Dreaming of a White Christmas, But Not a White Winter. Also, Snow and Government Work

Do you ever hear reports about bad weather and hope that if you don't actually see anything on television or hear the radio that it may not come true?

Well, for some reason that has been my attitude this week. This nor'easter is blanketing now from the Carolinas north, and even DC is looking at getting up to 6 inches of snow. That is a lot!  I have heard anything ranging from clouds to rain to a few inches to up to 2-3 feet.

While snow is very pretty to watch fall, I despise it when it comes to my driveway and walkways and driving in general. Can you be NIMBY about snow?  We had an 8 inch storm a few weeks ago, and that finished me off for the year. Heavy, wet snow that had to be shoveled in rain.   It could be a long winter.

However, I have to admit that I am childishly excited it will be snowing on Christmas!

......

When I heard that this winter was supposed to be wildly snowy, I cringed.  Not solely because of my opinion toward snow, but more because of the financial drain it is going to be on local municipalities.  In "normal" or "average" winters the snow removal budgets are blasted through, and in a year with large deficits to begin with, it looks like the cuts may have to be a lot deeper.  I've been a fan of small government, but not this locally and at these deep cuts!

Also on the subject of cuts, I recently found out that while the State government is laying off thousands, the DOT is actually hiring, and in some programs actually will be filling positions of more than double the current roles. It is strange occurances like this that make me feel better about Civil Engineering being pretty secure.

All I Want for Christmas is a New Job

"I don't want a lot for Christmas
There's just one thing I need
I don't care about the presents
Underneath the Christmas tree"
               - Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You

Since being laid off, I've had the feeling that the job search has been easier as a professional than it was as a college student.

1. Focus (Part I)- I have one goal right now. That goal is to find stimulating, challenging, full-time work in Worcester, Central Mass, Boston, or somewhere along the commuter rail line. That's it. It's all I do, save getting in a work out and subbing when I am called it.  Subbing starts at 7:10 and ends at 1:43. It is not like I need to do homework, organize a philanthropy event, attend the Panhellenic Council meeting, or work on my senior project.  After waking up, I hop on my computer and map out the strategy for the day's search. Anything else I do is icing on the cake.
   
2. Focus (Part II) - When I was in college, I had no clue what I wanted to do.  I had a vague idea of what I did not want to do (structural design, waste water) rather than what I did want to do (anything else within civil engineering).  So this challenging work I want?  I now know that I am seeking opportunity erelated to infrastructure and potentially involving water at some level. When I think of infrastructure, my focus is on transportation including airports, highways, and public transit systems. When I think of water, I am thinking anywhere between where does water runoff a surface all the way to watershed and water supply issues.
3. Scheduling - Class at 9, 10, and 2 makes it difficult to schedule interviews without sacrificing time in class - with seven week terms missing one class sometimes felt like falling up to a week behind. ____
   
4. Experience - I have about 18 months of professional, post-collegiate experience in addition to three summer internships. This puts me at a strange middle to apply for jobs, as I am within the 0-2 years of experience range, in addition to the 1-3 years and 2-5 years. However, being within that window I am far more open to other opportunities!  Recently, I met with an organization for an informational interview.  My belief was that I would only be eligible for X position.  When they considered my experience and Engineer In Training certification  I was suddenly an X+1 or X+2 position! I'd be cheap entry level labor, or I could come in at my own professional level and hold my own.
   
5. Transportation - This time around, I actually own a car. I don't need to rely on the generosity and trust of my friends to borrow a car or ask for a ride.  There is no need to throw off family schedules to get a car delivered. 
6. Networking - I had the opportunity to meet and develop relationships with some great people while I had been at WPI.  Though the alumni is an amazing group of people, it is still a smaller corner of the world. Coming out of college everyone knows you are looking for work, but after a layoff there is considerably more sympathy.  I've found this to be extensively so as the unemployment numbers worsened.  I think it was also to my advantage that I was open to a lot more opportunities and was keeping positive about job prospects.  Saying I had been "laid off and searching" garnered sympathy, but being "in transition" and "finding that open door" as well as understanding what I wanted to do seemed to throw open a few hidden doors. Thank you growing up in politics and sorority recruitment for helping me feel comfortable talking to anyone, anywhere, about anything.
   

Everything of course has its advantages and disadvantages.  Being laidoff was a let down, but I knew I had to attack the job search aggressively and with a positive attitude to make headway, nevermind actually get a job. As we are close to the holiday, I am under the impression that my Christmas wish may have been answered!