How I got a job

Last Monday we had some family friends over for dinner, a married couple and their three daughters. We met them because Rob sails with Michael’s father, but he and Stacy are only about fifteen years older than us, instead of thirty years older like our parents. They live about twenty minutes away, and they’re so much fun that we try to get together with them fairly often.

I got great advice from you all about what to do for a job, but I’d already decided that I wouldn’t look for anything permanent until fall. We have a lot of trips planned this summer, and I figured I’d have a hard time finding a job if I started off by telling them I couldn’t work during most of July. I planned to just do temp work (I’ve had good luck with Manpower) through the summer, because it’s very flexible.

But Rob is a lawyer who started his own practice a few years ago, and it has just gotten to the point where he needs to hire an assistant. (He has a receptionist/secretary, but he needs someone to do actual legal work.) He mentioned this at dinner last Monday, and I mentioned that I was looking for a job, and he told me to send him my resume . That was how I ended up in his office on Friday, with him telling me that he wants to hire me to do paralegal work for him. I’ll be training through the summer, with very flexible hours, and as the fall comes around he expects that I’ll be able to handle a lot of the stuff that he does himself right now, including preparing a lot of legal documents, meeting with clients, and going to court with him. He’ll only be paying me $10/hour while I’m training, but after I can do real work, it’ll go up quite a bit.

I’m excited about this job because it seems like it’ll be more interesting than the standard clerical work I’m used to doing. I’m also thrilled about working with Rob; he’s laid-back and hilarious and I think he’ll be a dream to work for. Granted, I might hate legal work, but Rob’s not a trial lawyer – he does mostly commercial properties, leases and things like that – so it won’t be too stressful, and since I’m so detail-oriented I might love the work. It’ll certainly be a good chance for me to find out if I want to go to law school, which is something I haven’t completely ruled out for the future.

The best thing about this job, though, is that it will provide significant extra income for Michael and me. We can live on his income alone, but we have to live sparingly. Up until this point I thought we’d never be able to afford adoption, but now if we decide to adopt, we’ll have the money to do it. For now, we’re going to use it to pay off some big debts (student loans, anyone?) and then by fall, perhaps, we’ll start putting money into a “possible adoption” fund. I’m really excited about that. 

I start tomorrow!

Comments

[Dooneybug]

That's awesome Elizabeth!! Congratulations on the position. Sounds like lots of fun too, going to court and hearing cases not to mention getting that experience on your resume. Have a blast!

[Katie]

How exciting! It's always nice when things work out like this!

[Maggie]

Hey darling!! I'm so proud of you! I'll be praying for you at the beginning of your first day tomorrow.

[Julie D.]

Congratulations!

I always thought that some of our deacon's sagest advice to couples was to live off of one's income and save the other's income ... which is what it sounds like you're planning to do after paying off those bills. Hard to stick to but worth it, I'd think. Good luck! :-)

[Caroline]

Yeah for the new job!! I can't think of a better thing to save money for!

[Jamie]

But you told him you'd need to keep plenty of time free for blogging, right? He can't keep you too busy or your legions of admiring fans will miss you too much.

Congrats!

[mary]

Congratulations! This is wonderful news, I think. I'm so glad it worked out for you. Who knows, this may be the perfect opportunity for you.

[Katie]

Congrats! Best of luck to you.
I used to work in my uncle's law office summers in college and really enjoyed it (not enough to go into law, though ;).

[Sonetka]

Great news! I'm really glad to hear you got such a good one right out of the gate, and that it will let you put a baby fund together. Are you thinking about any specific kind of adoption yet or is it a bit early for that still?

[Becki]

Congratulations! It really is amazing how the Lord provides. I hope you really enjoy this job, as well as the income that comes from it.

[Alexandra]

Congratulations! The job sounds like a great fit for you. Enjoy,

Alexandra

[Hoo]

Woohoo! As someone who never really did the resume/ads thing - the best jobs are the ones that come find you! Congrats!

[Lindsey]

I need a job. Why can't a cool one like that fall into *my* lap?

[Amyesq]

Congratulations! Take it from me. Law is fun! :)

[Tracy]

Congratulations! What a great opportunity for you!

And I'll agree that the best advice anyone gave me regarding dual incomes was to live on my dh's income only and use mine for extras. I walked away without a second thought - knowing that we definitely had enough for me to stay home.

Paying off the student loans is an excellent plan (and frees up your husband's income too!).

Hope you have time to blog too once you get started.

Let us know how it's going!