Break time

Next week, I'm planning to be back in San Francisco for about a week. My boyfriend is going to Google IO and I will just be hanging out with friends and family. It'll be a nice break. I'm not sure about moving up there for work, there are many great companies in the city, not to mention the surrounding areas. Those are the kinds of companies who probably have plenty of good experience job seekers to choose from, which is most likely why I may not even be considered to work there. A lot of contract jobs I get contacted about are in the Bay Area, and it's definitely easier to get that kind of work before something more permanent.

I'm fortunate to have many breaks from work, but that's a mixed blessing. I'm not getting the experience (or pay) of someone who is continuously working, but I do have the time to reflect and decide what to do next rather than just having to keep going. I've had the time to travel, make friends, take classes, and ultimately change my career path. As much as I'd like to be an experienced and highly paid something or other, I'm just figuring what I want to do and how I can do it.

My family is generally supportive about me working, but not necessarily doing things I enjoy. They do provide me financial support in the housing area for the most part, so I'm happy to be able to not pay rent or anything while I try to get where I want to be in life. I still think working from home would be nice, but I do like going into a workplace and having an office to work in that's separate from where I live. My current excuse for a home office is way too messy to be productive in and my room is not much better. I often say I'd clean more if I had time, but I really just need to be motivated to do it.

Back to Work!

While I was eating lunch today, I got a message from the Project Manager for the contract job I had started last month. I will be going back there tomorrow and hopefully a few more weeks until the project is done. I had a Skype interview yesterday with a good placement agency and someone else contacted me about another position this morning, but nothing beats actual solid work.

This is a bit of a relief because my mom and brother have been annoying me about my Metrolink monthly pass (which I already got a 20% off discount for) and basically a day of working there pays for the whole pass and even my lunch while I'm there. I have been contacted by other recruiters and such, but most of them would require a move up north. I wouldn't mind moving to SF or something, but for now, I just want to gain more experience.

Grey skies starting to clear up?

After several unsuccessful job interviews and some not so new family issues, I was seriously considering moving up to San Francisco to find work while also helping my brother and dad with apartment stuff. I have been tutoring some students in HTML and PhotoShop, and I did a few hours of temp work with a non profit - so I have been keeping busy outside of the usual selling on ebay and Amazon.

Today, I finally managed to get some good news about a 2 month contract position. It starts on Monday and it is in LA, but I am close to a Metrolink Station and the company is close to a Metro line. They need someone right away, so I guess there wasn't a need to interview me since the company I will be contracting for has worked with them before. For once, I am familiar with the company even though I never really expected to work for them.

I was already kind of excited about my new blog, which just has my old music reviews on right now and a church friend had recently contacted me about doing some work on his web store. I also signed up for Dinner with 12 Strangers through the UCLA Alumni Association, since I thought it might be nice to re-connect with some other local Bruins. So I guess I was doing things even when the job search wasn't going so well, still it's a relief to have work doing web design and such.