Job Hunting Chronicles

Happy Friday 🚙 I picked up my rental car today. This weekend I'm driving up to Northern California for a cat sitting job 🐈‍⬛. Do I usually travel 👝 for a cat sitting job? No. The one exception I make is for family and believe it or not, this is the first of two out of town cat sitting jobs for me (the second is in March, that one requires flying to another city, I'm looking at you, Dallas 🛩).  I've commented on many posts from job seekers telling them sometimes you have to look outside of traditional jobs to make money 💲, even if it's only temporary. This is an example of that. And I feel lucky that at this weird point in my career, I can visit with family and help them out while they're away from home. Have a great weekend! I'll probably be off LinkedIn for most of the next week to enjoy some downtime. Job seekers, it's ok to step away for a bit. #freelancer #FreelanceWork #FreelanceLife #WorkFromHome #RemoteWork #CatSitting #CatSitter #JobHuntingChron...

Happy Tuesday 🩷 Last week I spoke with someone who was looking for a bookkeeper. It was a position that she was having a little trouble defining on the phone, but that happens more than you think so it wasn't a red flag to me (I'll call it yellow).  She asked what I would charge her and I told her I was reluctant to quote a fee without knowing exactly what the job entailed, but added my fees start at $X (that way, if the job was much more intensive, I could quote another fee without being locked into $X). We continued chatting and then she mentioned she had several other people to talk to. Since I mentioned that I had 2 upcoming out of town jobs, I didn't really expect to hear from her. A few days later I received this text from her (I blocked her name out for privacy) and you know what? I was thrilled. Not because I didn't get the job but because she closed the loop. You have NO IDEA how appreciated that is. This simple, three sentence text allowed me to move on to th...

Happy Saturday 💙 This week (including today) was busy in the fostering and cat sitting part of my life but I love it 🐈 Yesterday I met with someone who has been in assisted living for a year and is looking for a long-term foster for her 9 year old cat. Her vet's office got my name and number from the rescue I foster for, and after a phone call earlier in the week where I was hired on the spot (well, hired is a bit of a misnomer since fostering is not a job that actually pays me 😂), I went to the assisted living facility to meet with the cat's owner to help ease any concerns she may have had (turns out, she had none 🤩). This cat is clearly loved and rehoming her is out of the question for the owner so I'm happy to help. Since I have two out of town cat sitting jobs already scheduled, we decided that I'd pick up the cat in April. So why am I telling you this? I'm not sure, other than maybe to remind people (especially job seekers) to stay open to op...

Happy Thursday 💙 I took this picture on my walk to the park this morning. This park is farther away from my home than the one I usually walk through so I had a lot of time to think. The job market right now is brutal for job seekers like me. Companies and recruiters have the upper hand and they know it. And they're taking advantage of it. It's up to candidates to start pushing back. I've seen many posts from job seekers complaining about being ghosted. About not getting feedback. About being rushed to interview and then finding out that others had rescheduled theirs. About doing projects that took a lot of time and then have been told the role is on hold. About another round of interviews being added. The list goes on and on. And I get it, it's frustrating. I find myself commenting things like "until candidates stop doing free work, companies are going to continue to ask for it" and "you have the option of bowing out anytime you want". I don...

Happy Friday 💙 One of my regular cat sitting clients is moving this weekend so I had to stop by their house earlier this week to return their key. I am going to miss this view (I usually took a picture like this every time I left their place) 🌊 They are moving out of my service area but wanted to try to retain me, so we worked out a new rate schedule with the intention of trying it once to see how it goes. I truly appreciate clients like these. Not only do they care about their cats, they care about me as well. Have a great weekend! #freelancer #FreelanceWork #FreelanceLife #WorkFromHome #RemoteWork #CatSitting #CatSitter

Happy Thursday💲 Recruiters and others reaching out to candidates, PLEASE put the pay rate in your message.  I live in a state where it's mandatory to disclose pay*, yet close to half of the recruiters who reach out to me fail to include the pay in their message ("competitive pay" is meaningless for those who are wondering 🤔). It's always going to be my number one question if it's not included, you want to why? Because the bank won't accept my love of fostering cats as payment for my mortgage 😹 Let's stop with the games. If you're serious about filling a role, be serious with your pitch. It's not rocket science 🚀 End of PSA ✔️ *companies with 15+ employees are required to disclose pay in job ads. Yes, technically reaching out to a candidate is not a job ad but that's just splitting hairs IMO #freelancer #FreelanceWork #FreelanceLife #WorkFromHome #RemoteWork #SalaryTransparency #JobHuntingChronicles