My dream job, the one I thought would never come about, just opened up. It is with the exact agency that I want to work for, in the US (although about as far away from my parents as I can get), and in an area that I've lived in before, during my graduate school days. I actually know several of the employees there, and the skill level is just about right, although maybe a slight reach for one or two skills. It would be a challenging but not impossible step up, and it is absolutely a one-in-a-million job. I don't know if lightning can strike twice, as in I get my dream job twice in a row, but I'm going for it.
I could also easily transfer to the area near my parents in a few years, if a desired job opened up in that regional office--once you're in this organization, you're in for life if you want to be.
The application period is very brief, and it is a government job, which means I am competing against someone who this job was created for. I think I have a shot at at least getting an interview, though!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Talk Anxiety
AGH! I do this EVERY TIME. I have to give a public lecture tonight and I'm freaking out. At least the freak out duration has diminished from weeks and weeks beforehand to the day of. :) I'm getting better at this kind of thing! I have about an hour and a half of freak out time left. I've practiced my talk twice today, I know what I am going to say, and this should be fun! It is what I love--educating the public about my topic of interest! And I get to speak in very simple terms because it is the public, and insert jokes to make people pay attention. I love doing that. :)
Mostly, the anxiety over the lay off situation--it isn't looking good that I'll find the other 50% of my salary--plus the anxiety of turning that higher up in and dealing with the ensuing confrontation is really not helping.
I do have many supporters who are willing to step up and speak out against him with me, though. That feels good. But I know my company will be torn even more in shambles than it already is if I go through with it. I just sort of feel like I need to say something. It's up to me, because everyone else has shied away from it and it keeps happening. Regardless of my lay off, he needs to be reported. And that is what is getting me through this.
Mostly, the anxiety over the lay off situation--it isn't looking good that I'll find the other 50% of my salary--plus the anxiety of turning that higher up in and dealing with the ensuing confrontation is really not helping.
I do have many supporters who are willing to step up and speak out against him with me, though. That feels good. But I know my company will be torn even more in shambles than it already is if I go through with it. I just sort of feel like I need to say something. It's up to me, because everyone else has shied away from it and it keeps happening. Regardless of my lay off, he needs to be reported. And that is what is getting me through this.
Submitting a Complaint when Being Laid Off
I still intend to submit my complaint form for the guy who harassed me earlier this year. It is tricky because he is in charge of the lay off!! Can you believe it? He is about the worst person to be in charge of this! I have to request that he is left out of this process. I have also asked three former employees to submit to the file, and they have agreed. There are two existing employees that may be willing to speak up, as well. Looks like it is up to me to spearhead this campaign against him...
Monday, March 19, 2012
Clarification
Sorry, I thought I had made it clear, but I haven't:
I won't be working for my company at all anymore, except maybe if they contract me out to do the lab work that I normally do for them as a part of my salary now. However, I am still keeping half of my job, if possible.
Confusing? Yes, I suppose it is. When you factor in that my favorite boss buys out half of my time from my company and she is based elsewhere, things get a little easier to understand. My fave boss still wants to keep me on for 50% of my salary. Unfortunately, I'm based at my company, where I have office space, a contract, a computer, and all of the perks that come with an actual full-time job. We are scrambling to figure out a way for me to still have office space etc., but not work for my company anymore at all. This could even mean that I even keep my office space in my company and nothing really changes except that I don't work for them. Weird, right? Why have an office in a company I don't work for anymore? Well, apparently space isn't an issue at my company's building, and we are all still University employees (the University owns my company and provides office space). I'll keep this updated as I figure this out.
I won't be working for my company at all anymore, except maybe if they contract me out to do the lab work that I normally do for them as a part of my salary now. However, I am still keeping half of my job, if possible.
Confusing? Yes, I suppose it is. When you factor in that my favorite boss buys out half of my time from my company and she is based elsewhere, things get a little easier to understand. My fave boss still wants to keep me on for 50% of my salary. Unfortunately, I'm based at my company, where I have office space, a contract, a computer, and all of the perks that come with an actual full-time job. We are scrambling to figure out a way for me to still have office space etc., but not work for my company anymore at all. This could even mean that I even keep my office space in my company and nothing really changes except that I don't work for them. Weird, right? Why have an office in a company I don't work for anymore? Well, apparently space isn't an issue at my company's building, and we are all still University employees (the University owns my company and provides office space). I'll keep this updated as I figure this out.
