Hopefully.
You know, I often wonder if you folks out there reading my blog are sitting there trying to figure just exactly what I do with my time all these days since being laid off. I picture you all thinking, "I don't get it. Is she just retired now? Is she maybe independently wealthy, and spending her kids inheritance on inkjet cartridges for all of those paper banners she makes? What exactly is she doing with all of those hours in her days?"
Umm, no, no, and lots of stuff. Let me get you up to speed. After being laid off last June (Yikes! Has it really been that many months ago?!) I've had plenty of time for soul searching while job searching. After seeing how the pay structure had changed dramatically (and not in a good way) in my field of work (I was a Talent Acquisition Manager, which is a fancy schmancy way of saying I was a Recruiter.) and realizing that I just might be (hugely) happier at a smaller company verses a large corporate America position, I started to consider new job fields I would be qualified for, and would truly enjoy.
**Small sidebar note here: While our President's stats seem to say that unemployment is at an all-time low, I am still 100% unemployed, along with three other very qualified and competent (and younger) friends in the area.
Anyway.
If you have read my blog for a long time, you know that in life I am always looking for signs from God as to what my next move should be, and I have been working on not driving the bus, but trying to go more with a Jesus-take-the-wheel attitude when it comes to these patches in life where I am experiencing growth, or character-building, or whatever you would like to call it. While visiting my best-friend-since-fifth-grade back in December, who happens to be a wildy successful realtor, (Remember her? Or maybe you remember this post?) the topic of possible careers came up and she presented the idea of real estate, and becoming what is called an "Associate Agent" for the company she works for, in particular. I mulled it over for a few weeks, and then, while on our girls train trip to Seattle in January, we all discussed it a bit more, and I came away thinking she could be right.
I like helping people, and customer service in general, and I could set my own hours, so I could still do my junk biz and etsy, and it could be as full or part time as I liked it to be, because, as an Associate Agent, you set your own hours. (You are a contract employee, and you are basically there to do the more customer service-administrative type tasks for realtors within the company, as needed, and are paid by the job you do.) Because I can work any number of hours I wish, (Kind of like an Uber driver does, you know?)I could conceivably do this job whether or not I find (and land) my next dream career! (I still have my fingers and toes crossed on a couple of other potential jobs that I think I would love.) The more I thought about this Associate Agent, the more I liked the idea!
My bestie connected me with the local agency, and I had a lengthy conversation with the recruiter there, asking every question I could think of regarding the position. Then, by no coincidence, I met up with a fellow junk friend who it turned out is actually studying to get her real estate license, and I immediately took that as a sign from God,(A study buddy!) and I was even more excited. I decided to go for it.
I enrolled in an online course, (Complete with weekly webinars and all the bells and whistles) and my books arrived yesterday. That is when the panic set in. This is not a slam dunk. I have not been in a real school type setting since...well, the late 70's, although I have done oodles of training classes through my career job to learn computer programs, and build out new projects and such. Also, the pass rate for these real estate tests in Washington state are frighteningly low, to put it mildly, and my mind whirls with all of the what ifs... What if I cannot seem to learn from the books, because real estate laws are as confusing as algebra was to me? What if I suddenly go blank when I start the test? What if I flunk the test a record number of times? Oh, the list goes on and on in my head, and it about gives me hives when I think about it for too long. Still, I am excited to take the next steps. To uncover my inner realtor-person, and most likely wear some pretty sassy shoes while doing so.
So..yeah. If you have wondered what I am doing with my time these days, you now know. (Job hunting, soul searching, junkin', and crafting...) Now, I'm gonna be adding to that list taking online classes, and studying real estate for the next few weeks, and part of me...the part that isn't getting hives and cold sweats, is pretty danged excited to watch this new adventure unfold.
