No, seriously - what should I do? I have been unemployed for a month now, and I have no leads. No interviews. No nothing. I've been considering lots of alternative options, and it's time I put them down "on paper" to view the pros and cons.
When I graduated with a BA in English, I chose not to go into the education department for my master's because I thought it was stereotypical for a woman to teach. I just didn't wanna and I resented everyone for asking me what I was going to do with my degree. When I was a junior in college I got a to-die-for internship with Southern Living magazine because I knew I wanted to go into publishing. I thought I was set after that internship, but that didn't turn out to be true, and because of one very negative, very vocal person who never actually worked with me, I could never put it on a resume. It was all pretty much for nothing.
After I graduated, I had a hard time finding work mostly because my fiance and I lived 2 hours apart and we didn't know where we were going to live after the wedding - so I didn't know where to find a job. I finally moved to Tuscaloosa where he lived, and I found a good job there - in publishing. My career was off to a fine start. But when he graduated and was offered a job 2 hours away, I had to quit. He was going to be the main bread winner, so it would be stupid for us to stay because of my job.
I spent 3 months being unemployed before I found another job in publishing - but this time the title was marketing. I didn't know anything about marketing, but this company didn't know the difference. They were pretty stupid. And bad at business, because less than a year later they had to lay off about 1/5 of the company, and I was included.
Because the COO of that company often used a particular temp service, she referred me there and told me they would take care of me. She was right - one week later I was earning almost double in a great job. It was temporary, but my superiors praised me constantly and were actively trying to hire me permanently. The one problem - it was a failing bank. Despite all their efforts, they had to let me go 6 months later, and after 2 more temporary assignments in a different department (about 2 weeks long each), the bank failed. It has now been sold to a bank from North Carolina, and all my friends are scared for their jobs. I can kiss all those contacts goodbye.
So, here I sit feeling more and more worthless every day. Career-wise, I want a fulfilling job that pays a decent amount and gives me a decent amount of freedom (read, I never want to clock the hell in again). But most importantly, I don't want to work when I have small children. If I have to go back to work once all my children are in school, that is one thing, but I am quite adamant about raising my own babies. Talk about a cross roads.
Some of the options we've discussed include me honing my photography skills and slowly growing a business (I blogged about this); going back to school for my master's in education (same hours and holidays as future children); getting my realtor's license (a dream I once looked into about a year ago); and starting a business of another sort (we've discussed several).
Photography: It is a hobby right now - nothing more. I would need to take classes, purchase equipment, etc. It would take a long time to grow this into a profitable business. Big risk of failure, I suppose. Also, lots of work on weekends.
Back to school: This might be my best option, but I would have to find a job in the meantime and take night classes. That doesn't sound so bad, but stupid me who didn't want to do the 5th year program (one year) might be looking at 3 years of classes due to No Child Left Behind requirements. I have applied for admission to a school here and am waiting on their official evaluation of my transcript to see which hoops I'll have to jump through. Long term, this would be a good option because I could teach once my children are of school age. Short term, I don't know how I would pay the bills. I can't take out a student loan because the law school student loan is like another mortgage payment and we don't need more payments. My biggest issue here is the thought of taking 3 years of classes, teaching 1 or 2 years and then taking off possibly up to 10 years while I have children and wait until the youngest is in school before beginning again.
Realty: When I was unemployed during the summer of 2008, this is an option I considered. I read books, did research, polled friends in the business, etc. It seemed like a good idea, but the main problem was cash - we didn't have any. My husband's job was delayed indefinitely as soon as we unpacked the U-Haul, and we went into conservation mode. Neither of us earned any money for about 2 months, and I didn't for another month after that. Our credit cards were nearly maxed out and we simply couldn't put any money into any ventures. Now we're in a different situation - it took us about a year, but we paid off the cards, we have a good chunk in our savings account, and we might be able to swing this. Hopefully by the time I'd be licensed the housing market would be looking better.
Another business: We have also looked into all kinds of self-employment. We would both love to be self-employed. Being cooped up in an office where someone else calls the shots has never set well with either of us. We've looked into owning a few franchises. One seemed promising, but they wouldn't return my calls, so they're obviously not the kind of company I'd want to work with. Another seemed great, but it would be too expensive right now.
Last option: I was approached several weeks ago by a church friend who doesn't have a regular job - she cleans houses. She had too many and asked if I wanted to join her and clean the houses she didn't have time for. At the time I was so not into this option. Now, I am considering it. If I could get enough houses, the money would be great. She charges $30 an hour, but I would imagine most people paying to have their houses cleaned only have it done twice a month.
I don't have a clue.