Applying for Unemployment
In NZ, it's colloquially referred to as the 'dole' but technically it is called the unemployment benefit. And I've applied. I've watched many of you overseas go through the lay off and benefit process, and it seems easy enough. I hope my frugal lifestyle and significant savings doesn't count against me; this article seems to imply it isn't means-tested--only incoming money counts, not prior savings. I wonder what will happen with my application, though: I will still have half of my job!
I don't expect to get much, but I'd rather apply and see what happens than not!
In the meantime, it is time (eek) for my emergency budget cut backs:
I need to live off of ~$1700 a month (including garage rental income and interest income from savings):
Rent has to stay the same ($840 most months).
Groceries need cutting: from $450 to $400. This is about $100 a week. This is my weakest area; I have cut this back as much as I possibly can in other months to no avail. $100 a week may well work, though.
Internet and Electricity are either on a contract or cut back as much as possible. I'm an electricity freak and turn absolutely everything off as much as possible. ($115/mo)
Eating Out can be cut from $150 to $125. I've been eating out a LOT lately so this will be a hard one. $31.25 a week.
Charity is cut from $50 to $25.
Cell phone stays at $40 a month. I have tried in other months to cut this back, as well.
Medical from $75 to $25. I hardly ever use this.
Misc. needs to be cut from $600 to $130. I will have to make do with what I have, seek cheap entertainment, and only buy essential household items. $32.50 a week.
Savings is cut from $500 to $0. Sorry, long-term savings! You must leave now.
IF there is any money left over at the end of the month, it will be saved. Of COURSE. But with only ~$1700, that is going to be rough. I live what I think is a very frugal, sensible life-style already. Not much to cut back on that I haven't already!
So the plan is to start living off of the weekly assessed amounts immediately. Luckily, March is a 3 paycheck month, so I'll end up with quite a significant leftover amount on March 31, and I'll still have a month of paychecks rolling in after that. Six weeks worth of savings, half-time employment, plus an extra paycheck will go a long way between May 1 and July 1, when the new financial year (e.g. new, increased budget for me) for my part-time work starts. Even after July 1, I can reasonably only expect up to 70% of my current salary to be covered by that part-time work project; I'll have to figure out another way to make up that 30% somehow. But I'll cross that bridge when I get to it...
Also, does anyone know what my contract means when it says annual leave time will be paid out using 8% of my current salary? I don't understand that at all. I am owed 99 hours of vacation time. My annual salary is $53,830. What am I owed per hour/day? What does that even mean?
I don't expect to get much, but I'd rather apply and see what happens than not!
In the meantime, it is time (eek) for my emergency budget cut backs:
I need to live off of ~$1700 a month (including garage rental income and interest income from savings):
Rent has to stay the same ($840 most months).
Groceries need cutting: from $450 to $400. This is about $100 a week. This is my weakest area; I have cut this back as much as I possibly can in other months to no avail. $100 a week may well work, though.
Internet and Electricity are either on a contract or cut back as much as possible. I'm an electricity freak and turn absolutely everything off as much as possible. ($115/mo)
Eating Out can be cut from $150 to $125. I've been eating out a LOT lately so this will be a hard one. $31.25 a week.
Charity is cut from $50 to $25.
Cell phone stays at $40 a month. I have tried in other months to cut this back, as well.
Medical from $75 to $25. I hardly ever use this.
Misc. needs to be cut from $600 to $130. I will have to make do with what I have, seek cheap entertainment, and only buy essential household items. $32.50 a week.
Savings is cut from $500 to $0. Sorry, long-term savings! You must leave now.
IF there is any money left over at the end of the month, it will be saved. Of COURSE. But with only ~$1700, that is going to be rough. I live what I think is a very frugal, sensible life-style already. Not much to cut back on that I haven't already!
So the plan is to start living off of the weekly assessed amounts immediately. Luckily, March is a 3 paycheck month, so I'll end up with quite a significant leftover amount on March 31, and I'll still have a month of paychecks rolling in after that. Six weeks worth of savings, half-time employment, plus an extra paycheck will go a long way between May 1 and July 1, when the new financial year (e.g. new, increased budget for me) for my part-time work starts. Even after July 1, I can reasonably only expect up to 70% of my current salary to be covered by that part-time work project; I'll have to figure out another way to make up that 30% somehow. But I'll cross that bridge when I get to it...
Also, does anyone know what my contract means when it says annual leave time will be paid out using 8% of my current salary? I don't understand that at all. I am owed 99 hours of vacation time. My annual salary is $53,830. What am I owed per hour/day? What does that even mean?
