Changes

Nearly two months have passed since my temp assignment at Vision Service Plan ended.  In that time, I haven't received a new temp assignment or found a job.  It's been an interesting time, and has given me the chance to stop and think about my career path and what I'd like to do.

I've done a lot of drifting with my career, basically taking whatever job came along.  I'm tired of that after doing it for nearly 20 years. I've gained some great experience with data entry, administrative assistant work, and have learned title examining. It's time to take control, though.

The unemployment rate in California is over 10%, and employers have their choice of employees.  I'm a good employee, but there is no demand for title examiners, I can't keep doing data entry, and my secretarial skills are over 10 years old.   As you can see, it's not going to be easy to find a permanent job.

Over the last year I've had plenty of time to think about this, and after my assignment at VSP ended, I gave my career future serious consideration.   I also filed for unemployment benefits because I wasn't sure I'd get a new assignment right away.  Good thing I did that, because I didn't :)

Working with the California EDD is a royal pain in the patoot.   You might as well give up calling them from your home phone, you won't get through.  I did some research on their website to find out about going to school and staying on unemployment, which led me to their flyer with information about California Training Benefits (CTB).  From reading that I learned that I needed to go to a Sacramento Works One Stop Career Center and see if I could qualify for WIA in order to take advantage of the CTB program (you can also qualify if you haven't worked for4 weeks and meet other criteria).

My adventure continued as I went to a one stop career center a few miles from where I live.  I met with a couple of career coaches who were very helpful and found out what I needed to do.  I had to attend some workshops at the career center, and then fill out a scholarship application.   One of the criteria was that I had to choose a course that was approved by WIA and then do research about the job outlook, pay rates, demand, etc.  I also had to interview an employer or employee in the job I was choosing.

Again, I was very fortunate.  It turns out one of my friends from church is not only in the career field, but is a Finance Director/Controller!   I didn't know his job title, and when he told me I said, "OOooohhhh, I got the big guy!"

I did a lot of research, and it culminated with the news that not only did my application get approved, but this course was also qualified under ARRA (The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act) and my tuition would be paid 100%!!!

So here I am, less than 2 weeks away from my orientation and the beginning of classes at the school of my choice, and ready for a new stage in my life, that of student!

I have a new laptop with the appropriate software, wireless internet connectivity, and the drive to get good grades and make the Dean's List.   Woohoo!!!

I am taking an accounting clerk course at a nearby business college, and will graduate on July 2,2010.

I am blessed :)