My Job Search Adventures

So like most unemployed people, I was excited when I saw a job prospect on Craigslist. I know, I know, Craigslist isn't the best place to search for a job, and don't worry, it's not my only source, but there seems to be some good stuff every now and then.

There are so many emotional ups and downs to being unemployed and looking for a job that I won't even go into detail on that, but I will explain my dilemma: I'm either not experienced enough for some jobs (see old post on that) or I'm over qualified because I graduated law school. SO, I was pretty excited when I found the following post on Craigslist today:

"Attorney Needed (Bilingual)
Looking to hire an attorney who has recently passed the bar . . Applicant must be able to work in a fast paced environment. Must be meticulous in calendaring and MUST work well with deadlines. Experience is not a must. Please email resume as soon as possible. We are looking to hire immediately."

That's it.

A few things that jumped out at me: 1) I'm bilingual, 2) I recently passed the bar, 3) I like the idea that experience is not a must. So I spend some time making a general cover letter that is not overly specific on any area of law (since none was stated) but highlighting my general skills and experiences. I was pretty excited when I checked my voicemail a few hours later and already had a call back requesting that I come in and interview tomorrow. So I call them expecting to leave a voicemail (since it was already past 6:30 p.m.), but I actually had the pleasure of speaking with someone.

They answered their phone in Spanish (so fast, in fact, that I had no idea what the guy said), so I was pretty happy I was not lying about my bilingual skills, and asked (in Spanish) for the lady that had called me. Through my conversation with Lady, we set up a time for me to come in tomorrow to interview, and I request their address so I know where I'm going. Then she inquires "You are bilingual, right?" Well yes, I know my all-American name probably doesn't help, but I have it in bold on my resume, and I applied for the job, and I was able to get her on the phone, right?

Then I ask what area of law they practice. Granted--they didn't mention this in the job post, and they said experience wasn't necessary, but I thought it might be a good idea to do a little research before I go in tomorrow. "Bankruptcy, chapters 7 and 13. Do you have experience with that?" Uh...no. Thoughts going through my head in the split seconds before I have to formulate a response: my resume mentions NOTHING about bankruptcy--it's actually all immigration and public interest law, so there's no mistaken the fact that I have no experience in bankruptcy law and yet they called ME; I can't even pretend to have experience in that area because I really have no clue; and finally: it doesn't matter right? They said experience wasn't necessary. So I'm honest and I tell Lady that no, I don't have experience in bankruptcy.

"Oh...well...that's a problem. We won't need you to come in tomorrow then...I'll check with the attorney and I'll call you if he changes his mind."

Huh. Really? I have a feeling she is going to have many similar calls. If you want experience in something from your applicants, you should state it in the job post, and you should look for it on their RESUME.

We passed the bar!

I'm sure thousands of bar passers for decades now have experienced what I experienced on Friday, November 20th: constant nausea every time I thought about getting my results at 6 p.m.! Thing is, Katie and I had discussed the possibility of having to take the bar again in February, and we had made our peace with the idea. What made me want to throw up every five minutes was having to face my friends and family. Having to take the exam again was second to that. The other issue that was talked about with fellow bar takers was the protocol to inform one another about our results--no one wants to inquire if you don't know you're going to get good news. After much strategery and discussion, we decided to just rely on self-disclosure. The minutes after 6:00 pm were some of the most chaotic I've had lately--phone calls, texts messages, facebook status' were been tossed around left and right.

Needless to say, celebration was in order, and celebrate we did!

I have consistently lacked confidence throughout my academic career, so I owe a HUGE thank you to all the family and friends who have supported me and believed in me throughout the years :)

And Katie: you still owe me a happy dance!

Dinner with the Cheney's!

After continuously hearing from Brooke how her and her sister cook dinner all the time, Jeff and I finally got an invite! Here are some pictures from our night of great food and even greatER company:

I apologize for the weirdness of the picture above...I still had a weird setting on my camera...but these are the amazing ladies that fixed us dinner :)

Homemade hummus!

mmmmMmmm! Everything was delicious, but I think we all got second helpings of the green bean casserole....

And what's dinner without dessert?! -->

Brooke made an AMAZING apple crisp, which she said was pretty simple to make.

In case anyone wants to try to make the apple crisp at home:

Prep time: 30 minutes

Bake: 30 minutes

Oven: 375

Makes: 6 servings

Ingredients:

5 cups sliced, peeled cooking apples

2 to 4 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/2 cup regular rolled oats

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup butter or margarine

Vanilla ice cream (optional)

1) Preheat oven to 375. Place fruit in a 2-quart square baking dish. Stir in sugar.

2) For topping, in a medium bowl combine the oats, brown sugar, flour, and nutmeg. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle topping over filling. NOTE: Brooke said she would have doubled the topping recipe because it wasn't enough. Proceed at your own risk!

3) Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until fruit is tender and topping is golden. Cool slightly. If desired, serve warm with ice cream.

*Thanks to my Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book for this one*

Obsessive Compulsive Reading Disorder

I'm a huge fan of books and reading, something I owe to my mom. Although I've enjoyed books of all types, I'm coming to realize I'm more of a "series" reader. When I was young, I read all the Little House books (which I still have!) and most Anne of Green Gables books. In my older years, I became obsessed with Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and I'll openly admit that I've read the Twilight series multiple times. My latest conquest: Harry Potter.