Saturday, March 17, 2012
The (Only) One Where I Let Myself Whine (Or, My Lay Off Story)
Getting laid off is a feeling like no other that I have experienced. I can only liken it to a relationship break up, but one where you are not allowed to show any emotion whatsoever about the ordeal, and somehow the other person has a million dates and immediately moves on from you like you never existed. Oh, and you have to teach other people how to make your ex happy so that they can replace you. Meanwhile, you are wondering, Was it me? Did I do something that horrible? Did I have bad breath? Did my hair get flat? Stumble into some bad lighting?
Even with all of my preparations and confidence and gusto about what great things a change could bring, as the days passed, I just grew more and more nervous about what was to happen. Was I getting laid off? Did I want to get laid off? What if I am not laid off? What are my chances? My gut was telling me firmly that I was, but through it all, my naive denial program kept running in the back of my head to assure my ever growing concerns: Maybe it won't be me! Maybe it isn't as serious as it seems! I am probably worrying for nothing...
My company DID NOT HELP with this. Everything they said until the Tuesday meeting was completely ambiguous. Only on Tuesday did they announce that lay offs were to happen. And even then, they emphasized over and over that this was only a 'proposed' situation. No positions or numbers were given, so everyone went into panic-mode. People from the umbrella company that owns us (technically, they are HR but I haven't seen them since the first day I got the job!) sat in the back and my director had to follow a very strict script.
Even today, as I received my termination letter, it says 'proposed' changes. Puh-leaze. I have a confession to make here: someone left a 2012 salary list on the printer on Feb. 10. My salary was listed as $0 for 2012 on it. If that isn't a 'final decision,' I don't know what is! There really is no room for negotiations. None. I am laid off, and it sucks. (On that list, they have the wrong salary for me and also I was the only one with $0 by my name, so I was hoping it was a mistake copy...it concerned me but at that time they were not talking lay offs.)
So here's how I found out that I was laid off:
We gathered for an emergency staff meeting on Friday, three days after we heard that there would be layoffs. The day before, the director had spoken with me directly but just reiterated that there would be layoffs. (I guess that was supposed to be a sign?) At the staff meeting, the director of the company spoke about how sad he was to let people go, and then said that everything we wanted to know was contained in one slide. He showed the slide, and it had position titles along with what was happening to each, arranged in a hierarchy. The problem is, several people in the company have the same titles, but some of them were let go and some were not. So my two officemates, for example, have the same title, but one was being laid off and the other wasn't. They had no way to tell between the two. It was horrible to a) find out that way (for people who immediately identified their position) and b) NOT find out that way (for those whom it was ambiguous). In front of everyone, each person was working out who went to which position and who was fired and who was staying. And looking for their reaction. And then, to decrease morale even more, they said that more layoffs were likely to happen in 3-6 months. They also fed us ridiculous info like there would be interviews for the positions where one person out of the group was getting laid off. This turned out to be totally false.
The only way we REALLY knew what was happening was when we got our letters at the end of the day--everyone got one, even the staff who weren't laid off.
This is the most unprofessional and confusing lay off I've ever heard of.
More kickers:
The guy I got hired? He is staying instead of me. Of course. Not his fault, but clearly they aren't making decisions based on qualifications.
My great uncle died Wednesday. We were quite close. He and my grandpa (his brother) were easily the coolest, wisest, and funniest people I've ever had the pleasure of hanging out with. The world is a worse place without him.
And my XBF and Cheaterette? Well, they got married a few days ago, I found out today. I didn't expect that kind of news to affect me at all; I feel nothing for him now, except slight disgust and a vague 'WhyTF was I ever with him' questioning feeling. But it feels ...weird. WE were talking marriage at one point. Maybe it is because their happiness caused me pain and I think that is karmically unfair? I don't know...
Triple Whammy Week.
OK, end of rant/whine. Time to move on! But give me a few days...it may take me a while to stop being annoying. Not as long as it might have taken, though: a huge group of friends took me out to drinks after work, and I had a slew of phone calls and messages from people offering their support. Where it matters, I am very lucky.
Even with all of my preparations and confidence and gusto about what great things a change could bring, as the days passed, I just grew more and more nervous about what was to happen. Was I getting laid off? Did I want to get laid off? What if I am not laid off? What are my chances? My gut was telling me firmly that I was, but through it all, my naive denial program kept running in the back of my head to assure my ever growing concerns: Maybe it won't be me! Maybe it isn't as serious as it seems! I am probably worrying for nothing...
My company DID NOT HELP with this. Everything they said until the Tuesday meeting was completely ambiguous. Only on Tuesday did they announce that lay offs were to happen. And even then, they emphasized over and over that this was only a 'proposed' situation. No positions or numbers were given, so everyone went into panic-mode. People from the umbrella company that owns us (technically, they are HR but I haven't seen them since the first day I got the job!) sat in the back and my director had to follow a very strict script.
