_bbR3iY5lLSjzaZNziPYc6VX6tk Inspiration CAN be found EVERYWHERE!: Employment update - the end of a saga ......

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Employment update - the end of a saga ......

Hello all. I just had to send a quick note to tell everyone the latest on my son's quest for a "real" job.

As you may recall he graduated from University of New Haven with a degree in Fire Science with a concentration in Arson Investigation. I talked about that here: graduation-day With the current economy finding a "real" job (as he calls it) has been extremely difficult.

He has been working for a local town as a Per Diem EMT since March - working at least 4 days a month and I think one month it was at least 8 days (which was sending them into palpitations because that could make him full time). He also started working for our Township Board of Education in the "outdoor" maintenance department ...... cutting lawns, shrubs, making everything look "pretty" and dealing with the ever present bee population, in May.

He has been searching/testing/applying up and down the East Coast for a job with a fire department since March 2008. He even took the test for a job with Hilton Head South Carolina the morning of graduation (since it was offered at the university) and has been progressing up the lists/ranks/steps in a local town, Hilton Head,SC; Charlotte,NC; Virginia Beach, VA; Cherry Hill,NJ; Bethlehem or Allentown, PA I can't remember which. So this has been a very long drawn out process. I know I have been getting discouraged (especially with the economy the way it is) and I know he has been feeling a little concerned.

He had to be in Virginia Beach over the July 4th holiday - since he had an interview on the 6th. About the 11th of July he received a letter saying that he had a conditional employment based on the results of his physical at the end of July and some other "research" thing by Social Services. So back down to VA for July 27th Physical and Uniform fittings and something else. He felt everything had gone well - everything had been signed off so he had to sit and wait again as they had 3 weeks of physicals to do (but only 25 people made this cut). He had seen a list while at the physical that showed him as #2 on the list and since he was the first physical (8AM Monday morning) he thought that he might have just done really well in the interview. When they first did the test back in November, I think he said they had sent invitations to 1700 applicants.

Today he received an email from City of Virginia Beach dated today, with the Final Offer Letter of Employment! So as of today, my son has gotten a "real" job. The letter was to congratulate him on his new position as Firefighter Recruit with the Virginia Beach Fire Department.

So of course the real fun begins. He has about 1 month before the academy starts, but he has to move, get his EMT certificate transferred down there, get a VA drivers license, change his bank account, decide what has to be done with his truck (my name is still on the title with his so its on MY insurance) and probably get auto insurance .......... and who knows what else he will need to do.

Well just wanted to fill everyone in - I will have one less child living at home in 34 days.

I thought I would be so happy to say that - and in a way I am because he has a job in the field he really wanted - but my little boy isn't a little boy anymore; he's moving out and moving on. Wow talk about mixed emotions here.

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