The drug testing and fingerprinting is done, the background check is in progress, and now it's just waiting for my notification that I can start and how I'll be logging in through SIB's secure network. I assume it will work similarly enough to LIB's that I can quickly adjust and I'm praying that this job will turn out to be less hopeless. I can accept a larger workload than I alone can handle. I will no longer accept doing the job of essentially three people where there was no reward nor promise of reprieve. I can settle for doing the job of two, though, and did for many years so I know that drill.

I emailed my future boss today to let her know that I've completed all of the onboarding tasks and she can probably put pressure on HR on her end to expedite anything that remains. If I start by Mar. 1st I'll be happy with that, and maybe will even look forward to getting out of bed again.

Since I got the good news about the job I've continued looking and have narrowed down likely apartment complexes where I can afford the rent. Ironically, most of them are near the one I originally lived in at my first permanent job post-graduate degree in 2004 so I'll be back where I started this professional career in a very literal sense but, despite all that's gone between, at about a 50% higher income. In that way it was completely worth it.

I also was rejected from the local community college job I was in the running for, so without this position I would have had no job prospects in south Jersey again, proving that without remote work I just don't fit in here. I don't have the mindset or community focus that they want to see, I want to get to the point as quickly as possible without wasting my time or others. Is that so wrong? Down here it apparently is wrong.

There's been a slight hiccup with the outsourced HR department at SIB so I'm still waiting for the official paperwork, but spoke with my soon-to-be boss again today and SHE had negotiated my salary higher, a sign of an awesome boss and that they really do want me specifically! I didn't negotiate much since I knew I was lucky beyond reason to have a second chance in this field and my initial quote was already higher than what I made at LIB. I still half expect every call to be a notification that they were mistaken and they're rescinding the offer even though I know logically that won't happen, but hello anxiety. How I haven't missed you...

All is on track though, and once I get my signature on the paperwork it should just be a short wait until I start. I need to keep repeating "all is well."

OMG OMG OMG OMG! I GOT THE JOB! At least, I'm pretty sure I did. The HR person called me today and met my asking salary with no quibbles, and I was just happy to be in my field again after a two year hiatus so that was fine by me. The paperwork should arrive in the next few days and everything will hopefully be signed in a week or two so I can start ASAP, but until I actually sign the document hiring me I'm mentally prepared in case anything falls through. However, the confidence level in a decent paying job has gone from about 50% to 99% :D.

Oddly enough, despite overhearing my parents telling friends of the family about my sister and I both living here during the pandemic (that's 4 people, 2 bedrooms, so overhearing is inevitable in this small house), they don't seem to be chasing me out yet. My mom's spotted me stalking Craigslist, Apartments.com, and Zillow so maybe it's assumed, or maybe she's waiting for the right time to broach the topic and my first paychecks to arrive. I've always offered to pay rent, which they refuse to accept, so I pay groceries, gas, etc whenever I can to offset some of their expenses, as well as cook and bake, clean, and contribute to the household where needed.

When I leave they'll be losing the only help they have around the house since my sister is oblivious to anyone's needs but her own, but I can't feel guilty about that. While I don't expect to have much of a social life, particularly taking the night shift at this job, I don't crave that socialization nearly as much as I used to when I was younger. For now I'll keep an eye out for housing alternatives and dream of the day I can give up my storage unit. Miracles do happen!

I really like the team at SIB. They remind me so much of my colleagues at my last job, who were honestly the best part of working at LIB, and I'd be honored to join this new team. The interviews are done, now it's just waiting to see if an offer is forthcoming.  If the salary range is where I need it to be then it's a definite yes on my end, although the fact that this is a permanent position off the bat, instead of the temp-to-perm game (sometimes up to 3 years before conversion!) that LIB took advantage of constantly, means I'm far more willing to compromise on compensation. 

It's time to practice patience again.

First interview, check! From 3-4pm today I got to meet those who may be my boss at SIB and it was such a relief to just chat and feel like I would belong relatively comfortably in a job. I wasn't trying to shoehorn my actual experience into the neat little boxes of public libraries or academic research, but could simply explain why my prior experience dovetails nicely with what they need and how my expertise with a couple of databases in particular could actually allow me to teach them the tips and tricks I've learned over my decade plus of research at LIB.

I also appreciated that SIB sounds like a humane company, much more like LIB was when I joined and when I did love the job. No desk moves every two months, no longer being treated like an inconvenience and devaluing the skills we bring to the job. A smaller staff, but one that works well together and strives toward a common goal of providing the best service possible while maximizing our individual strengths. A position where they would trust me to work 100% remotely without micromanaging or requiring face time just for the sake of it. 

Best of all, they apparently liked me enough to schedule a second interview to meet the whole team tomorrow on Zoom! After waiting two months before a reply from any local library jobs here, and another month or two post-interview to hear about being rejected, it's only been about 2 weeks since I contacted my colleague's friend and if all goes well, I'm hoping for an offer in the next week or two. This is the speed I'm used to working at - here's the task, here's the logical timeline to move on, let's get it done. Even if it's a rejection, I want to know sooner rather than later!

I know it wasn't a perfect interview, none of them are and I hope I wasn't too abrupt wrapping up the interview since my nerves got the best of me then, but this is major progress. I still need an overall life change, but right now I should focus on tomorrow. Get some sleep tonight, prepare myself to deal with the inevitable anxiety when I'm on the call, and focus on the people, the team, SIB, and presenting the best version of myself. Everything else will follow in its own time.