Even today, as I received my termination letter, it says 'proposed' changes. Puh-leaze. I have a confession to make here: someone left a 2012 salary list on the printer on Feb. 10. My salary was listed as $0 for 2012 on it. If that isn't a 'final decision,' I don't know what is! There really is no room for negotiations. None. I am laid off, and it sucks. (On that list, they have the wrong salary for me and also I was the only one with $0 by my name, so I was hoping it was a mistake copy...it concerned me but at that time they were not talking lay offs.)
So here's how I found out that I was laid off:
We gathered for an emergency staff meeting on Friday, three days after we heard that there would be layoffs. The day before, the director had spoken with me directly but just reiterated that there would be layoffs. (I guess that was supposed to be a sign?) At the staff meeting, the director of the company spoke about how sad he was to let people go, and then said that everything we wanted to know was contained in one slide. He showed the slide, and it had position titles along with what was happening to each, arranged in a hierarchy. The problem is, several people in the company have the same titles, but some of them were let go and some were not. So my two officemates, for example, have the same title, but one was being laid off and the other wasn't. They had no way to tell between the two. It was horrible to a) find out that way (for people who immediately identified their position) and b) NOT find out that way (for those whom it was ambiguous). In front of everyone, each person was working out who went to which position and who was fired and who was staying. And looking for their reaction. And then, to decrease morale even more, they said that more layoffs were likely to happen in 3-6 months. They also fed us ridiculous info like there would be interviews for the positions where one person out of the group was getting laid off. This turned out to be totally false.
The only way we REALLY knew what was happening was when we got our letters at the end of the day--everyone got one, even the staff who weren't laid off.
This is the most unprofessional and confusing lay off I've ever heard of.
More kickers:
The guy I got hired? He is staying instead of me. Of course. Not his fault, but clearly they aren't making decisions based on qualifications.
My great uncle died Wednesday. We were quite close. He and my grandpa (his brother) were easily the coolest, wisest, and funniest people I've ever had the pleasure of hanging out with. The world is a worse place without him.
And my XBF and Cheaterette? Well, they got married a few days ago, I found out today. I didn't expect that kind of news to affect me at all; I feel nothing for him now, except slight disgust and a vague 'WhyTF was I ever with him' questioning feeling. But it feels ...weird. WE were talking marriage at one point. Maybe it is because their happiness caused me pain and I think that is karmically unfair? I don't know...
Triple Whammy Week.
OK, end of rant/whine. Time to move on! But give me a few days...it may take me a while to stop being annoying. Not as long as it might have taken, though: a huge group of friends took me out to drinks after work, and I had a slew of phone calls and messages from people offering their support. Where it matters, I am very lucky.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
It Hitteth the Fan
Yup. It's time. Contingency plans are in place. Official word is handed down tomorrow. Good Boss warned me of the potential outcome, but all is still very unclear; it all depends on Bad Boss's reaction to the news. Good Boss reiterated my options and assured me that she'd do everything she can to keep me, but she doesn't have the money for my salary gathered up yet. She promised a raise if I stayed and if she could swing it; I'd be doing the work of 3 people if I did!
I'm ready.
ETA: Friday is the day now. Tuesday was just the 'by the way, people are getting laid off' meeting. Legally, they have to do this. I'm writing a post on how people are laid off in NZ based on my experiences...
I'm ready.
ETA: Friday is the day now. Tuesday was just the 'by the way, people are getting laid off' meeting. Legally, they have to do this. I'm writing a post on how people are laid off in NZ based on my experiences...
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Hmmm...
I met a nice girl through an acquaintance, and we (the girl and I) have been hanging out without the acquaintance. Now the acquaintance is sort of wondering (after seeing the evidence of our hang out sessions on facebook) when we saw each other and it is getting awkward. The girl invited me to her birthday a few months ago (the acquaintance didn't show up) and we've been hanging out off and on randomly ever since, mostly at mutual friends' shindigs where the acquaintance isn't invited. I personally haven't invited the acquaintance to anything, and frankly, I don't enjoy her company as much as I like her friend's. The acquaintance hasn't contacted me at all in about 8 months, the last time I saw her was when she brought over the girl to a party of mine. Now the acquaintance is wanting to hang out, since she sees that her friend and I are getting along and doing fun stuff together. I will start inviting her to stuff, I suppose, but what else should I have done? I probably would feel the same way if I were her, but I kind of find the acquaintance annoying...I am not sure what to do, except the polite thing!
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