Suffice it to say that, while there were certainly some grand adventures and some (though not enough) selling of shiny things, my current life in unsustainable, either financially or, honestly, emotionally.

I have not the self-discipline to keep myself as productive as I'd like, nor to make myself more self-disciplined.

But the thought of dragging my ass through twenty-five more admin assistant interviews just to land another temporary or underpaid or stressful position. I got my last job through sheer dumb networking luck; I cannot count on getting anything that good again.

After a few conversations with my fantabulous roommate fiddle_dragon, I am seriously considering getting an A+ cert and taking the plunge into job-hunting in the IT field. This is really not something I think I'm qualified for, but she thinks I have a chance. If I do go in that direction, I'll definitely take the route of getting a certification first. I have had scattered years of on-the-job learn-as-you-go support experience, but I am very bad at selling myself, especially on shaky credentials, and it would be very useful for me to be able to simply hold up a cert as proof to interviewers (and, let's face it, myself) that I Can Do This.

More than anything, I want to work part-time. I want to have enough time to keep doing things like my Etsy shop, writing, being in musicals, learning Ruby on Rails.

Speaking of writing...aiii. I've been unemployed for nearly a year, with nigh infinite time. How come I've not yet written a novel? I create best under adversity and under deadlines, yet I instinctively avoid those very things for the stress they cause me; and then I lament that I am not creative.

Well, it's That Time of the Year. I am pretty seriously considering doing NaNoWriMo.

This is kind of a pointless post. Then again, this has been kind of a pointless Tory recently.

In the solidly good news section, I spent the last while at my computer with a very cute dog in my lap, and both of the games that mllelaurel and I are running at SLAW are full of enthusiastic players. Whee!

Mmm, and the requisite:

Paranoid & Crotchety website update!

Now with more info on works in progress, upcoming runs, and an addition or two in the pipe dream department.

Comments

[nevacaruso.livejournal.com]

Good luck with the job-hunt and the pursuit of your certification (not necessarily in that order).

Also, NaNoWriMo! I have also been having NaNo-like thoughts! I am curious as to what you are thinking of doing and so forth, though you are certainly not obligated to share your ideas.

[londo.livejournal.com]

I absolutely believe you can get an A+ Cert, and probably without much effort.

[darkoni]

Huh. I didn't know you had a web site ... and now I've read it. Neat.

You have written more games than I knew about. One of these days, I shall get to play in one of them. SLAW will not be that time, however, as I am working most of that weekend and only around for Saturday night and Sunday.

[mgrasso.livejournal.com]

I wish you good luck with whatever you decide to do. I am coming up on two months unemployed soon and I definitely feel your pain. :(

[sixthbrightest.livejournal.com]

I'm sort of in the same boat. I left college for financial reasons after fall semester ended last December. In this time, I have not gotten a job (though to be fair, my county has like a 15% unemployment rate and I apply religiously every month), I'm still stalled on the "getting into a new college" thing because finaid takes for-effing-ever, etc. And even though I can financially sort-of-sustain-this because I'm living with my parents, it's driving me stir crazy.

I have not written a novel, even though I really want to. I have basically just been an idiot blob and done *nothing* (except start an LDR). The longer I'm out of school, and the longer I'm not doing *anything* productive, the more I fear that if I get back in I'm going to not be able to handle it, which stresses me more.

So, basically, I know how you feel. And good luck with getting a certification. I think it will certainly help you out to have one when looking for jobs. I hope everything looks up for you soon.

P.S. I'm pretty sure I'm also doing NaNoWriMo! Good luck on that.

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

Are you involved at all in the Ruby on Rails community? I've got a friend who is, and who would welcome having other women involved, and who could point you to some resources if you're interested. Apparently, it's a very popular and lucrative field to be in -- there are RoR jobs going begging.

[lisefrac.livejournal.com]

Have you taken a look at any of the positions open at my company right now? Admittedly, you'd have to travel to Framingham, and I don't know what your transportation situation is like.

https://idg.tms.hrdepartment.com/cgi-bin/a/searchjobs_quick.cgi?order=companyname&order=jobs.timedate%20DESC&kand=&kor=&kquote=&knot=&g=Framingham_MA_US&qty=25&search=Search%20Jobs

I seem to recall that you have some HTML/CSS skills, which is really all you need to do my job. If there are any openings on our team in the future, I'll let you know.

Aside from that, you have my sympathies. My year of unemployment/semi-employment was not nearly as productive as I had hoped. It turns out worrying about where your next paycheck is coming from takes a lot out of you! Who would have figured? ;)

[fiddledragon]

And really - all it takes is a foot in the door with a company who is willing to look between the lines at someone who has a competency and a willingness to learn - especially if it's a fairly Jr. level position.