Update on various job situations.

It feels like everyone I know is looking for a new job:


My mom
My mom has been able to pick up quite a few shifts subbing for people at the restaurant and will likely be making more money doing that than she was working in the insurance office. It's more physically demanding so she's been tired, especially after she slipped on melted snow at work and pulled a muscle, but she still enjoys it more than sitting at a desk all day. Getting laid off may actually be a very good thing for her.


My dad
My dad gets to keep his health insurance, but HR has been given conflicting answers about whether they're cutting his life insurance coverage. They're also expecting him to work a variable schedule, basically coming in for whatever thirty hours each week they decide on, so a part-time job is probably out of the question for him. He's annoyed with how his company is handling the whole thing. He's updating his resume and scouting out what's available in the area, but he isn't sure he plans to jump ship.


That guy I've mentioned before
I had a whole blog post about him nearly ready to go. It was all about the car wreck we were in last weekend while visiting his family. (Yes, another car wreck. Long story short, his car was totaled when the pick-up truck behind us ran into the side of the car as my friend was turning. Fortunately this happened at low speed so all of the people were unscathed. The insurance company will probably find the other guy to be the one at fault, but my friend's car was worth less than $1,500, which wouldn't go terribly far toward getting another vehicle. He's now driving a truck that belongs to his parents since he doesn't have the money saved for a new one.) Then last night he told me that he'd been asked to go to the shop rather than out to the job site he's been working on. Alas, he too has fallen victim of the country's economic woes. His company said they may want him back in summer, when construction generally picks up, but that doesn't do him any good right now.

I can't begin to describe how much I admire how calmly and efficiently he's handing this. My beau went home and immediately began searching for another employer. Within a few hours he'd found one good lead, applied, and been assured that he's be getting word from them tomorrow about whether they're going to consider him further. His emergency fund will get him through a month, but it should last longer than that since he'll be able to draw unemployment benefits, and his parents would certainly help out as a last resort. I do wish I were closer so I could hug him and tell him that everything will be okay, not that he seems to need the reassurance.


Me
I'm starting to work on a plan b for next year. I'm not entirely giving up on the idea of a second year here since I still hold some hope that I'll gain skill and techniques, get more support from TFA and/or my administrators, and be able to continue improving things to the point where I'd feel comfortable staying, but at this point I also need to make sure I have some reasonable alternative. There are still a lot of things I love about teaching (which I probably ought to write about more often), but I don't think this is necessarily where I need to be doing it. All school districts have their problems, but I think I might be better off somewhere where I feel safe in my classroom and have a stable administration. Being closer to family and having a life outside being a teacher would probably also work wonders for my state of mind. So I've inquired about what I'd need to do to switch over to the state non-traditional licensure program and start seeking employment elsewhere next year, registered for the last test I'd need to be eligible to teach all science and math course from grades 7-12 to make myself more marketable, started looking at online listings, and plan to talk to a trusted mentor who teaches in the area where I'd be job seeking (my junior high math teacher, actually) about what I should be doing when I do start to apply.