And it's March!

And March is off and running. Late Tuesday afternoon I received a call from the staffing agency, asking me if I wanted to interview for a temporary contract position (under contract to the agency, not working with contracts) at a law firm. I haven't worked in a "real" law firm in almost 20 years (my resume is in-house corporate all the way, and that is by choice), yet they wanted to talk to me for some reason. After getting some clarification about what they needed (part-time, wouldn't interfere with my studying for the broker's exam) I went for an interview yesterday. That makes FOUR Wednesdays in a row that I've had a job interview - which, though I haven't found The One yet, makes me feel pretty good. This is a very small job market and I'm over 50, and it's nice to get hit on this often. :-) None of the jobs I've interviewed for were my "dream job," and each had negatives that outweighed, "Hey, the hours are good!" but people want to talk to me, so I have to think things are proceeding exactly as they should.

Anyway, I talked to the people at the law firm about their temp position, and yes, I could do what they need - I've done it before - and understood the attorney's situation. (Can't talk about details for confidentiality reasons obviously, but this isn't your usual paralegal work, and I'm a square peg in the paralegal pegboard, so of course I've done what they need.) So far, we're all fine.

The deal-breaker, for me, is that they can't tell me when the assignment would end, or even how many hours a week I'd be working. The number seems to float between 20 and infinity, and the length of the assignment is likewise amorphous. And it's a situation where, if I did take the assignment, I'd be the core of the team, the knower of things, and the attorney was concerned about finding someone who would be able to see the project through to completion, because if the knower of things quits on him, he'd be somewhat screwed.

So, let's think about this - I'd be tied up on this project at least half, or more, of the working week, for an unknown period of time, with no time to seriously work at building my real estate career, AND, ALSO, I would not really be free to accept a permanent salaried job that might come along, because the duration of the project is estimated at "who knows?" and they are concerned about being left in a lurch. Methinks they are having a little trouble with the "temp" concept. :-)

This is not the attorney's fault - I understand the issues he described and he's right, and I appreciate his honesty about the "Who knows?" part, and his concern about losing his designated knower of things mid-stream. I told him so, and told him I'd have to think about it.

I thought about it overnight, and this morning I'll call the agency and tell them that if they can give me an end date at which we could part company with no hard feelings, because by then their regular staff would be able to cope - four weeks, six weeks, tops - I'd take it, but I can't take an open-ended, we don't know when it will end assignment. If they can figure out a fixed schedule and duration, I'll do it if they want me - it's not much money, but money's money. If not, I just can't commit to something like that. While the assignment would be right up my alley, and money's money, it wouldn't be in my best long-term interest.

Meanwhile, I'm interviewing (on a Thursday, just to break the pattern) with one of the big real estate outfits in the area this morning. I think I'd like to put my license with them - they seem to offer a lot of structured new agent training, and they have high visibility, two things I'm looking for in a brokerage. While it's scary to think about plunging into independent contractor world, I think it's the right thing to do.

So yes, spring is almost here, and the job market is thawing nicely.

Murphy is doing better. The other day I called to pick up a refill on the pred, and one of the other vets got on the phone. He was (rightly) concerned about Murphy staying on that stuff too long, and quizzed me about how I was administering it. He also suggested that Murphy's needed dental work may be at least partially to blame for his recent round of upsettedness. I know this is quite possible - if he now has an underlying infection in his mouth, it could cause this systemic problem. So, yes, I'm suddenly looking at paying a few hundred bucks on the dog's mouth. But what choice do I have, really? Hence my "money's money" consideration of the temp assignment.

Am I knitting? Yes, I am. Working on a little sundress for Supergirl - it's my test drive of Louet MerLin for a possible dress for myself. It's an adorable pattern and I love the yarn, but I'm not sure it'll soften up enough for Her Little Highness's comfort. But, as I said it was a test drive - I'll finish it today or tomorrow and beat the hell out of it in the washer and dryer and see what we get. If it's not comfy enough, I have some softer cotton in a pretty cornflower blue (to match her eyes) and I can whip up another before her birthday party.