Job Hunt Frustration!

jshrop · January 2014

Okay, I'm sure I'll be told how I'm a special snowflake attention ho (lol), but is anyone else job hunting while pregnant? I moved to a new city and state last Jan because my husband joined the military (we will be here for 3 more years for sure, maybe even after). Anyway, I drug my feet about getting a new job, I tried to stay in the last industry I was in, but it just didn't work out. Long story short, I've burnt through savings, I'm nearly 18 weeks, and I'm freaking out about getting a job. Any tips? Anyone know of Work-from-home positions (I'm not interested in sales. Been there done that. I just want a W-2 at this point and a reliable income). I'm looking at local positions but I'm afraid as soon as they see me (I've been indulging, there's no hiding this bump) they will find some reason to not hire me. I can't wait until June to find something.

Thanks for any advice or help!

Ladybird2014 · January 2014

MegK82 said:
I am. I have an application in at the local community college and am waiting to hear back. It's hard since I have a teaching degree and there are only a handful of jobs that you can do with it outside the school hiring season.

I taught virtually last year..they tend to hire year round. Good luck to you both in your search.

k2k2tog · January 2014

I was before I got my BFP. I'm in Ontario though, and we have a full year's worth of mat leave. That means if I walked into an interview with a bump, there's no way no how I'd be getting that job, even though it's technically illegal to discriminate based on pregnancy. As soon as I got my BFP, I figured most hiring processes wouldn't be quick enough for me to be able to hide it well, especially since I didn't have any interviews on the horizon.

But, I have zip zero zilch plans of returning to this job after my year is up. Going back to school instead!

What's your background? Are you a highly capable writer with strong attention to detail, in depth knowledge of vocabulary and grammar, with an ability to write to a specific audience? Writers of all sorts can often work from home and pretty well every company needs at least one for their marketing materials and documentation. Also, there are lots of freelance opportunities in writing, editing, graphic design, bookkeeping, interior design, web design, etc. etc. Almost any skill you have, there's likely a market for it in the freelance world, but a freelance career does take a lot of time and commitment.

Good luck!

k2k2tog · January 2014

PS. A special snowflake isn't someone requesting specific advice on a unique issue. A SS is someone who posts their own post about something that would fit into one of the daily or weekly check-ins in order to garner a greater response and more attention. As far as I can tell, you're not special snowflaking, don't worry!

This is a good question!

kahorstman · January 2014

Potentially doing that, most likely after baby gets here I'm moving to Virginia to be with SO (he's military). I chose to stay in my current position though until it gets here, we aren't married and can live off his income alone. It's nerve wracking for sure!

MusketeerGripweed · January 2014

I'm in a similar situation. I lost my job the week before Thanksgiving and have been looking for something ever since. There is no way I can hide this bump and it is so discouraging to be struggling to find something new. I was making good money too, nearly $1500 a month. Now we have a family of three living on DH's $8.50/hr part time income ($800-900 in a good month) and I have no health insurance so the medical bills are piling up too.

Wow I didn't mean to hijack your post with my own bs, just know you are totally not alone.

jshrop · January 2014

MusketeerGripweed said:

I'm in a similar situation. I lost my job the week before Thanksgiving and have been looking for something ever since. There is no way I can hide this bump and it is so discouraging to be struggling to find something new. I was making good money too, nearly $1500 a month. Now we have a family of three living on DH's $8.50/hr part time income ($800-900 in a good month) and I have no health insurance so the medical bills are piling up too. Wow I didn't mean to hijack your post with my own bs, just know you are totally not alone.

Absolutely not! My goodness. I'm thankful I have some (albeit minimal) residual income from my last job, but I'm super stressed. SUPER STRESSED. At this point, I've begun losing sleep. I used to be able to say "it's going to be fine. No worries, work will pick up," but it didn't. It's super frustrating. I was hoping I'd run into someone who has a work from home job that was hiring or had some job hunting tips. It's been almost 7 years since I've applied for a job.

jshrop · January 2014

sempre_staccato said:

I was before I got my BFP. I'm in Ontario though, and we have a full year's worth of mat leave. That means if I walked into an interview with a bump, there's no way no how I'd be getting that job, even though it's technically illegal to discriminate based on pregnancy. As soon as I got my BFP, I figured most hiring processes wouldn't be quick enough for me to be able to hide it well, especially since I didn't have any interviews on the horizon.

