I’m feeling the hopelessness of my job as of late. Most specifically, I’m feeling mighty bitter about the fact that I’ve not gotten any sort of pay increase in the 21 months that I’ve been working here. The only improvements to my situation have been that I now get paid for certain national holidays, and I once received an extra check for a week’s worth of work—basically, one week’s paid vacation. And health benefits? Don’t make me laugh.
I was bemoaning the situation to Justin yesterday and he mentioned that he’d done a little bit of research. Apparently, if my place of employment decided to give me a raise, I wouldn’t even see it. The temp agency through which I currently work would take that pay increase for themselves as a boon for having found such a great worker for the company. Obviously, since I’m just a temporary worker, it has nothing to do with my quality of service, but only with the service of the company who placed me here.
I had no idea. And when Justin told me, I was practically speechless. Except for the sputtering and fuming and screeching.
When I took this job, it was because I needed something, anything to pay the bills. I’d just moved into town a few months before, I was living off my savings, my credit card, and the benevolence of my parents. I’d moved without a job or any contacts in the city other than my roommate, who I’d only met the month before moving. I needed a job that would allow me to stay in the apartment we were renting and off the street.
So I took the job through the temp agency, thinking that I’d find something better by the end of the year. And then I got lazy and didn’t look. And then things got difficult and I was afraid to leave my situation. And then things got better and I was too distracted to look. And then things got worse again and I needed the money and constancy of the job. And then things got better again. And things have stayed better for a while now and I’ve been looking for something else. Because Lord help me, I need to get away from this situation!
So I started looking at web postings for jobs, trying to find something that sounded interesting, something that fell within my skill set, something that I could do without too much trouble but would also allow me to grow into new skills.
And quite by accident, I found a posting for a job at the same company where Justin started working a handful of months ago. I mentioned it to him, jokingly, saying, “Hey! I could work with you!”
And he very seriously answered, “Yeah, actually, let me talk with you about that later,” since he was at work when I mentioned it.
Later, he told me that the position had been filled, but that it would probably be opening up again soon. The woman who’d been hired to fill the opening hadn’t exactly been living up to expectations. So he’d spoken with his coworker who covers hiring for the position and asked what the situation looked like. More specifically, he mentioned that I was interested and asked if she would be interested in seeing my resume, and, by the way, would the company be okay with spouses working together here.
She said yes. Submit the resume. The company would be fine with that.
I said, “Really?! Cool beans!” and went to work on my resume. I gave it a complete overhaul, Justin made it look pretty, and then he took it to work with him and waited for an opportune time to hand it in. I got an interview, which didn’t go as well as I’d hoped it would, but it still went fairly well.
And since then I’ve been waiting.
Apparently, as of this morning, the woman filling position is no longer filling the position.
I’m still waiting. Much more hopeful.