I went into my contracting firm this afternoon and signed the various tax forms and my contract for the new job. I start Monday at 9 AM, which would make for a long, long commute, except that we’re moving on Saturday. That’ll take the commute from at least 90 minutes down to under 30.

In the steps to employment, today was the third to last. Next is the first day on the job, and the last step, the first time you truly know you have a real job, is that first paycheck. Luckily my company pays weekly, so that’ll be on the 29th.

Oh, and I get time and a half for overtime, too! Wheee!

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This will probably be my last post to the awful unemployment category, so I figure I’ll share some of my hard learned lessons with ya’ll.

1. Fill out the unemployment stuff in person. Doing it on the Internet makes it too easy to miss steps, and then you don’t get your checks.

2. Apply for crap jobs early. Early means the day after you get canned. Don’t wait for your unemployment to run out and your credit cards to redline, those bad jobs are harder to get than I realized.

3. Keep applying for jobs. Apply, apply, apply. Even if you already have a job, apply for others constantly. I’ll never go a week without submitting my resume somewhere again.

4. Buy a nice suit while you have a job. It hurts to have to drop five hundred bucks right when you can afford it least.

5. Stop drinking and smoking today. You’ll want liquor and nicotine more than you can imagine when you’re sitting at home all day, and it’s really not economically a good idea. Especially with the amount of smoking you can do when you’re on your couch all day. Who am I kidding? I’m not gonna do that one.

There ya go, don’t say Matt Moore never did anything for you. I’m off to remove TBOTCOTW from the webring of destitution.

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Whoo hoo! I got a job! It only took nine months and seven days, over one hundred applications, and around a dozen interviews, but I’ll be going to the office sometime next week. I’m gonna be making about three bucks an hour less than I was, but who cares! I’d be grateful for a little over minimum wage at this point.

Tonight Beth and I go to Outback for some beefy goodness, but right now I gotta finish watching season five of Buffy while I still have time. I guess I will miss some things about unemployment.

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Shit, I can’t wait to call my contracting guy tomorrow. It’ll be awesome to have a job again, and I really am excited to show up at the office. Jebus, this will make things easier. No more borrowing money from my parents, no more relying on Beth for food, etc. I’ll get to feel like a man again. With that and the new apartment, Beth and I will be able to start a new life together.

Wish me luck, I won’t be convinced until I actually go to the office. Hell, I won’t be totally sure until I get a paycheck.

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I think this was number ten in eight months. The company seemed really cool, it had nice offices, and it’s private and non-profit. It’s also really small, only 175 employees, which I think is a plus. The job sounds really challenging, they’re trying to consolidate a bunch of acquistion networks. I love a challenge, I’m really excited.

They’re only interviewing one other person, so I’ll hear their decision really soon, and I think I stand a really good chance based on my interview. Cross your fingers for me.

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Had another interview today, this one with temp agency for data entry jobs. I have to find something to make ends meet, so I’ve applied at all sorts of places like Best Buy, Circuit City, and Target. The interview was mostly a skills test, and I did really well. I can type even faster than I thought, 72 words per minute, and the temp recruiter said my data entry score was off the charts. I aced the Excel test, and I got about 70% on Powerpoint and Word, even though I’ve never used Powerpoint before.

Hopefully they’ll get me a few hours next week. Of course, if I’m doing data entry all day blogging will be extremely light. I’d imagine the last thing I’ll want to do after eight hours of typing is type some more.

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I had another interview today, I think that makes five. It went really well, I’ve worked with all their equipment and protocols extensively and I could do the job really well. Plus, they’re hiring three people, and the manager told me they’d screen me and a small number of others out of three hundred resumes submitted. Then he had me take a written test (he acted like only those he likes get the test). I kinda bombed the test, I don’t know enough about VPN, IPSEC, and ISDN, but I probably got ten out of fifteen or so.

I’ll keep you posted.

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I’ll hear back in a couple of weeks, but I think it will be a good fit. They are interviewing two more people, which doesn’t bode well. If my phone interview was anything to go by, this company doesn’t just haul anyone in for a face to face.

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Just got a haircut, and I have to go to bed early tonight, so can you guess what that means?

Wish me luck.

Update: Shirt is ironed, tie is picked out, sideburns are trimmed, and coffee machine is set to blow at 6 AM. I’m ready for employment!

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The enrollment in my unemployed bloggers ring has slowed considerably, so I’m hitting ya’ll up for new members here. Join up if you like, it’ll only cost you a hundred bucks to get out when you find a new job.

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