But, I have zip zero zilch plans of returning to this job after my year is up. Going back to school instead!

What's your background? Are you a highly capable writer with strong attention to detail, in depth knowledge of vocabulary and grammar, with an ability to write to a specific audience? Writers of all sorts can often work from home and pretty well every company needs at least one for their marketing materials and documentation. Also, there are lots of freelance opportunities in writing, editing, graphic design, bookkeeping, interior design, web design, etc. etc. Almost any skill you have, there's likely a market for it in the freelance world, but a freelance career does take a lot of time and commitment.

Good luck!

I am a fairly competent writer. Any clues where to start with this? As for IT or Graphic design, that's a big nope. I don't even know how to format a Signature on here or attach a GIF. I'm not completely computer illiterate, it's just unfamiliar to me.

almendarez · January 2014

If there are any engineer ladies looking for work (or SOs), my company has 76 engineering related openings!

tbmadeamistake · January 2014

I hate my current position, so I've been considering looking. That said, at my current pay rate, after health insurance and two daycares, I'll be bringing home a whopping $50 per month. What the hell is the point? We're looking at ways to cut costs so that I can stay home. We'll see. I'm not even sure I want to stay home. My other option, I guess, is to job hunt while I'm on maternity leave, but I feel like that's a dick thing to do to the current job. Eh. I hate careers.

jshrop · January 2014

almendarez said:

If there are any engineer ladies looking for work (or SOs), my company has 76 engineering related openings!

Yeah! That's not me but hopefully someone who needs it can see this!

colllydon · January 2014

I would love to switch companies but I'm pretty sure to qualify for the FMLA you have to work somewhere for 6 months before and I have 5 until the baby comes. I love my job but my company sucks. I make good $ and my job has the health insurance so I can't stay home. I plan on looking on maternity leave though. Is there anyway you can wait until then to get a new job? Or work at nights when your DH is home?

k2k2tog · January 2014

@jshrop I'm not an expert when it comes to freelance, but... you could try some of these places:

https://www.freelancewriting.com/freelance-writing-jobs.php

https://www.elance.com

And, this one has a list of other sites:

https://www.redlemonclub.com/resources/19-online-communities-to-find-freelance-writing-jobs/

Those are just links I found with a quick google search 'freelance writing jobs'. There are a bajillion more.

In terms of getting a job as a writer for a specific company, it's all about getting your resume out there and into the hands of people hiring. I'm a technical writer for a software company in Toronto - I don't work from home, but I have the option to - and I found my job by posting my resume up on Workopolis.com. It will depend on what the market is like in your area, and if you say you're not technically strong, that may be a bit of a strike against you - tech companies are major employers of writers, believe it or not, but you have to be comfortable navigating unfamiliar software if you're going to be able to figure out how to write about it. That isn't to say there aren't jobs for writers in other fields, they're just harder to find with a heck of a lot more competition for them. Also, all of my knowledge about the field comes from a Canadian market. Could be totally different where you are. Do some research, search for jobs, send out some feelers and see what's out there!

k2k2tog · January 2014

@almendarez Where are you, and what type of engineering?

jshrop · January 2014

colllydon said:

I would love to switch companies but I'm pretty sure to qualify for the FMLA you have to work somewhere for 6 months before and I have 5 until the baby comes. I love my job but my company sucks. I make good $ and my job has the health insurance so I can't stay home. I plan on looking on maternity leave though. Is there anyway you can wait until then to get a new job? Or work at nights when your DH is home?

I'm 90% sure that FMLA is 12 months employment prior to use, or a specified amount of hours worked. I'm just looking for anything at this point to help with bills.

Historically speaking, I have a degree in Psychology (I worked in community behavioral health settings) and I also hold a license in life and health insurance. I have been in sales for the past 4 years. I NEED a break from sales. I used to be really good at it but burnt myself out (BIG TIME!). I'm seriously considering working retail at this point because anything would help.

almendarez · January 2014

sempre_staccato said:

@almendarez Where are you, and what type of engineering?

San Francisco bay area and we design/build/test satellites.. so multiple types of engineering!

