Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Out of Work (Again)

I’m out of work again. (Well, that’s not entirely true – I still am tutoring 2 hours a week.) The company I was working for decided not to hire me on after my 3 month trial period ended.  That’s unfortunate because I really liked the company I was working for and the people that worked there. It was a very small operation and they made me feel welcomed for the most part. Unfortunately, they didn’t think I had the drive needed for sales. Perhaps that’s true. I never really wanted to be in sales, but I like to be able to pay my bills too. The odd thing is that they praised my customer service skills and offered to write letters of recommendation and serve as good references for me.
     So, now I’m searching for a job. (Hopefully a meaningful one). Hopefully one that will take my wife and I closer to San Francisco, to where we are dying to move. I’m glad I live in the Bay Area, where job prospects are much better than Ohio and my chances of finding meaningful work are greater.
     We are not asking for a great deal, I don’t think. But we need to be able to sustain ourselves so that we can better be in a position to help others. That is truly our goal. I pray this time of uncertainty will lead us a step closer toward the realization of that goal.

3 comments:

Jim Macdonald said...

Matt, I'm sorry to hear about your job. That's bogus. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help - like editing any resumes or writing samples.

I'll be in San Francisco for the first time ever on June 9 for the weekend (I'll share more details offline) - flying into Oakland on Friday afternoon and out late on Sunday night.

Jim

poetpaul said...

Matt,
This is Paul, your East-West Philosophy ringmaster. Have you thought of tutoring? There's SAT related tutoring, tutoring in reading/writing, and also in various subjects, as math, especially algebra. If you could do tutoring in math, you could probably get $35 an hr in CA. Even if you aren't crazy about the subject, as algebra, doing even a few hrs of tutoring could really help you out. I encourage you to give it a try, through services in CA or online sites.

Matt said...

Thank you Paul for your advice. That is in fact what I ended up doing. I am glad that I was able to find work tutoring - I really enjoy it.

Algebra is not my forte - I tend to do better teaching younger kids. Many tutors don't like to work with children K-4 or 5 but I do. I guess I have the patience.

About Me

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Lima, Ohio, United States
I was born and raised in Ohio. I am a lifelong Catholic Christian who has always been interested in the big questions of life. I have a passion for learning especially Philosophy, Science, Religion, History and Culture. I graduated from the University of Toledo in 2001 with a B.A. in International Relations. I married my soul-mate, Jen in 2001 and we moved to rural Tanigumi-mura Japan where we taught English for 3 years. We moved to California and lived in San Francisco and the Bay Area for 4 years. Tired of sitting on the sidelines, I began volunteering for the Barack Obama campaign in March of 2007 and was eventually hired as a Field Organizer. Through the Obama campaign, I found my calling and moved back to Ohio to continue organizing. In 2009 I helped the field operations of the Keith Wilkowski for Mayor of Toledo race. After that, I was hired as a Regional Field Director for 15 northwestern and north central Ohio counties for the 2010 Democratic Coordinated Campaign. Jen and I are continuing to volunteer as we wait for the next organizing opportunity to present itself.