Yes, I'm still here

Yes, I am still looking for a job. I just got sidetracked a bit as I took on a seasonal job at the great Iowa State Fair!!

What an adventure--if you count an adventure as working 12-13 hour days for 14 days in a row!! I did have fun though and learned a lot about myself. Like . . .

1. I could work 12-13 hour days in the sweltering heat and/or during rainy days
2. I don't need to find a desk job anymore like I used to have. My legs held up for those 12 hour days.
3. I developed a new appreciation for sleep. My head hit the pillow as soon as I got home at night.

Most importantly, I gained a new self confidence. After doing that job, I think I can do anything!!

What a difference!

Just got back from the "newly revised" Iowa Workforce Center. What great changes they have made! They've been operating for four days with the new system and the unemployed actually get treated as "HUMAN BEINGS." I was very pleased. I complimented every worker that I had contact with. Was told though that they are still working out kinks which I'm sure they will be doing for quite a while. I have to really commend the agency though for putting on this "NEW FACE."

I did come away though without some specific questions about the dislocated worker program and the extended unemployment benefits while in school being answered. The new system requires you now to attend an assessment meeting which is held at 2:30 every day. That is a good thing though--I Just have to wait a bit more time to get my questions answered and to get back into "their system."

I believe though that even with all of their efforts, it is still going to be extremely difficult for the unemployed to find jobs. That is why I think the grassroots efforts of AMOS are important. They are going to be talking one-to-one with employers. Perhaps Iowa Workforce does this also though.

Meanwhile though, I did turn my experience into a networking opportunity and was able to give out two business cards for my home interior, home staging business!

Am I Looking in the Wrong Place for the Wrong Kind of Job?

Perhaps I have been looking in all the wrong places for my next position? After watching several hours of Deadliest Catch on Discovery over the holiday weekend, I started thinking that maybe I should just give up entirely on not just Iowa (see Goodbye(?) Iowa) but also on IT/Technology and join one of the crews fishing for Alaskan King Crab? Those guys make some serious coin in a very short period of time...

Of course, it seems like there is about one boat per season that goes down with all crew lost. That is scary. And probably too risky for me. OK, back to searching for IT leadership roles for me.

To Gray or not to Gray

That is the question I will ask tomorrow at the Iowa Workforce workshop for tips for hunting for a job for workers ages 40 and up. A few months ago, I started to let my hair go to its natural color (gray!!), covering up the gray with semi permanent rather than permanent color until my roots grew out. I started doing this in order to save money in the long run. Now that I'm in the job search and will be facing age discrimination--yes, it's out there--I don't know if this is the way to go or not. Stay tuned here for later thoughts. Or give me your comments ladies. What do you think? Have you gone gray? Has it affected your job search?

It's been one month

It's been one month since my last confession. No, I mean, since I was laid off. It was a Friday afternoon, the last day of February when I was called in to my supervisor's office and upon seeing the HR Director also--knew I wasn't at a usual staff meeting. I later was escorted to my car.

It was a long four days before my computer left my line of vision. I was on it day and night--networking with former colleagues and friends and connecting with others who had been laid off too. On the fourth night I arose from my computer tunnel vision stupor and ventured outside. I had to "collect my belongings" from my former office. What a sad and humiliating time as I was watched while I packed my things.

Yet, on the fifth day, I arose to a beautiful, unseasonably warm early March day. As I drove to my Employee Assistance Program counseling meeting, I discovered that there were people everywhere. On a Tuesday! Were these people all laid off too? Or were they usually out and about on a Tuesday when I was usually at work?

I was told by the counselor that I was doing all the right things--networking and job searching--but that I needed to take time for myself also. Have coffee with friends, volunteer or do something that I hever had time to do when I was working. Take advantage of this unexpected time off. Don't spend all of the time on the computer.

I let my mind wander as I drove around familiar haunts from previous work lives downtown and somehow ended up at the unemployment--Iowa Workforce office. I was confused as I made my way inside. Mothers sitting on the floor feeding their babies, men in Carhardts and business suits, people leaning against windowsills and rows of computer and people filled cubicles greeted me. I was in a world I had never seen before--at least not in this country. I had been exported to another galaxy. The world of the unemployed.

Stay tuned for my next chapter.

Sheri