So Far...

...I have applied for the following jobs:

• Switchboard operator at a local hospital
• Patient transport tech
• Health unit secretary
• Patient registration
• Training manager in HR at a lab services office
• Associate buyer at the same lab services company
• Educational software trainer
• Researcher/writer/editor with a finance forensics firm
• data entry

So far I have not been hired for any of these positions. I have been turned down flat for most of the health care industry jobs listed above, and am waiting to hear back on the lab services positions.

You're probably wondering about the attempted leap from education to health care. For the past 17 months I have been quietly taking classes to meet the prerequisites for admission to a local nursing program. I figured that was a field where I could have a flexible, family-friendly schedule but with greater earning potential than teaching. I hoped to get an entry level job in the field while attending school, especially because most of the hospitals around here offer tuition reimbursement. My plans seem to be thwarted at every turn though, and I have to wonder if someone upstairs is trying to tell me that nursing is not the way to go after all.

It has been weeks of applying, interviewing, and waiting. I am getting more and more discouraged as the days go by. I had hoped to take my children for a short trip to visit my mom out of state this summer, but we can't make any plans while my work situation and our finances remain up in the air. I have also been jonesing for a visit back to California. I haven't been "home" since January of 2007. I really miss my friends and family there and wanted to go back for a quick visit. For now, it looks like we're stuck in Hell, I mean Phoenix, for the summer. Same temperature and atmosphere, different locale...

(sigh)