It’s been a pretty busy week for me. My main pursuit has been searching for a job as a programmer. So far, I’ve had several interviews, some of which I thought went quite well, but no offers. Actually, no suitable offers. So far, I have turned down 3 offers:
- I turned down one that might have been an interesting job because they wanted me to commit to at least 60 hours per week for $50,000. If all I wanted was $50k, I’d expand my violin teaching schedule to about 25 hours per week. And maybe add another CHL class each month.
- I turned down another because it wasn’t really a good fit, and the salary offer was even lower — what they really want is a college intern, part-time.
- I turned down a really high offer just because I thought it was not a good fit, and it was unlikely that I would last more than 6 months there.
On the other hand, I’ve been turned down for positions for which I thought I would be a great fit. Unfortunately, I can’t get specific reasons from those companies, which leads me to suspect that the reason is one that their attorneys told them not to discuss (the “Elephant in the Room”). Regardless of the reason, those companies did not think I was a good fit for them, even though I thought they were a great fit for me. Two of those were major disappointments for me, but life goes on.
I am fortunate in that I have some alternate sources of income, but I need to boost my income as much as possible in the next 7 or 8 years to maximize my SS income (provided that SS doesn’t go bust by then). That means a full-time job until I’m ready to retire. I’d like the next job to be my last, which means that it has to be a good enough fit to keep me interested for at least five or six years.
I currently have two possibilities, one of which I think is a slightly better fit than the other, but either of which I would find acceptable — provided either of them actually give me an offer somewhere close to what I was making at my last position. I expect news from both of them tomorrow, one way or the other. It may boil down to which company makes an offer first, but if I get (acceptable) offers from both on Monday, I already know which one I will take.
But that’s not the only thing that is keeping me busy. I spent all of Wednesday at the VA Medical Center in Bonham to get an audiology exam, primarily to get some information on a very mysterious hearing abnormality (about which I wrote an article on my Celtic Fiddler blog). It turned out that my hearing loss was a bit worse than I thought, and I qualify for hearing aids in both ears. I will go back in about a month to get fitted (yet another Elephant for the Room…).
On the way back home from Bonham, I decided I really needed a haircut for an interview I had scheduled for Thursday morning, so I dropped by Style Rite Barber near the corner of Alma and Parker, and got Manny to cut my hair. While I was there, I asked the owner (Bruce) if he had a website. He didn’t, but he was interested in getting one after I told him that it was the most cost-effective method of advertising that I ever used (most of my CHL students find me via this website). The “cost-effective” part really got his attention, because he had not had much luck with his advertising to date. After a brief discussion, he decided to hire me to do a website for him.
Friday morning, I went over to take some photos of the barber shop, and came back home to put together a really simple website for his shop. I’ve discovered that really simple websites are sometimes better than fancy ones. Here’s what I came up with: Style Rite Barber and Beauty in Plano, Texas. If you live in or near Plano, I recommend them to you. I usually get my hair cut by Manny, who consistently does a good job (as defined by “he cuts it the way I want it, and it makes it look good”). Bruce also has a cosmetologist on staff, but I have not had her do my haircut (yet — I might give her a shot if Manny is busy and I’m in a hurry). And if you check out the website, and can think of any way I could make it more effective for them, please let me know!
