How I Spent The Forty-Second Week Of The Rest Of My Life

Twitter has turned out to be invaluable in my job search.  Recently an account called @ResumeBear started to follow me.  Of course I followed it back since it was linked to an incredible site.  While resumebear.com is, of course trying to sell resume tracking software, they have some of the best Web 2.0 marketing that I've seen.  Their blogs (every company out there reading this, if you don't have a blog on your website, you are seriously missing out and I doubt you're an expert in your field) are the most useful things that I've read.

Today, for example, I read one that said that you should apply to any job posting within the first two weeks since that's when most companies look to fill vacancies.

I wish that I had known that about six months ago.  Or two weeks ago.  Yesterday I applied for a job that was supposed to close on October 31.  It was already filled.  While this upset me a bit (since it was a job I was qualified for), it was my own fault.  So in the month of November, I'm going to attempt to stay current.  Even while I'm in New York City next week for a couple of days (my sister is there), I'm still going to apply for jobs within two weeks of when they post.

And tomorrow and Monday I have a bunch of jobs that expire on October 31 that I have to apply for.  If they haven't already filled them.

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In other news, my brother and I got the apartment in Rockville.  I will be living off the Twinbrook Stop and the commute I have to any job will be cut in less than half.  This should be a great kick in the pants to get out and really get full-time work.  That and having to pay rent again.

I can't wait.  Living in Virginia wore thin about two months ago.  Even travelling to the city will be cheaper on the occasions when I want to do so.

Here's how I "spent" last week:

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18 (Free)

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19 ($157.61)

• 10:32 a.m. CVS/Pharmacy - $4.69.  After putting if off for a long time, I decided to visit Occupy D.C.  I didn't want to go empty handed so I bought the people some water like they had requested on Twitter.
• 10:46 a.m. OccupyDC - Free. A friend of mine was doing a teach-in on using Twitter in social movements.  That was the real reason I was there.  But I have to say I was surprised at how clean the D.C. campsite was after all that I had heard about the New York City one.
• 11:33 a.m. FedEx Kinko's - $3.67.  Immediately after leaving Occupy D.C., I went to do stuff to try to find a job.  Though the two had nothing to do with each other.  I just needed to print out my resume.
• 2:16 p.m. Roti Mediterranean Grill - $8.52.  Since I was in the area, I needed to stop by Roti.  If I was an active participant, this might be a bit too much of a ritual.
• 3:35 p.m. Budget Rental Car - $140.73.  While I didn't absolutely need to rent a car to drop off paperwork in Maryland and go to a job fair, it certainly made life easier.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20 ($13.35)

• 11:55 a.m. Westfield Wheaton Shopping Center - $3.81.  As odd as it was to wear a suit in a mall, this job fair was worth it.  I dropped my resume off with two temp agencies and a couple of other places.  It was mostly retail though.
• 1:53 p.m. Capital One Bank - Free.  I had to pick up cashier's checks to drop off at the apartment complex and I had no idea there was a Capital One Bank basically next door to the complex.  Another reason I love my new location.
• 2:43 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  For the first time, this really felt like my local Starbucks.  I sat in here with a new hope that things were going to look up.
• 7:32 p.m. Pizza Hut - $5.54.  Trying to drive from Maryland to Virginia turned out to be a huge adventure.  By the time I got halfway, I had to go to the bathroom and I was hungry.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21 ($54.93)

• 11:58 a.m. FedEx Kinko's - $3.42.  The good news was that I had a car to fax in the documentation that I needed to for the apartment complex in Rockville in Woodbridge.
• 12:24 p.m. Taco Bell - $6.99.  I couldn't rent a car without eating at Taco Bell at least once.
• 1:17 p.m. Extra Space Storage - Free.  Even if it was a slightly excess expense, I definitely got good use out of my rental car.  I put every unnecessary box that I had in storage.
• 1:38 p.m. Parkway Express - $23.18.  Had I not gotten lost the day before, I probably could have gotten away for much cheaper refilling my rental car.
• 2:06 p.m. Budget Rental Car - Free.  I wasn't as upset to return my car this time since I didn't get the Kia Soul again.  I didn't particularly like the Ford I was given.
• 3:34 p.m. Starbucks - $4.00.  While I can't say that I hate the Woodbridge Starbucks, it's definitely not my favorite either.  It's always pretty noisy.
• 6:10 p.m. Qdoba Mexican Grill - $5.97.  There was another predicted Rapture and so I wanted my last meal (even if I didn't believe in it) to be here.
• 6:39 p.m. CVS/pharmacy - $11.37.  I was exhausted after driving from Maryland to Virginia again.  I just wanted to be able to chill the next day.  So I bought everything I was out of.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22 (Free)

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23 ($13.37)

• 8:40 p.m. Walgreens - $8.69.  It turned out that I was out of more than I thought I was.  Oops.  It wouldn't be a Sunday without running out of something.
• 9:01 p.m. 7-Eleven - $4.68.  And, of course, I couldn't go to Walgreens without getting burritos on the way home.  And a Slurpee since I was starting to get a bit of a sore throat.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 24 ($20.17)

• 12:20 p.m. IKEA - $5.74.  Even though they had gotten rid of their Monday special on pasta, I got macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes.  They didn't hurt my throat.
• 1:42 p.m. FedEx Kinko's - $14.43.  Faxes are so expensive from this FedEx.  Yet another reason to want to leave Virginia.  But this was the last bit of paperwork we needed to send to the complex.

So that's $258.89.  Pretty expensive but hopefully all worth it.  I have a feeling that once I get to Maryland, I'll actually want to leave the house less because I can.  But hopefully the applications that I fill out in the 19 days (yes, I'm counting them) before I move to Rockville will pan out now that I have this new advice site at my disposal.  My total money spent since I've been unemployed is $8603.60.