In which we enlist the help of others...

[jesshartley]

Dear friends, fans and family,

I've been feeling a bit ineffective of late. As many of you may know, we decided a few months ago that our local school district was inadequate for our desires and needs for our daughter. Since we're partially tied to the Bisbee area, but there aren't any A+ high schools within a commutable distance from here, we made the difficult decision to bi-locate our household. The Valkyrie and I would move to another area, specifically to place her in a premiere high school, while the Viking would hold down the fort here with the house and his (very good) job.

Since this will require she and I to set up household in a new location, however, we realize that this will require my returning to full-time work. I've been searching for about two months now, and have only had a single callback or interview (for a position that the company now says may not be filled in the foreseeable future.) I'm sure that my job history (featuring predominantly freelance writing work over the last 5 years) is unconventional enough to be negative for some employers, and it's just a general hard-market out there for anyone, especially in fields like customer service, office work or writing/editing. Still, after applying to hundreds of locations around the country, it's getting a bit disheartening.

But, I've always said that my greatest strength is the people that surround me, so I've decided to call upon that strength now. If you know of (or hear about) a position opening that you think I'd be well suited for, please let me know. Along with 5+ years of game writing and development, I type 75 words per minute with 100% accuracy, have expert level experience with Microsoft Word, am a charming and professional receptionist/administrative assistant, and have experience in office support/management in the fields of real estate, higher education, and patient accounts. I would love a position that involved writing or editing, but I'll answer phones, file, make copies - I'm very flexible.

My needs are fairly simple - full time work, predominantly weekday/daytime (although I can swing occasional weekend/evening work, I can't take those schedules on full-time.) Pay rates of 12.00 an hour or more (depending on distance from Arizona and/or cost of living in that area), benefits negotiable depending on situation. It has to be in an area I can afford to live in (which probably leaves NYC and LA out of the question) and which has great schools for the Valkyrie (but I can research that on a location by location basis.)

I know it's a horrible time for job-searching, but I figured if I didn't let the universe know, I wasn't taking full advantage of my resources. Thanks for listening!

Comments

[the-gargoyle.livejournal.com]

Try www.wnyjobs.com

If you are interested in the Buffalo area, the cost of living is generally low, especially compared to the rest of the state. The suburban schools are very good (I can at least attest to Ken-Ton and Amherst, where the music programs are huge.)

The unemployment rate is high here- I have been off of work myself for about 7 months, but that is mainly because the line of work I was in had become too specialized. I will forewarn you off of the call center/collections belt who would probably kill for your skills- decent pay, but easy burnout.

[eberg.livejournal.com]

I'll second that. Cost of living here is pretty low (well below the U.S. average) and I can attest to the Williamsville school district as being excellent. The main issue with Buffalo is that job growth is negative and unemployment is higher than the national average.

If you ended up in the area, though, I could hook you up with a good gaming group. My wife speaks highly of your mad RPG skillz. ;)