Job developments

I‘ve had more go on in the past 4 days about jobs than most people experience with jobs in 4 years. So, here is my update on my Saturday update, specifically and uniquely about work, and in approximately the order that things happened:

I was offered my first in-home tutor jobs by the business that hired me for that. There were actually quite a few students. Unfortunately, they were all in Jemez Valley and Española, both of which are very lengthy drives just to do an hour of tutoring. I told her that I’d consider it if she could arrange several students for each trip. I haven’t heard any more.

On Sunday there was an ad in the classifieds looking for a concierge at La Posada de Santa Fe (one of the well-known hotels here – the one that’s famous for its ghost). I’ve been thinking about a job as a concierge for a long time, and I’ve applied for a couple of them before this. That’s what Antoinette does at another hotel, and she got me thinking about it at least a year ago. It’s a good job with lots of great benefits, and it looks like fun to me. I have no hotel experience, though, and they’ve seemed to want that when I’ve applied for other concierge jobs. But, we shall see. I got the application on Monday, completed it, and turned it in on Tuesday.

As the result of some feedback from several of you and also the intuition that was speaking to me, I decided not to take a job at Sylvan Learning Center. It just isn’t right for me. They cooperated by not calling me on Monday like the woman assured me they would.

A friend who is a teacher encouraged me to advertise myself as a private tutor. She said there’s a need for them and that I could get $50 per hour doing it. I'm investigating. I have another friend who does exactly that. I want to talk with her and get her perspective on it.

On Tuesday the guy in charge of the training for guides at El Rancho de las Golondrinas called me. That’s the one I said I thought I had missed out on. Well, I'm starting the training on Saturday. I missed a couple of the sessions, but he said I can do it anyway. It’s a lot like acting. Not only will I lead the tours, but I’ll also dress up in period clothing while I'm doing it. It isn’t a huge money-maker, but it sounds like fun.

My teacher friend got me thinking again about teaching as a career. What I really want to do is teach AVID (college preparation) and advance placement classes. So, I went out to Santa Fe Community College on Tuesday to get information. It turns out that there’s a provisional teaching license that I can get as soon as I start the program, and I could start a regular teaching job with that. I could teach anywhere – Santa Fe, Los Alamos, a private school. I’ve heard that male teachers are particularly in demand. And, they told me, if I act quickly and get my application in, I might be able to begin my first class in late March. I took the application.

Yesterday (Tuesday) I also called to follow up on sending my resume in to the fourth temp employment agency – Careers First. Today I had an interview with them. They, as all the other temp agencies have, loved me. They were thrilled that I type 50 words per minute with only 1 error (in a minute) and that I scored exceptionally high in being able to use MS Word. So, maybe they’ll have something for me. I liked the woman who interviewed me a lot, and I liked their philosophy a lot, too. She encouraged me to turn down any job I didn’t really want to do and said they’d keep calling me for any job I'm qualified for anyway. She said they want me to be happy doing whatever jobs I take because that is the image they want.

Then I got on the computer and signed up for my first secret shopping job. I can’t tell you anything about it because they don’t want me to compromise the secrecy in any way. And I am good about confidentiality if I see a reason for it. Unfortunately, I was going to take another job, too, but by the time I completed the qualifying test for it, someone else evidently had taken it. At least it was gone from the list.

And then I got a phone message from one of the people at another temp agency – Group Powell One. She said they have a long-term temp job for me. I left a message for her and will call first thing in the morning. Hopefully they won’t have already given it to someone else. I have faith that if it’s really for me, it will still be available when I call.

There you have it. Lots happening.

As Claire said, “We are intrepid. We carry on.”

Namaste,
Michael