Holiday Planning; Job Search 2025
Sep. 8th, 2025 04:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jakebeAs busy as August was, it looks like September will be mostly quiet. Ratty is away doing his annual family reunion, so that puts a pause on most of the D&D games we're running. He'll be back later in the month, but then Antlerfox is going to Japan for a few weeks after that. There are a few online campaigns (and one local) we might be able to resume at that point, but chances are we won't be able to play anything until October for the most part.
Then, there are the holidays to think about. Husboo wants to go home to Arkansas this year and I'm definitely for it, but I'm really not sure if my finances will have recovered enough by that time. If they have, chances are pretty strong that I won't be able to get the time off -- having just settled in to my brand new job and everything. Even if I won't be able to make it to Arkansas with him for Christmas, chances are pretty good folks will be out and about through much of November and December.
My thoughts are increasingly turning toward the holidays. I think I say this every September, but I'd really like to make sure they don't sneak up on me this year. That means making Christmas lists now and budgeting for the presents I'd like to give everyone. Husboo probably won't want to think about things quite this early, but it wouldn't hurt to have a few suggestions ready to go when the time comes. If something actually looks good for multiple people, it might even be a good idea to buy ahead of time with the certainty it'll find a good home somewhere.
Mostly, I want to make sure I'm in a grateful mood through the holidays. There's so much going wrong right now, and chances are things will be notably worse by winter. I really want to put the work in to cultivate an attitude that looks *first* toward the community around me so I'm a bit more resilient against the despair that inevitably pops up from time to time. And I want to be better about expressing my gratitude for all the folks who see me, root for me, step up to help me when I need it.
So many folks have come out of the woodwork to help where they could, offering resume advice or tips on how to navigate this year's job search. People have floated me positions they think I'll be well-suited for, and while none of them have turned into an interview yet I'm still hopeful. If it weren't for the people around me pointing out the very real skills I could bring to a prospective employer, I'd still be mildly freaking out about my ability to get anything that wouldn't be horrifically exploitative. I feel I have a good handle on what I bring to the table, good insight into how I could make myself more "marketable", and a mostly solid idea of what I *want* out of my next job. I'd like to maintain this grounded optimism for as long as possible.
I've been applying to positions after hosting our Parisien friend in August and doubling back to the positions I applied to back in June and July. It's hard to know if I've been ghosted or not; positions are re-posted on job-hunting sites all the time, or taken down recently enough that it's hard to know if they've hired someone or just not you. Overall, I'm learning that it's not a good idea to apply directly from places like Indeed, ZipRecruiter, or LinkedIn. It's way better to go to the actual company site and apply there.
Still, I've only heard back from a few places. Most have been auto-rejections, but I did get invited to take a proctored online quiz for the Library Page position in Santa Clara. It was strange; I basically had to agree to have my webcam on at all times and record my screen through the entire ordeal. The questions were mostly about sorting and analyzing data, so it feels like they're filtering for detail-oriented folks who have...some way of keeping track of a long list of finicky activities. I think I did pretty well, but I don't think the government will move very quickly here. Chances are I'll be invited to the next round in a month or so.
In the meantime, I went to a final-round in-person interview for an internal position at my current company. I was legitimately surprised to find myself a lot more excited for the position once I got a good look at what I'd be doing. It's basically being a science geek and quartermaster of sorts, developing relationships with the field technicians and actually learning how their equipment works. I'll pick up some odd skills, like soldering or getting really good about air temperature, weight measurement and the like. And even though I'll lose out on a home office for now, I think I'm ready to get back out there into the office.
We'll see whether or not I get an offer this week. I'm really hoping for it, since it would put me in the best position possible to look for a more stable company with a better-paying position. :P
Then, there are the holidays to think about. Husboo wants to go home to Arkansas this year and I'm definitely for it, but I'm really not sure if my finances will have recovered enough by that time. If they have, chances are pretty strong that I won't be able to get the time off -- having just settled in to my brand new job and everything. Even if I won't be able to make it to Arkansas with him for Christmas, chances are pretty good folks will be out and about through much of November and December.
My thoughts are increasingly turning toward the holidays. I think I say this every September, but I'd really like to make sure they don't sneak up on me this year. That means making Christmas lists now and budgeting for the presents I'd like to give everyone. Husboo probably won't want to think about things quite this early, but it wouldn't hurt to have a few suggestions ready to go when the time comes. If something actually looks good for multiple people, it might even be a good idea to buy ahead of time with the certainty it'll find a good home somewhere.
Mostly, I want to make sure I'm in a grateful mood through the holidays. There's so much going wrong right now, and chances are things will be notably worse by winter. I really want to put the work in to cultivate an attitude that looks *first* toward the community around me so I'm a bit more resilient against the despair that inevitably pops up from time to time. And I want to be better about expressing my gratitude for all the folks who see me, root for me, step up to help me when I need it.
So many folks have come out of the woodwork to help where they could, offering resume advice or tips on how to navigate this year's job search. People have floated me positions they think I'll be well-suited for, and while none of them have turned into an interview yet I'm still hopeful. If it weren't for the people around me pointing out the very real skills I could bring to a prospective employer, I'd still be mildly freaking out about my ability to get anything that wouldn't be horrifically exploitative. I feel I have a good handle on what I bring to the table, good insight into how I could make myself more "marketable", and a mostly solid idea of what I *want* out of my next job. I'd like to maintain this grounded optimism for as long as possible.
I've been applying to positions after hosting our Parisien friend in August and doubling back to the positions I applied to back in June and July. It's hard to know if I've been ghosted or not; positions are re-posted on job-hunting sites all the time, or taken down recently enough that it's hard to know if they've hired someone or just not you. Overall, I'm learning that it's not a good idea to apply directly from places like Indeed, ZipRecruiter, or LinkedIn. It's way better to go to the actual company site and apply there.
Still, I've only heard back from a few places. Most have been auto-rejections, but I did get invited to take a proctored online quiz for the Library Page position in Santa Clara. It was strange; I basically had to agree to have my webcam on at all times and record my screen through the entire ordeal. The questions were mostly about sorting and analyzing data, so it feels like they're filtering for detail-oriented folks who have...some way of keeping track of a long list of finicky activities. I think I did pretty well, but I don't think the government will move very quickly here. Chances are I'll be invited to the next round in a month or so.
In the meantime, I went to a final-round in-person interview for an internal position at my current company. I was legitimately surprised to find myself a lot more excited for the position once I got a good look at what I'd be doing. It's basically being a science geek and quartermaster of sorts, developing relationships with the field technicians and actually learning how their equipment works. I'll pick up some odd skills, like soldering or getting really good about air temperature, weight measurement and the like. And even though I'll lose out on a home office for now, I think I'm ready to get back out there into the office.
We'll see whether or not I get an offer this week. I'm really hoping for it, since it would put me in the best position possible to look for a more stable company with a better-paying position. :P
