Yes, I am no longer unemployed. At long last, I was hired by Apple computer. Once I understood that I was not going to be able to do the teaching overseas thing, working at Apple became my next goal. The trouble was that as soon as I figured this out, the economy tanked and Apple put on a hiring freeze. As days stretched into weeks and then months, I started to despair. As I’ve written before, I had never been in the position of having to do a job search before. I had simply figured out what job I wanted to do, and then I went and got it. As it turns out, I have done it again, but it took quite a bit longer than I expected…
I have been hired as a “specialist.” That is Apple-speak for a salesperson. I have no doubts that I will totally kick ass at that. After all, I have actually sold 5 Macs this year without being in the store or even working at it. My enthusiasm was enough to convince those people that a Mac was the best idea for a new purchase. I’ll be working at the Pentagon city location, come and see me if you have some time!
I am beyond psyched at having a job, and one that I will enjoy at that. The downside is that I am starting over. No really, I am. I have been hired as a part time employee. From what I can tell, this is typical. They start people as part timers and “promote” them to full time once they have proven themselves. I won’t have any trouble getting the number of hours I want. Between back to school and the holiday season, there will be plenty of work to go around.
In addition to being a part timer, I will be paid essentially the same amount I got paid when I first joined Penn Camera back in ’97. That’s a huge pay cut as compared to what I was making before I left. On the other hand, it’s a hell of a lot more than I was getting being unemployed… No matter, I consider this a foot in the door. Apple gives me an opportunity to go places professionally that I just couldn’t go in the last company. In addition to going into management, there are all sorts of other opportunities to be had as well. I could become a trainer, I could go into tech support, I could go into the corporate world. The sky’s the limit!
So yeah, I can’t wait to start. I’m also excited at the prospect of starting a new chapter in my life. There’s no telling who I’ll meet, where I’ll go, or what opportunities I’ll come across. It’s good to have some excitement about life again!