ETA send me a message for more info...

colllydon · January 2014

jshrop said:

colllydon said:

I would love to switch companies but I'm pretty sure to qualify for the FMLA you have to work somewhere for 6 months before and I have 5 until the baby comes. I love my job but my company sucks. I make good $ and my job has the health insurance so I can't stay home. I plan on looking on maternity leave though. Is there anyway you can wait until then to get a new job? Or work at nights when your DH is home?

I'm 90% sure that FMLA is 12 months employment prior to use, or a specified amount of hours worked. I'm just looking for anything at this point to help with bills.

Historically speaking, I have a degree in Psychology (I worked in community behavioral health settings) and I also hold a license in life and health insurance. I have been in sales for the past 4 years. I NEED a break from sales. I used to be really good at it but burnt myself out (BIG TIME!). I'm seriously considering working retail at this point because anything would help.

You are correct it is 12 months. All I remember whe I read it was that I couldn't go anywhere haha. I college I worked at a 24 hour cvs. The pharmacy was kind of interesting to work in over night and if you were on the night shift they paid around $12-15 to start. No heavy lifting. Just a thought.

EmbracingChange · January 2014

Have you looked into maybe working for the CDC on base? They have a high turnover rate with spouses moving so it might work for you at least until June.

I have several Marine spouse friends(DH EAS'd in 2011) that work for NEW Corp. Its working from home for Direct TV or Dish Network, I can't remember which. They work with a weird schedule so they can stay at home and still work.

My friend sent this to me when I was talking about jobs... I know its sales, but if you get desperate... She's a fantastic person.

I am a recruiter for a nation wide advertising company. We are hiring for virtual appointment setters/inside sales. Basically, you will call and set appointments for outside sales reps. You can work from home, pay isn't great but does include bonuses. If you're interested, I'll be back at work Monday. You can email your résumé to me julie.dechaine@rtui.com

almendarez · January 2014

Have you looked into headhunter agencies? That's how I got my job and then the company hired me on full time when my contract period was up. A lot of companies prefer to hire temps at first; less risk I think and they don't have to pay for benefits...

jshrop · January 2014

almendarez said:

Have you looked into headhunter agencies? That's how I got my job and then the company hired me on full time when my contract period was up. A lot of companies prefer to hire temps at first; less risk I think and they don't have to pay for benefits...

I would love to put in the headline of my resume "No Insurance needed" to see if that would get me hired faster lol!

Quabbly · January 2014

I've thankfully got a job right now, but not one that I like... I've been selectively job hunting for about a year with no offers, and am now 16 weeks (the bump is starting to show!). I use my husband's health insurance, and my job is providing only 12 weeks maternity leave with 3 of those weeks paid. If I'm still at this job by June, I'll have absolutely no qualms about looking for a new job to start at when I finish my leave.

If I were to get an offer in the next month or so, I wouldn't be looking for paid leave-- just some kind of assurance that I'd still have a job to return to after my leave. It's a really raw deal for new mothers in the job market... I always knew that, but experiencing it first hand puts it in a whole new light.

I've got mostly administrative experience, so I'm not sure what kinds of jobs I could possible do from home, but that certainly sounds nice!

kittenslove · January 2014

I am not leaving my job unless my dream job come through, but I just wanted to give you a lead. Cisco hires people to work from home on to set up conference calls and virtual meetings. My cousin works for them, overnights, four 10 hour shifts/week. She gets paid overtime if she picks up shifts, get retirement benefits, and got a bonus when she was hired for not taking the medical benefits. She did have to go in for one week of training, and the location was not close. She rented a hotel room for the week, it was worth it for her.

SecondTimeinMSU · January 2014

Maybe check with a local temp agency. If someone was looking for a short term employee anyways then the pregnancy wouldn't be a big deal. Or check with your local schools to see if there are an office jobs/secretary work since the would only need someone til June too. Good luck!

jshrop · January 2014

Thanks ladies! I sent out about a million (or thirty) resumes and applications. Got a call back this am for an interview. Fingers crossed it works out and I'm able to keep the "bumpage" to a minimum.

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Job Hunt Frustration!

Re: Job Hunt Frustration!

Married DH 7/30/11

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CHC arrived 6/2/14

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