A Jorb Well Done (new job thread)

[RavingLunatic]

(By way of title explanation)

Gotta say that, while Alexandra categorized it as an atrocity, I think a resume done entirely on papyrus is about the coolest idea ever.

Also, a couple days ago I discovered the JobZone section of the website of the college I graduated from, and this week have interviews for both of them. One's an AmeriCorps Vista community-type thing, the other's to work as a paralegal for some lawyer. Does anybody know what a job as a paralegal would be like? And what the typical pay is?

[jess]

I think Alexandra meant in the font papyrus, not done on papyrus. The former is definitely an atrocity.

[alexandra]

Yes the font. Ugh. It still grosses me out.

[RavingLunatic]

So I ended up getting offered the AmeriCorps position. I was planning on interviewing for that paralegal job on Friday, but it turns out I had to accept the AmeriCorps position by tomorrow, so I went ahead and took it. It's a one-year thing. The pay is something like $880/month, plus benefits (yay! health insurance!), plus you get a $4700 tuition stipend after the year is over or a somewhat lesser amount in cash if you don't plan on continuing school. Main thing for me is that I'll be doing something helpful and meaningful instead of carrying out bullshit corporate orders.

[alex]

That's awesome, congratulations Ryan!

[Good Intentions]

Yesterday I did my first paid work since last August. The free money has dried up, perhaps, but if paid work continues to be on the order of 'sit in on lectures you are tutoring on', I might just about manage.

[milesofsparks]

congrats!  that's awesome.  I look forward to hearing more about it.  when do you start?
x-post, that's at Ryan.

GI:  congrats also on paid work.  paid work is good.

[clare]

Good on you Ryan! That is so cool.

GI, we know you, you'll be teaching something before long!

[Good Intentions]

It's not like I've been unemployed -- I'd won a 10-month grant, which has since run out. And as jobs go, tutoring is really cushy -- up until marking comes round.

[hannah]

Congratulations to both of you! That's rad.

And Ryan, yes, keep us updated.

[RavingLunatic]

congrats!  that's awesome.  I look forward to hearing more about it.  when do you start?

Thanks, everybody. I start with a training/orientation thing near Chicago from August 17th-20th, so I've got a few weeks yet. I still don't know a lot of the details about the job, but I'm going in tomorrow just to meet people and spend an hour or two with the person I'll be taking over for.

[jebreject]

Congrats!

[Good Intentions]

Yeah, it sounds like you might have a good thing going there.

[ellaguru]

Yes, joining in on the congrats, Ryan!

[G.C.R]

Oh thank god! Four nights (at least) of work, after a six week drought. Man, I needed this.

[Little Sixes Little Nines]

here's a question (specifically aimed at kiwi posters, i guess) - does going on the unemployment benefit affect your credit rating, or some such thing that could come back to haunt me?

[Good Intentions]

No.

You should always claim any benefit you qualify for.

[davy]

Seconded, and for as long as you possibly can. I'm working part-time now, but since my benefits were larger than my current work income, I still get a reduced benefit every week.

[davy]

I assisted a patron last night with her resume, basically advising her to change some of the formatting and prioritize her managerial experience. I guess we worked on it for a while. Just before we closed, she came up to me and shook my hand and told me I was the nicest, most helpful librarian she'd ever met. Score!

[Ignatius]

You are first among Gentleman Librarians.

[Little Sixes Little Nines]

thanks GI and davy - i'm kind of curious, then, why none of the students i know are on the 'unemployment benefit student hardship' every summer. many don't have jobs, and you can get it even if you live with your parents.

i shall do so this summer for sure

[davy]

Well, I mean, at least in Georgia, you have to lose a job before you can get unemployment benefits. I was let go just before I started grad school, and that's why I was able to get the benefits while I was in school. If I had voluntarily quit that job--as I almost did--I wouldn't have gotten anything. And, honestly, I don't know how I would've made it through the last couple years if that had happened.

[clare]

And here, there's a 12 week wait between qualifying and first payment for the dole (though the govt doesn't want us to call it that anymore) and then you have to prove that you're looking for work, so there's not really any possibility of doing that if you're a student. If you are a ft student the govt will pay you something for that if your income is super-low, but it isn't enough to live on, and you're still well below the poverty line, and if you do earn money, they take away some of your student money...

[davy]

you have to prove that you're looking for work, so there's not really any possibility of doing that if you're a student.

I technically had to do the same thing. Since my graduate school schedule was year-round instead of 2 semesters, my courses were spread out and my hours-per-semester were under the minimum to qualify for the job training program (which is basically what they call the student benefit). I was still a full-time student, and my yearly hours met the minimum, but I was out on a technicality. I talked to someone at the Department of Labor about it, and they told me I could still get unemployment benefits, I'd just have to prove that I was looking for a job, which doesn't mean anything more--this day and age--than visiting Monster.com a couple times a week.

[Little Sixes Little Nines]

with us, you have to be registered on a website called Student Job Search, and your parents' income has to be low enough to qualify you for the student allowance (a weekly payment made to some students while studying that you don't have to pay back). i've never had a full time job, and my part-time job only gives me one day a week, so i don't think the "you have to lose a job" will come in to play?