As much as I love getting into a series, here are my problems:

1) It sucks when it's over. I'm sure most people have experienced that feeling when you finish a book, kind of an emptiness, or longing for it NOT to be over...or maybe it's just me. Either way, this feeling is intensified when you've invested 4, 6, 8 books in the reading. You've spent that much more time getting to know the characters and their dilemmas, and it's that much harder to let them go and face your own reality.

And,

2) I'm obsessive about finishing. This happens to me with any good book, not just a series, but a series makes it that much worse because I'm just rushing and obsessed with moving on to the next book. (Here's my Catch-22: I can't wait to finish, but then I finish and I'm left with problem #1. Ah the inhumanity of it all!) I really just can't be productive with anything else going on in my life until I'm done. Jeff knows what I mean. The poor guy has to deal with a zombie in the car while he drives, while the zombie is off in God knows what fictional universe.

I really wish I could just take my time and enjoy each book, prolonging the unavoidable end. This would also allow me to be semi-productive at carrying on my normal, daily life activities, rather than constantly thinking: "I could be reading my book right now!" But since it's something I've just accepted....any reading suggestions out there?

Going Solo?

Don't freak out, the title has nothing to do with Jeff and I, thankfully he's deciding to stick around :) I went to a workshop today that was put on by my law school, giving advice on how to start your solo practice. I'm thinking this is because their employment statistics are looking pretty horrid and they need those of us who are unemployed to get a "job," stat. Anyhow, aside from having to raise some capital (or put aside my law school loans by deferring them again and opening up some new credit cards), the most difficult thing is-obviously-getting clients.

So my question to all of you, dear readers, is: will you be getting a divorce, have custody issues, seek a fiance visa for someone you met in a foreign country and now wish to marry and bring to the United States, need a visa for someone you are employing from a foreign country, need a will or living trust, in the near future? I'm sure these are all things you can fit into your lives somehow. If so, let me know so I can seriously start considering career options....thank you!

Fall Colors

So the few changing colors around town make me wish I was on the East Coast on one of my competition trips with Katie and David. I loooooove love love fall for all the colors it brings, and it's one of the few things I hold against Southern California.

I guess I'll just have to be happy with the Orange County Fall :)

Thoughts on Honduras, anyone?

Personally, I'm kind of excited that someone had the balls to stand up to a president who started trying to be the next Hugo Chavez. I know the international community is technically opposed to the coup, but I wonder if it's just to save face: they have to be opposed to a coup. A coup isn't the greatest example of a well run democracy, and what democratic nation (or organization) would want to publicly endorse a coup?

Here's my thought: it was a good move. Zelaya was wanting to impose new constitutional reforms to stay in power, probably not unlike those that Chavez has "proposed" and keeps succeeding at. So the government took it upon itself to take action. The military, congress, and supreme court were all in agreement before the coup happened. I'm not saying it was the best course of action, but it was better than no course of action. The international community needs to be less concerned with saving face, and more concerned with preserving the democratic institutions that already exist. I hope the elections coming up at the end of the month will be given full legitimacy by the international community, with our without Zelaya.

Life's Little Big Decisions

I always wanted to be a teacher, and for the first twelve or thirteen years of my life, I never thought I'd end up doing anything else. I used to play the teacher whenever I played with friends, and I even "tutored" my neighbors kids when I was like eight or nine. By tutoring I mean that I always did my homework, and my neighbor's kids didn't, so she payed me to make them do their homework :)

Then I moved to Guatemala, and my big career plans there were to be a secretary. Yeah, for some reason, "secretaria bilingue" sounds like a dream career to Guatemalan girls when they're young. My career expectations shot up again when I came back to school in the United States. I think in junior high I started to get a bit idealistic about wanting to change the world. Most of it had to do with living in Guatemala, and seeing the crime, impunity, corruption, and endless violence that exists. What bothered me (and still does) about Guatemala is that the government does nothing to curb everything that is going on. Most government officers are too busy filling their pockets to try to make any meaningful changes to the way things are done. So my dream was to get an education that would allow me to get involved with international relations, diplomacy, or some other branch where I could yield some significant influence in the right direction. My ideal job would definitely be with an organization like the United Nations, or U.S.A.I.D., or a non-profit involved in human rights or humanitarian law.

Although those aspirations still hold true, there were complications that I never thought about in junior high. I now have my JD, and I guess technically the potential to get those jobs. But I also just got married, and I'm excited and looking forward to starting a family. This makes the whole "international job" a little more difficult to pursue. Growing up I never thought I would end up having conflicting goals and aspirations. It's not a tough choice between career and family: I definitely am more excited about being married to Jeff and looking forward to our future together. But it's difficult to accept that something I always wanted is going to have to take the back burner for a while.

Lately I've been wondering if most people, sooner or later, come to a point in their life where they have to make one of life's little big decisions: sometimes we have idealistic expectations of what we want, but maybe the opportunity isn't there, or the timing isn't right, and we have to accept something more realistic. Either way, life is what you make of it, and life is gonna be great :)

Lemon Bars!

After a disappointing encounter with lemon bars, I decided to follow a friend's true and tried recipe, which she guaranteed was amazing. She wasn't lying. Sooo good, and easy to make.


You can follow the link to Denise's recipe blog---she has a full blog with great cooking recipes!


Link to recipe

Thanks to Brookie for her help, and to Courtney for her moral support :)

True True