Oh Crap! I didn't really mean to get hired! I was just starting to get into my daily routine - get Larry off to work, put on a load of laundry, get back into bed, hang out laundry, grocery store to pick up anything I might need for dinner, plus my regular weekly trip to Ikea...How did this happen? I'll tell you how!
We were here for only a week before Larry had to start work. So when he went off to Sydney for orientation, I got busy. One of my tasks while he was away was to start looking for work. I knew about careers.com.au. I sent my resume to a recruiter for a position as a workers' compensation case manager for an insurance company and wouldn't you know that 20 minutes later she called me and I was in for an interview two days later. Well, that's not the job that I got, but it set some expectations regarding response times and was really quite indicative of the lack of qualified candidates for all of the work that is going on in this capital city.
A few days later I was shopping for sheets, comforter and duvet cover near our house. On the advice of the gal waiting on me at the bedding store, I found seek.com.au. After looking for about 10 minutes, I found a job for a Legal Case Manager. I remember this was a Thursday. I had a haircut appointment at 2:30 and I sent my resume for this position before I went to the salon. While I was waiting for the shampoo boy, my cell phone rang. It was a person calling to set up an interview for me for the Legal Case Manager position. Score! Two in a row!
The day before my interview I prepared and researched and read cases to get ready so the people I would be speaking with would actually think that I had a clue about being legal and managing cases. Never mind that I had successfully managed roughly 450 cases at a time at my last job. There was just something fascinating about the work that they did and my research. It was refreshing for me to stretch my brain like this. At this point I had not really gotten used to being Ms. Leisure so I think my brain was overreacting to the intellectual stimuli.
In any event, the interview went great. I got called back for a second interview about two weeks later. My second interview lasted less time than the 6 block walk from our cottage to the office. I was one of several candidates and would get an answer in another week. Well, that Friday happened to be the start of the Perth Fashion Festival. I got to be in attendance at the Every Body Counts cocktail party and fashion show. During the champagne and nibbles event my cell phone rang (mind you it was around 4:30 on a Friday afternoon - who works then?). It was not so good news - I didn't get the Legal Case Manager position because I am not licensed to practise law, but I must have left a positive impression on them as they wanted to know whether I would accept a position as a regular case manager. The salary was a bit lower, but they had to know so that they could get the funding approved to create the position. I was ecstatic and said yes. I found out that I would hear about the position in about a week. This is all under the din of the Carilon CIty Food Court where the cocktail party was going on. In fact, after I hung up with them I returned to the party to end up brushing up quite literally with Jerry Hall who happens to be on an extended stay in Perth while performing in The Graduate.
So for the past two weeks I have not known whether I was going to work or not. After not hearing from them for a week, I decided to start looking again. I had hope that this quasi governmental agency would come up with the funding, but some people say WA means Wait Awhile which is not really what I wanted to do. Plus, it seemed that any job to which I applied I got a call on 15 minutes after I sent in my resume so it should be a snap right? WRONG! One Monday I sent out my resume at least 8 times and some of them for legal assistant/paralegal positions and in fact got rejected within 24 hours! What?!?!?!?!? After two days of huntng and not getting the instantaneous response to which I was accustomed I was starting to get downtrodden. Everyone should have some sympathy for Larry having to deal with the "why haven't they called me yet?" and the "what is taking so long?" and the "why doesn't anyone want to hire me?" Thank God (and Buddah, Allah and the rest) that he has a degree in psychology!
So last Friday I ran errands literally all over Perth. It felt like I went from one end of town to the next. I was walking down Roberts Road (a pretty heavy traffic area, especially on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend) when I got the call from the CEO. I got the job and was to start on Tuesday at 10:00. I was so excited that I went right to this one boutique that I really like and bought myself a new dress for my first week (our container and thus the bulk of my professional clothing has not yet arrived yet). My second stop was to buy a bottle of champagne!
You might be asking yourself what I am going to be doing. Since I will working for the Medical Board of Western Australia which is actually soon to be no more and I have to sign a confidentiality agreement on Tuesday, I am not so sure exactly how much I can share publically. I don't want to make waves before I even start. I will tell you my job in general terms. When someone makes a complaint about a doctor's conduct I will be the one performing the investigation and making recommendations about what should be done to the committee who determines the fate of the doctor. The standard here is not a negligence standard as in a tort action, but maintain standards of professional conduct. The job is an absolutely perfect match for me and I am thrilled. I start on 28 September, right after we celebrate the Queen's Birthday. We are heading to Kings Park for a picnic with some friends.
While I am excited about starting my work, I am going to miss some aspects of not working. I will not miss having to get up and be somewhere at a certain time. I really enjoyed the freedom of no time constraints and deadlines except those that were self imposed and thus readily changeable. What I am looking forward to is the intellectual stimulation and the social interaction that naturally arise from being employed. After some time I will give you an update as to how things are going, but for now it is time to head out to the park and enjoy the last few hours of freedom.
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