Open for Hire..

In January of 2019, Cory and I made the decision to leave our precious life in Monroe and move to New Orleans. He began with Entergy on February 1st and moved to New Orleans without me. We made the decision that I would stay in Monroe to sell our home and complete some projects with Foundry before joining him later that year. Our home sold in May and I set a leave date of August 31st with my beloved job/church.

Normally, my posts are funny and upbeat, but I figured I would tell you guys about the not-so-fun journeys we've had over this past year as well. Social media only shows you the fun, good things happening in someone's life-- not the struggles or moments that really beat you down and/or humble you.

In March of 2019, I began to look online for jobs and started applying for the ones I truly only was interested in. I didn't get many, if any, call backs but wasn't worried, because I hadn't moved anyway. After wrapping up our life in Monroe, I got to New Orleans on September 1st, and really began to look. On October 1st, after NO luck with any of the jobs I'd applied to, I took myself on down to the French Quarter and asked for a job at my favorite boutique store. As grateful as I am for that job, it was just that-- a survival job, not a career.

I began getting nervous so I'm applying for any and all jobs that I'm remotely qualified for. I made it to the final third round for two different companies in New Orleans, but one picked someone else and the other decided to cancel the job posting after my interview. The first company then contacted me to apply for another position and got me excited, then EMAILED me to tell me they picked someone else again. Que all the tears, all the frustration, all the anger and all the doubt. It's so frustrating to meet the CEO of the company just to get an EMAIL with the rejection-- no phone call.

I figured that I was having trouble getting calls from employers because my resume wasn't making it through, so I looked online to hire someone to redo my resume for me. Strap in for this story: I find a lady online called "the resume lady," so figured she was the best to contact. After our initial phone call, I hired her to revamp my resume, which she said would take 7-10 business days. I sent her half of the amount owed to get started-- which hurt my heart to send-- and let her get to work. After about 20 business days, I still had not heard from her, so emailed to check in. Her response: "Brooke, after we spoke on the phone, I got the worst news. I have been diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer and have been in a daze, going to doctors and worrying about treatment. I would like to keep working on your resume, as it gives me something to do and will take my mind off my diagnosis." Um. What does one day to that? I, of course, started praying for her and agreed to continue our agreement. After another 2 months, I finally got a rough draft of my resume and tried calling her to make some edits. She never answered and never called me back, so I decided to drop it all and figured we could just call it even. Enter January, after 2.5 months of not hearing from her, she calls to ask me to complete my payment for her work. BAH. I am the most non-confrontational person you may meet, but I called her right back and told her that I wasn't paying her for a resume that wasn't completed and a cover letter I never got. Ya'll. Such a weird, messy mess. We finally got it all straight.

Praise Jesus, in January, a recruiter reached out to me on LinkedIn with the most amazing opportunity. After two months, countless interviews, 4 assessments (two math, one verbal and a personality test), one trip to Houston with a King Cake in my lap, I was offered a career that I couldn't be more excited about. After this experience, I have learned many things: humbleness, better ways to be a recruiter, communication skills are KEY and NOT to say this to people who are struggling-- It'll all work out. OR What's meant to be will be.

Ugh. No. Don't say that to people. When they're in the throws of depression and anger, that is not the phrase to use. It's coming from a good place, I know, but when you're struggling with doubt and self-worth, your only thought is "What if it doesn't work out?!" It's been a very stressful year on my end with this move. Everyone we chat with always says "It looks like ya'll are having so much fun in New Orleans." Of course it looks that way. I didn't post about the middle of the night panic attacks and a picture of the over [what feels like] 323564879 jobs I applied to from March of 2019 to February of 2020 or the rejection emails that have flown into my inbox.

Thankful to say that I'm at a company that I'm excited about and in a position I know I'll be good at. So glad that unhappy chapter of career searching is over and that I can feel like a successful member of society again. I would say if you're finding yourself in a similar situation, it will all get better, I promise; but hence, another cliche phrase that is not helpful.

[Also, I've found this amazing signature from Louis Armstrong that I'm now stealing--]

Red Beans and Ricely Yours,
Brooke