Tag: technical writer at large

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I get by with a little help from you

This week, I once again found myself without a day job. The company I was with laid me off on Monday, so I am back on the job search. I’ve come to really not like looking for a job. I’m good at what I do, and I have always let the work speak for me. I don’t like having to swagger.

I’m in a bad spot financially, but I have been here before, and I know I will survive. And, I have a mini sort of vacation this weekend, and already have an interview lined up for next week.

I’m going to take today off of the active hunt, but I will answer calls if they come, and do some writing instead. What good is time without work if I don’t utilize it?

If you would like to help support an out-of-work writer, there are multiple ways to do that. I still have copies of my books “Forever” and “Tonight” available for purchase, $10 for Forever, $7 for Tonight, $15 for both if bought together. You can use my contact page, or hit me up directly on Venmo, Paypal or Ko-Fi. Links below.

Venmo

Paypal

Ko-Fi

Photo by Stormseeker on Unsplash

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it’s okay…to not be okay

Earlier this week, I was feeling great about the possibilities of getting a job offer today.  Late yesterday I got an email saying that, like the last three jobs I felt sure I was going to get, the job has gone on hold while the company re-evaluates what they genuinely need.

To some degree, I’m used to it, as a technical writer. But, I have to admit that this time, it’s hitting me pretty hard.  The job boards have the same ten jobs or so that they’ve had for a month.  Everyone is re-evaluating.  Jobs are getting really scarce.

Earlier this week I was feeling pretty optimistic and I was happy to reach out to my extroverted friends, and read poetry on Facebook and help people get through this.  Today I’m feeling fairly hopeless.  Today I’m afraid.

Logically, I know these things come in waves, but I also know that we haven’t seen the worst of this.

I need to pay bills.  I need to pay rent.  But at the same time, I’m afraid to spend anything because I’m so unsure of when there will be more money.  If I spend nothing of my last unemployment check, or of the next two unemployment checks, I will just make my rent in May.

On Tuesday, I have an interview at Target to work overnights stocking shelves because it pays slightly better than unemployment, yet at the same time, I don’t want to take the job from someone who might need it more than I do.

I know we’re all in the same boat.  We’re all doing our best to keep that boat afloat in an ocean of uncertainty and fear.  And I know that I’ll find my optimism again, but for today it’s okay to not be okay.

I’m going to finish up this coffee and wait for the recruiter to call me for a remote tech writer job I heard about late yesterday.  Maybe this is the one?

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day job needed…again

So, I’ve been trying out this whole “independent contractor” thing for  almost a year now. My thoughts are that I could get used to the money, but not the responsibility for my own insurance and taxes.  My contract is up on the eleventh of February, so it’s time to buckle down on that search for the next thing.

Honestly, I’ll take another contract position if I have to, but I would prefer a regular, full time position.  The freedom is nice, but the security is better, in my opinion.

It really is a full time job looking for work.  Add it to the day job I’m still working, and hitting the gym (because it’s good for me), and writing and any side editing jobs, and I need a second ME to get it all done.  Forget any promo on the books I’ve already published.

So what’s a girl to do?  Dress up like Han Solo and go to Disney, of course!

I also have a Princess Leia on Hoth outfit planned.  Because I’m a dork.  My niece just sent me a picture of her First Order outfit and it is SMASHING.  I am really looking forward to a couple of days of child-like fun!

Anyway, I’m back to applying to every Technical Writer/Editor/Content Manager job I can find on the interwebs.  Think good thoughts for me, Readers!  I’ll have Feb and March rent and bills paid by the time the job is done, but that doesn’t really give me a lot of leeway.

 

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

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the one with a migraine

Yesterday was not a good day.  I was feeling all over aches, bloating, nausea, stiffness in my back….just yuck.  As the day went on, I developed a headache and then, shortly after I had a little dinner, I threw up everything my tiny stomach could possibly hold.

I went to bed knowing that I would wake up with a migraine, and sure enough I did.  I have medicated and had some coffee and it’s dialed back a bit, but my stomach is still not very happy with me and I don’t dare venture out into the sun or head to the gym.

That means keeping myself in my nice dark office to get some work and some writing done.  I’m enjoying this part time work lifestyle, even if it means I don’t have quite as much money.

It also means I have time in my schedule for more freelance work, so if you’re looking for a writer or an editor, hit me up.  I’ll give you a good deal.

 

Photo by Carolina Heza on Unsplash

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trusting the universe to deliver

Sometimes, just when you think you have it all figured out, life comes along and delivers a solid punch right to the gut.  That was my life this week.  I’d just gotten a nice raise.  I had my budget for the next six months sorted, giving me all the spending money I would need for my planned vacations.

Then, out of nowhere, my company was hit with a financial blow and in order to survive it, they needed to make some hard decisions.  I was one of quite a number of people who were let go…laid off.  Unfortunately, the technical writer is always one of the first positions on the chopping block.

I’ve been here before.  In fact, I’ve been laid off of every job I’ve had since I left El Paso, Texas in 1999.  Of course, I get asked at times like these why I don’t pursue any of my other skill sets, since writers get the brunt.

I do have other skill sets.  I’m a good manager, of both projects and people.  I could brush up my rusty data analysis skills.  I could upgrade any of a number of skills.  But, writing and editing makes me the happiest me I can be.  Writing and editing is where my heart beats, and it always will be.

So, I’m on to the next opportunity, with a hope that it is at least half as great as the last one.  It’s a pretty good market right now, so I’m not overly worried.  I fielded a ridiculous number of recruiter calls yesterday, though most of them were for contract jobs in locations that I can not, in good conscience, commute to.  Driving anywhere during rush hour here in the San Francisco Bay Area is nuts, let alone to a job on the other side of the bay and south of me.

Today I am not going to worry.  I’m going to focus on the editing work I have in front of me, and maybe indulge in some Star Wars movies.  My next thing is out there.  I trust the universe to deliver it.

Happy Saturday, Readers!

Photo by Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash