Finally....back to work!

stevew14 · March 2004

Well, after three months unemployment, I'm going back to work. I started last week working contract doing something I don't really like that much. It 's kind of a temporary thing which may or may not have led to a permanent position. Friday I got a call back from a place I had interviewed with back in December. They are ready to expand, and want me to start next Monday. It is quite a reduction in pay from my last job of 24 years, but it sure beats unemployment. I'll get my foot in the door and I'll be doing what I know and enjoy.

I tried to enjoy my layoff time as much as possible, but with a daughter still in high school and lots of bills to pay, I found the stress of uncertain future employment kept getting in the way. I thought that it would be easier to find work, but it's tough right now. I guess three months really isn't that bad compared to what some others have been through. I feel fortunate!

Anyway, I just wanted to share my news with everyone since I got some best wishes when I first got laid off.

Thanks,
Steve

dorokusai · March 2004

Steve - Rock on, keeping active AND being paid, is the way to go. I wish you luck.

Strong Bad · March 2004

Steve:

Congrats bigtime! Hey, it may seem like a reduction in pay right now, but with what you've told us, it could lead to some really nice opportunity. Hang tight and keep pushing forward. It'll happen!

What kind of work do you do?

John

amulford · March 2004

Good deal. I know alot about being unemployed, and IT SUCKS. Being a union pipefitter, as soon as I step onto a job I begin to work myself out of a job. I get laid off, and have to get another job.

Luckily, I am in a line of work that CANNOT be outsourced, so I don't worry too much about my long term future.

I'm glad to hear of your good fortune, good luck.

Anthony

stevew14 · March 2004

I'm a digital prepress operator. I review customer's files and prepare them so they'll print correctly. I was part of an in-house printing/graphics department for all those years with a big energy company, but like so many other in-plant shops, they downsized and shut down the presses. As prepress operator, I was out the door as well. What used to be a really nice, high quality printing operation has been reduced to a copy center which provides down and dirty copying services to what remains of the staff.

I work mostly in QuarkXpress, Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat, finding problems in the files and fixing them before they get expensive.The files are trapped (touching colors are overlapped for good registration on press), and placed in the proper page layout according to which press they'll run on. Digital color proofs are made, approved by client and then the files are sent to a platesetter which spits out aluminum plates that are hung on the press. The plates will pick up the ink that will end up on paper, and so on.....maybe that's too much info, sorry.

The commercial printing world is quite different than the corporate world I was used to, but they both have their peculiarities. I guess I'm ready for the change.

Thanks for the comments guys