Jobs blah

This week I was confronted with the dilemma that anybody who posts their personal journal online faces. How much of yourself do you share? In most cases, this isn't a huge issue because people who regularly read this blog know that I can be a bit moody so my emo or political rants don't really come as a surprise to anybody.

One area, however, where a little more caution needs to be shown is with my job search. There are two reasons for this. One, some of my classmates (i.e. the competition) may read the blog. I post a few of the entries on facebook, so people are aware of it. I don't know if any of them do read it or not, but who knows, right? Not that I mind the competition per-se, I just don't like the discussion. The reason I did or didn't apply for that job is my own and I hate having to justify it, if that makes any sense, which it probably doesn't.

The second reason is that future employers may read it. Yeah, it's a stretch, but I'm of the opinion that you shouldn't post stuff anywhere on the internet and not expect people to see it. You see it happening all the time.

Maybe once things are a little more certain, I'll post more about that subject on the blog.

One Step Back Two Steps Forward

It's been the story of my life for the past few years, something awful happens, then, almost instantly, something really great follows right behind it, often better than the first thing. It's one step back, but two steps forward.

The most obvious example of this was my cancer diagnosis. About the most awful news a person could hear, right? But from that terrible experience an abundance of awesomeness has sprouted and nearly everything in my life from that point forward has been pushing me in a more positive direction. Because of this, I was kept in town for about 6 months longer than I had originally planned and during that time I solidified my relationships with some really great people, people I would have probably never known that well (and possibly forgotten) had it not been for that extra time. Cancer won't always be in your body, but good relationships can leave a lasting impression.

I mention this because of some new, and interesting, developments in my job search. A few weeks ago I was feeling really bummed because a few of my early prospects had fallen through and I was about out of ideas. On a whim, I checked the website of a place I really wanted to work, one that hadn't been hiring, and saw that they had an opening. That's all I'm going to say right now because it isn't a done deal yet, but everything seems almost too perfect for it not to be meant to be. It really has fit the pattern of my recent life.

It's true, we are all on a path to something and along the way God leaves both opportunities and obstacles and often times, they are one and the same.

Jobs jobs jobs

I'm starting to think that I've made some bad career choices....

As all of you (or almost all of you) know, I'm a graduate student in economics who is going to have his master's degree in May. That's all fine and dandy, right? Well, maybe not. I'm starting to find that the MA in economics might not be the most marketable degree, especially the way I've gone about it.

Well, let me back up a bit. I think the trouble may not be with the degree per-se, but my concentration. Last year I decided to go with regulatory economics because I was under the impression that the job market was good and that I would be able to find something pretty easily. That is not completely panning out how I had planned. Very few public utilities seem to be hiring for these positions and the ones that I've applied to, so far zilch.

State agencies do seem to be hiring people for jobs, but there are two huge conditions. One, every single one of them is paid for with ARRA (i.e. stimulus) funding and nobody seems to know how long those jobs are going to even exist once they are given. Second, a lot of these jobs are going to require a pretty substantial move on my part and frankly, I don't know if I care enough about regulatory economics to move hundreds and hundreds of miles away for it.

There is a third option, but I'm not sure how this is going to work out. I'll still have an MA in economics and that opens up a few more doors, mostly in research fields. But here's the rub there, because of my focus on regulatory stuff, I've neglected some areas that are pretty important for economic research, namely statistics. So while I certainly have a background to be qualified as an economist, I'm a far from ideal candidate for most jobs.

I see it now, I should have done an MBA, finance, accounting, or at the very least, something with a heaver statistical bend. But then again, I've never been one to make sound choices regarding my future.

There is one ray of light, though. However few the nibbles might be, I have had some. I had two interviews last week. One I was already rejected for, which is ok, because I was only marginally qualified for that job anyway. The other, however, is a very strange thing. On Thursday, I had an interview with a state that won't be named, but it looks like a boot and has a lot of Mormons. The interview went well, but there's a catch, they seem to want somebody right away. They haven't actually rejected me yet, but they even seemed hesitant to wait until Spring Break so I can get up there for an in person interview. If they won't wait two weeks for SB, they won't wait two months for me to finish.

So yeah, such is life.

The Mellowness

I'm trying to be a different person.

One of the after effects of my illness is, I think, that I'm 1000x's more mellow than I used to be. Anxiety and obsessive compulsiveness was how I was and were large elements of Brian's Grand Pity Party that was such a horrible influence on me during my undergraduate years. I admit, now, that certain things just don't matter as much anymore.

But I'm not completely there yet.

I have a job interview tomorrow, for example, and most of the time I'm feeling just fine about it and am fairly calm, cool and collected. But I admit, there are periods of time where I am royally freaking out. I really don't know why, though. I'm fairly well prepared for whatever questions they ask and if I was meant to have this job, I will.

That, to me, is the key to happiness in this world. Do the best you can do to achieve a certain goal, but beyond that, don't worry about it because God's plans don't always intersect your own.