Work

A lot has happened in the past few days. . .

As you may know, I have been rather upset about not finding work out here. When SMS and I were deciding where we would move when he graduated from JTS there were a lot of cities on the list: Chicago, Miami, Philly, Seattle, etc. or we could stay in New York. I was ready for something new, but we decided we would go (or stay) wherever SMS' job took us. He put three years into obtaining two Master's degrees and we were going to go where he could put that knowledge and training to the best use. In anticipation of this potential move, I left the theatre in 2004 and moved into higher education to allow us the greatest geographical flexibility - working for a Broadway theatre certainly ties you to NYC but working for a university opens up the whole country, if not the world.

When SMS got the amazing offer he did from a school in the LA area, I was ecstatic. I didn't do any hard research, but if there is a city with more universities, I can't think of it. I thought for sure I would have a job in no time. But it hasn't worked out that way.

To date, over the past 4 months, I have applied to about 30 jobs in higher education in the LA area and I have had one phone interview. Needless to say, my ego was bruised. There were only two reasons that I wasn't in full-scale panic mode: (1) SMS' job gives us free health insurance. FREE. For both of us. (2) I have every reason to believe that I qualify for unemployment insurance based on the fact that I left my job to relocate for my spouse's job. These two facts kept me sane, though they did little for my ego. . .

And then I got an email.

I haven't written about it because I am superstitious and believe it or not, I don't think everything that happens in my life belongs on-line. But I will say that the email asked for my help, in a professional capacity, and I have since submitted a proposal to do consulting work for an institution in Israel. At this point I don't know if the proposal will be accepted or if the institution can afford me, but I will say that my ego has rebounded nicely.

Shortly after that email arrived I received a call from a new friend here in LA. She is a school teacher who used part of her summer to volunteer for the Daniel Pearl Foundation. She thought they could use my help. I met with Daniel's mother yesterday and began work this morning at 8am. At the moment it is a temporary, part-time consulting gig, but it could turn into something bigger and longer, or it could go away altogether. Only time will tell.

If I sound uncharacteristically cautious it's because that's how I feel. I have done consulting in the past and I enjoyed the freedom, flexibility and independence it provided, however I did it while I had a full-time job at the same time. Although I have often been encouraged to go out on my own, to start my own business, to consult more, it never felt right. It almost feels right now, but still strange. I hope it all goes well, I hope my proposal is accepted in Israel and I hope if it is that I won't find myself over-committed. As SMS said in the car today, it's either all or nothing with me: Two weeks ago I was feeling like I would never get an interview; now, I have a job and another one potentially on the way.

I'm also still going on informational interviews. I had one on Wednesday at UCLA and I have one next Wednesday at the American Jewish University. I also have one scheduled at USC and one to be scheduled at CSUN. I really enjoy informational interviews -- I like talking about myself (shocker!) and I like hearing about other people's journeys. So my journey continues and I'll keep you posted.