Remember the reader who asked whether she should take a job that was one-month, 35 miles away, and wouldn’t pay her enough to do more than break even?
She writes in with this update:
Let’s see, you gave me great advice about not taking a job that was far away, seasonal, and a significant step down in pay- I ended up not taking it and staying unemployed and had some really fantastic interviews that went really well, but unfortunately never got the job. Had I taken that job, I would have missed out on some really great interviews and practice, so even though I never got the job I’m happy I have the experiences I went through.
I was however, offered a really fantastic foot-in-the-door position at Neiman Marcus in their visual department but it was only very part-time and too far away to commute to. I did ask the woman who interviewed me to keep me posted on other openings as I really liked her and would love for her to mentor me. She was actually excited about the feedback I gave her on her interviewing (which was fantastic, by the way) and was totally open to staying in touch.
I’m still unemployed at the moment but am volunteering at an animal shelter walking the dogs; its a great release for me to not have to think about paying bills and such, and it also benefits a great organization at the same time. Win/ Win!
That's a great update except I'm at lost how is volunteering at times of unemployment frees one from worrying about paying bills? I wish I could do that too, particularly with walking dogs as I'm a dog lvoer myself! I'm currently on EI and the EI office is constantly on my tail in regards to active job search. One can't even take a class without a pay being suspended and volunteering is definitely a no-no.