Pees in a Pot

In order to qualify as a part-time pharmacy technician I must first prove that I’m not likely to make off with any of the drugs for recreational purposes. It is for that reason that I found myself back at the lab where that very wet fire drill occurred earlier this week. Fortunately the weather was more welcoming than it had been on Wednesday; it’s one thing to have to evacuate a building while sitting in a chair with a tourniquet around one’s arm but it would be quite another thing to have to have the fire alarm go off while your pants are down around your ankles and you’re holding a cup full of urine.

Because my income will be so low from this job, I will continue to qualify for unemployment for the limited amount of time that I remain eligible. My state requires that I provide proof that I’ve applied for at least two jobs each week that I claim unemployment on this tier, which has not proved to be too burdensome until last week when it started getting challenging finding new places to apply to. This week I find myself backed into a corner – there were literally no new jobs posted to any place within driving distance that I hadn’t already applied to. Making my application task more daunting is the fact that I must apply for work using two different methods. That means that even though most employers want you to apply on-line, I can only use that method for one of my two required job hunts.

Most weeks I’ve managed to fulfill the non-electronic method by using word of mouth or by faxing my information rather than emailing it (some places do at least give you that option). I’ve resisted cold-calling because I do not want to ruin my chances of getting a job by failing to follow an employer’s stated instructions on how to apply, but I’ve even done a bit of that at a few independent pharmacies in the area. This week I’ve managed to get my electronic application in to a corporation that is related to, but not the same as, a corporation I’ve already applied to. They probably share job applicant resumes, but at this point I can’t be too picky. I’ve spent the afternoon today looking for more independent pharmacies in my area that I haven’t already contacted, but I’m not having a lot of luck. At this point I’m thinking I’m just going to have to mail one of my resumes out to a Big Pharma firm just to complete my job search requirements. None of them have any postings on their web sites or on any of the major job search engines at the moment, but I figure I’m not really hurting my chances by blindly sending out a resume to them since they’d be unlikely to hire me based on the pharmacy tech qualifications anyhow. I’m already dreading next week’s job hunt before I start it; unless a lot of new postings go up this weekend finding anything to apply to will be very challenging.

Still haven’t heard anything about the position at Big City Veterinary University. I figure if there was good news Professor Mentor would have called me after this afternoon’s meeting, but I refuse to give up all hope just yet.