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2006-11-09 - 5:50 p.m.

TOP TEN REASONS THE JOB I HAD ONLY LASTED ONE WEEK:


10. I had the background in immigration law they required, but not THE EXPERIENCE they expected.

9. My references were all solid and impressive, however NONE WERE FROM LARGE LAW FIRMS!

8. I realized I SHOULD NOT use the Middleburg firm where the secretaries and receptionists were freaked out by the immigrant laborers showing up on Friday to pay in cash as a reference. (The same firm where when I made a 3:30pm appt with a client, when the client showed up at 3:00 they sent HER away and made me look like I was not responsible to the amazing lawyer who had formerly been so supportive! They told him I didn't show up on time! ) **HOWEVER THAT MEANT THAT I HAD NOT ONE LAWYER AS A REFERENCE AS THE OTHER I WORKED FOR MOVED AND I CAN'T TRACK HIM DOWN!

7. I was miracualously able to swing finding child care for all four girls on Monday morning. BUT I was LATE to work, but I made it there!! ( I did call!) OOPSS LATENESS AT A BIG FIRM IS A BIG NO NO!

6. I PERSONALLY answered the call at home from the recruiter so I got the offer MYSELF rather than it ending up in my MYSTERY phone sytem answering service that I currently can't access! (Nor did I turn on as I ordered CALLER ID and ASKED THEY NOT TURN ON THE PHONE COMPANY MESSAGE SERVICE. IT's Also a mystery calls go to there since I have a home answering machine that strangely gets all of WESTELY's messges! )

HOWEVER, I DID NOT GET ANY OF THE OVER A DOZEN MESSAGES THE RECRUITER LEFT THAT FRIDAY SAYING NOT TO SHOW UP TO THE ASSIGNMENT ON THE NEXT MONDAY MORNING! THOSE AMAZINGLY ENDED UP IN THE "MYSTERY" ANSWERING SYSTEM THAT I NEVER SET UP AND COULDN'T ACCESS!! SO I SHOWED UP THAT NEXT MONDAY AT 9AM sharp and must have looked like some NUT WHO IGNORED THE MESSAGES THAT I NO LONGER HAD THE JOB!

5. The market is very good for immigration paralegals. There is a shortage of paralegals who specialize in this area (HOWEVER DESPITE THAT, THE LAWYER I WAS HIRED TO WORK WITH HAD NO CONFIDENCE IN MY ABILITY AS I NEVER WORKED WITH A LARGE DATABASE FILE MANAGMENT SYSTEM BEFORE. TRAINING ON SUCH WAS NOT IN HER JOB DESCRIPTION, SO SHE WAS RIGHTFULLY AGGREVATED WITH THE HEAD HUNTER)

4. The job was through the professional placement agency rather than the firm directly so they never gave me that checklist where I indicate HOW MANY of each visa I have done. (AND I DON'T LIE, so when they then ASKED of my actual experience I WAS HONEST! AND THEY WERE FREAKED....)

3. My trac phone hadn 't yet run out of minutes (which it did this past FRI!) so I could make a call to find out WHERE TO REPORT TO WORK. (BUT IT DID RUN OUT ON FRIDAY... and thus the messages the head hunter sent THERE to not show up on MON were ALSO NOT RECEIVED! YES I LOOKED LIKE A CRAZY PERSISTANT NUT....Showing up like I had a job that second week when they canned me!) It WAS COMICAL once I figured out what was going on (OK comical in hindsight!)

2. My banker had set me up with overdraft protection which I inadvertadly discovered the week before last so I could WRITE A CHECK for the childcare that wouldn't bounce, and write a check to myself to cash to have toll and parking $ YAH! (OK- so I also lost the job as I MYTERIOUSLY HAD $40 disappear from my wallet one day while at work! That NEXT Morn I was LATE as I HAD TO THEN WAIT FOR THE BANK TO OPEN to get toll and parking $! I had ALREADY borrowed from Ronaldo the parking garage attendant the night before when going to pick up my car and discovering the $ gone!)

1. AND THE # 1 REASON I LOST THE JOB:

I DIDN'T HAVE TO INTERVIEW SO NEVER GOT THE SPECIFIC QUESTION ABOUT MY SIX YEARS OF CONSULTING AS TO HOW MANY VISAS I HAVE DONE! (And I did't interrupt anyone etc... all the interview errors I have made when getting to the level of meeting with three partners in the firm for that final interview I keep blowing!) AND THE HEADHUNTER I INITALLY INTERVIEWED WITH was mysteriously "NO LONGER WITH OUR COMPANY" so I now believe I was HER LAST PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE PARTING PLACEMENT AND SHE INTENTIONALLY STUCK ME IN A GREAT JOB AND SPUN ME AS SOMEONE I AM NOT IN HER FINAL GOODBY.... either that or she was FIRED after the amazing creation she spun out of my resume DIDN't REALLY EXIST!

The whole week was actually very amusing!

And althought it COST ME MORE IN CHILD CARE than I earned it was WELL WORTH it to LEARN ABOUT the software of IMMIGRATION TRACKER that I need to know!

I also learned alot about the social mores of temp work. But that will be another entry!

Still job hunting and nanny hunting. Unless I land a VERY GOOD JOB it really isn't feasible to work as child care costs may be higher than I can net in salary, and it likely is better for the girls that I remain home with them anyway- but I feel I HAVE To do this not to NOT BE IN A DEPENDANT POSITION.

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