Jobs, Jobs, JOBS!

Where I will I work when I move to Boston was a question I thought about very, very frequently. I had day dreams of a prestigious, high-paying job in Boston that would require me to take the train in everyday. I thought about working for a private practice, a rape center, Richard Mollica's trauma center, and many different local mental health agencies.

Before I left Kirkland, I sent out my cover letter, resume, and letter of recommendation from Dr. Inslee to 9 different job postings. I also put in a transfer request to a Starbucks in Beverly, MA. I wanted a job. I knew that the quicker I got a job, the better off we would be.

As many of you know, I don't like working at Starbucks, and many of you thought I was crazy to ask to continue to work there. I thought so too. The Beverly manager told me to call him as soon as I got into town but I delayed almost a week because the thought of working there depressed me. I finally called him and he asked me to come in the following Monday (Sept. 14th) to meet with him.

Meanwhile I got a call from one of the jobs I applied for offering me an interview. I was beyond excited and sent out an e-mail requesting prayer. I interviewed for a clinician position for the Health and Education Services, Inc. (HES) in Lawrence, MA (about 45 minutes away) on Sept. 10th. I left the interview thinking it went really well and anxious to hear back from her at the end of the following week.

I started working at Starbucks on Sept. 16th filling in a few shifts for baristas that were overworked due to the understaffing. And from the first hour of the first shift I hated it more than ever before. The customers were ruder, the baristas ignored me, and the store was constantly in utter chaos. Depression hit when I saw the following week's work schedule and that I was working 35 hours.

A ray of sunshine came when I got another interview on Sept. 17th. This time I was interviewing with South Bay Mental Health for a full-time clinician position at their Salem location (about 20 minutes away). Even though I got lost on the way to the interview and had to call my interviewer to help me get to their office, I still felt that the 2 hour interview went well. She said she would call me on Tuesday (Sept 22nd).

After work at Starbucks on Monday (Sept. 21st) I made my decision. I cannot handle Starbucks anymore. After only three hellish days there where I was ignored and fought tears and loss all day, I quit. I told the Beverly manager that I would finish out the schedule that was already posted but I did not want to work anymore after that. He pushed for two more weeks. I said no. I told a few people that I was leaving and then when they asked why I had to awkwardly tell them that I was too stressed at this point in my life to work at Starbucks. They kind of understood.

My interviewer from South Bay Mental Health did not call on Tuesday, or Wednesday, or Thursday. I called and left a message on Thursday but she did not return it. I called on Friday and got a hold of her; she had no new news for me, just that they were still processing my application and that she would call me on Monday (Sept. 28th). The lady from the Lawrence HES did not call me when she said she would. She also did not pick up when I called and did not return the messages I left.

During the week I worked at Starbucks I got a call from a different HES location regarding a different application that I sent in. This job is still in the mental health field but I would be doing risk assessments rather than therapy. It is not my first pick, but if they hire me it would be a job. I agreed to an interview on October 1st.

I finished my time at Starbucks on Saturday (Sept 26th) and was overjoyed to leave and never return. But I was becoming frustrated with South Bay Mental Health because, yet again, she did not call when she said she would.

Then today I checked my e-mail and received one from my interviewer at South Bay Mental Health. She stated that she was sorry that she did not call me yesterday but she had a personal emergency that took her out of town all weekend and did not return until late Monday night. She said she hated doing this over e-mail but she wanted to let me know as soon as possible. She then offered me a full-time staff therapist position at the Salem office!!! (99% great news) and if I was interested in taking the job the next available start date is October 26th (1% bad news). I e-mailed her back accepting the job and asked if there was anything else I needed to do between now and then.

I am so excited about this job! Out of all the jobs I applied for this was the one I wanted most. It pays more, located closer, offers free licensed supervision, plenty of client hours, and most of all it will help me develop as a professional clinician. Thank you God. And thank you for all of you who have been faithfully praying for us.

Corissa