Job hunting

[thagandizzle]

So, up until the end of October, I had a job that I really liked. The hours were good, the work was pretty chill but interesting, and the people were lovably strange. But the company decided to move our office from Seattle to Spokane, which is extremely too far to commute. Also, I'm married and my partner had recently gotten a raise and a promotion, so it didn't make sense at all for us to pack up and move so that we could live on my more modest income in an unfamiliar city.

All this means that I've been on the hunt and, god, I just DO NOT WANT to deal with it. I know that I basically live my life at a small fraction of my potential. I'm pretty ok with that, though. I like being a big fish in a small pond and I'm too much of a perfectionist/anxious person to risk putting myself in situations where I might be able to make mistakes. But there is literally no way to effectively communicate that in a way that doesn't make me sound like a 500% Bad Person: "Yeah, I know that I'm overqualified for this menial job, but I just want to phone it in and still be the best employee you have. Is that cool?"

Ugh. But what I really want is my unemployment to get approved so that I can at least have a little bit of money. We can live ok but not comfortably on my partner's income, but it's a lot less tight when I have even a little bit of something coming in. I've thought once or twice of doing art commissions, but then I run into the "I'm not good enough" series of thoughts.

No one's going to pay me to read fanfiction all day, but it would be awfully nice if they did!

Comments

[sparkythegeek]

The older I get, that's more often how I feel about jobs too. 20 years ago, I was ready to take over the world. Now, I just want to get paid well enough and do as minimally straining as possible.

[thagandizzle]

Hear, hear! I used to be SUPER willing to do whatever it takes! 60 hours workweeks? Done! Multiple jobs? Absolutely! Now, though? How soon can I get anywhere but work?

[rafiwinters]

Ooh, the concept of being paid to read fanfic... *clears throat and refocuses on the mundane*... Yeah, job hunting sucks. As does living on tight finances. We're there even though my wife has a good job. I'm on SSDI and I don't love having that as *my* only income, and I don't love being dependent on another person even though she is my wife.

[thagandizzle]

That's kind of the other part of it. As much as I joke about just staying and home and being a housewife, I do like having my own independent income separate from my partner. We have a joint bank account for bills and rent and groceries and stuff, but we still have our own personal accounts for whatever we want to use them for and I really like having regular money coming into that account.

[rafiwinters]

My problem is that while I do the greater part of the housewifey stuff, and often don't mind it, sometimes I do mind and it's hard to get J (my wife) to get it. I've been disabled, and mostly not working, for 20 years. She's been working. It leads to different perspectives.

[thagandizzle]

It really does!

[hlagol]

I tend to agree with you. Life is short and work is mostly just a thing that saps me of my energy in exchange for money. I do not understand people who are deeply passionate about climbing the corporate ladder and working 80 hours a week.

[thagandizzle]

Ugh, right?! I worked for a non-profit for about five years and I felt really good about that, but I was working retail and that was exhausting in its own way. I've been trying to get myself back into finding a non-profit I support and working there, but jobs at non-profits are thin on the ground! At least at the one where I used to work I could be content that my labor was ultimately helping people who need it and not just helping to line someone else's pockets, you know?

[hlagol]

Yeah. I currently work for a small startup without VC funding, and while the environs are nice enough (we do not do bad things with data, our existence is a net neutral, the men do no mansplain to me), they do underpay me, and part of me just wants as much $$$ as I can get for 40 hours and to have maximum work/life boundaries and maximum $$ to spend on the "life" part. And also I do not want to leave an alright thing for what will likely be a worse thing because, well, the world is going to hell and tolerable jobs are, as you say, "thin on the ground."

Alas for the lack of Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism, as the kids say.

[thagandizzle]

Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism... The dream!

[hlagol]

Truly. :D

[mrs260]

Possible way to communicate your job goals -- you place emphasis on a good work-life balance, you liked the balance you had at your previous job, and you're looking for something that will let you maintain it?

(Note: my advice is not necessarily good.)

[thagandizzle]

Lol, yeah, I know pretty much at this point what I do and do not want out of my work experience. It's just a slog and a half sifting through job ads, applying, interviewing, etc. just so I can do whatever, you know?

[mrs260]

Yeah, that's certainly understandable. I hope you can find something that suits you well!

[zesty_pinto]

I don't miss job hunting. As someone who tempted for over a decade, it was annoying and aggravating half the time. At least you live in Seattle so there's always things there, but yeesh what a pain in the butt!

I think there probably could be someone making a job out of reading and reviewing fanfiction, but I don't know how I'd market that. Twitch or something? You'd need to have some sort of personality to really make it work, too.

[thagandizzle]

Yeah, I wouldn’t have the first idea of how to possibly monetize that. Or if I’d really like it if I did! I’m one of those people that strangers tell their life stories to when I go out in public and I’ve legit contemplated creating a, “need to talk at someone who isn’t a therapist and can’t help you but will patiently listen to your nonsense?” service. XD

[zesty_pinto]

It always felt like an odd contradiction to me for that reason, like some of these are very introvert-centric enjoyments, but you kind of have to extrovert the hell out of yourself to sell it. Guess that's why you can make money out of it if you can do it since it ain't the easiest thing to to.

I would consider payment for said service! Like that "Dial a Mom" thing that was in Bloom County!