Job activity seems to have picked up a bit lately. Learned of a few dead-ends today but something new also that I'm excited about.

First, the dead-ends....

There was one contract job I applied for thru a recruiter with a toolmaker here in Connecticut, but I was told today they passed on me because they wanted more "creative" writing samples. I had sent more technical writing samples given its manufacturing. Go figure. I have a ton of creative samples online on my Coroflot page, which is shown at top of my resume, but I guess they didn't bother to look. I decided to let it lie.

There was another contract job through a different recruiter with an in vitro/fertility company, but I learned today they had a problem with funding, which was based on some sort of grant, for the position so for now it's a no-go. Not a huge loss since they were only paying $20/hr.

The perm job I had an interview for last Monday is still up in the air as he is traveling.

But today one of the recruiters came back to me with another contract job with Yale School of Management, writing and editing for a few months. This sounds most interesting to me of all of them. Pay is $30/hr.

I often see writing jobs at Yale but have never gotten a response when I sent a resume; maybe having done some contract work for a few months would be enough to break the ice and pave the way for more. It also would look nice to have an Ivy League on my resume.

New Haven is a lengthier drive, probably an hour with traffic, but it would only be for about 3 months so I think I could deal with it.

If I got that job and assuming I'd start around Feb. 1, it would be just in the nick of time since my benefits run out about 3 benefit checks from now.

UPDATE: Ok, there's one more possibility...I applied for a writer job for a remodeling and renovation company in NY state. This job would be easy for me becus I've done so much real estate writing about construction and design trends and so on. I assumed it was some big company. I got a reply back from the company saying thanks, but we were looking for someone local. I replied back that while I'm in CT, it's a commutable distance (well, barely, at 65 minutes, more than I've said in the past I wanted to drive) and she said ok, i'll let you know and I assumed I wouldn't hear back from them becus maybe they meant more local than 50 minutes.

Later in the day she asked me via email if i could be available for a phone interview tomorrow and I said yes, so I think we're good for 10 a.m.

However, I took some time to review their website and it looks like just one guy with a fairly blah website. So I'm wondering, how in the world could he afford to pay a full-time writer? Granted, they're only looking for someone with 1 year of experience so I am way over-qualified, but even then, my check of salary.com tells me that an entry-level writer in that part of NY should pay about $50K, which would be enough for my needs. I just can't imagine this guy could afford to pay that though, plus benefits. Maybe that's not what he has in mind. The ad specified "full time" and referenced a "growing marketing department."

So I'll be real curious to find out.

In the meantime, I turned in my latest assignment to the higher education website a day early because a nor'easter has arrived, the winds are picking up and we may lose power later today or tonight with strong wind gusts. So I wanted to make sure she got the project on time.

Update on the SafeTrack program. My 3-month tracking period finally ends Jan. 26, 3 days from now. Seems like it was forever. Right now I'm held steady at a 17% discount, which should be applied to my account with 24 to 48 hours, and a refund check will be issued! So that would a savings of $153.