Here We Go Again

It wasn't all that long ago, now that I think about it, but it seems like a lifetime has passed between then and now.

I have written previously about what Dr. Suess referred to as the most useless of places: the waiting place. For a full year I was stuck there, waiting for a job at Proctor and Gamble to come through. I filled out their application and completed their online questionnaire. I waited two months to hear back from them, then went to and passed their two hours worth of tests. Another month or two passed and I was interviewed. A week later, I was informed that I'd be placed in the hiring pool, where my name would stay for up to one year. If a need was there, I would be called.

A year passed. That call never came.

It was a year that I wasted, personally and professionally speaking. I was maniacal about checking my email, badgering others in the pool (I knew of two in my same predicament) if they had heard anything. Rumors floated around about the company adding 40 jobs within a month or 60 within a year.

Nobody actually knew anything.

All I knew was that P&G was my lottery ticket. People who work there retire in their fifties. It's the kind of money that can change a life, especially for the patriarch of a struggling family of seven.

My year was up last April. In June, I lost my job at the car dealership I had worked at for the past six years. Since then I have raised my kids and looked for work that hasn't been found.

A month ago, I got an email.

Proctor and Gamble was hiring again, it said, and they had extended a special early offer to those of us who had run out of time in their pool. We would be the first group invited to apply again.

So, once again, I applied and then I completed their online questionnaire. I heard nothing back from them, not even a confirmation that they received my assessment. Not even a thanks but no thanks letter. Days into weeks into a month passed. P&G is great at leaving you twisting in wind, it would appear.

At quarter past seven tonight, I got another email. It didn't even talk about the process to this point; only directed me to see the attachment for instructions on how to schedule the test.

Once again, I'll chase the job. It's not that I necessarily even want the job at all. I love being able to raise my own kids instead of trying to find a sitter and having them raised by a stranger. But I also like the idea of getting siding on the house, getting new windows, maybe even renovating the kitchen. I like the idea of being a family that has enough money to tell my children "yes" instead of "maybe someday."

At the same time, I'm ever hopeful that my role with the network will become something more than a hobby. There are several indicators that such a dream could be reality within a matter of months, if all goes well. Imagine being able to work from home and make a decent living without having to waste a 30 minute commute or drop the kids at the sitter's house.

So, of course what will happen is that I'll wind up having to choose one over the other; it's always the way these things happen. It's like when you're single and no woman will give you the time of day, then, as soon as you're seeing someone, there are suddenly three hotties that are trying to catch your eye.

The situation will hopefully resolve itself and I'll wind up landing a job with one of the two companies. Given the speed with which P&G has moved in the past, we are still months away from anything happening there, if it ever does. Unfortunately, it's the same timetable for the network, I think.

Until then, I'll make myself comfortable, enjoy my kids, and try not to drive myself crazy wondering when, or if, I'll land one of my two potential life-changing jobs.

Sooner or later it has to be my turn to win, right?