Now you might be asking, “How is Boondockers paying for training as a displaced worker?” I applied for a professional training grant from my state and the process was daunting, confusing and frustrating. I liken it to an Olympic Event – Hurdle after hurdle after hurdle.

Hurdle #1- First, the money was not ‘broadcast’ as being available when I applied for unemployment. I only found out about the money when I was chatting with another displaced worker who happened to work with me at my former company.  As soon as I found out about the grants, I went to my local Career Center and waited, and waited, and waited and … well you get the picture. After about an hour, I spoke with an ‘intake’ advisor. I was told she would enter my information in the system and a career advisor would contact me within 10 business days.  So I waited, and waited and .. Again you get the picture. NOTE: There was a lot of waiting throughout the 3 months it took to get final approval.

Hurdle #2- When the 10 days were up and no call from the Career Advisor, I went back to the Career Center where I told a different “Intake Advisor” no one had called. No sooner than I drove out of the parking lot, I got a call from ……. Marylou the DET Adviser (DET = Dept of employment and training).

Hurdle #3 – After waiting (10 days) to talk to Marylou, she told me that she was going on vacation and there would be no one to cover for her while she was out on vacaton (10 days — which seems to be the magic number at the Career Center) . We made an appointment to meet when she was back. Her parting words were: “I guess you’re stuck with me until you get a job!” Nice huh? I sure hope I find a job quick!!!

Hurdle #4a – Once Marylou was back from vacation, she left me a message  explaining that the funds I originally submitted my proposal against were gone and it’s not necessary to meet after all.  Ahhhhh, NOPE – Marylou, we’re meeting and I would like to have my name be put on a wait list for the next set of Stimulus funds (which she told me about the first time she talked to me).

Hurdle #4b – So we meet and it was painful. Let’s just say, prepping for meetings with clients is not something Marylou knows how to do. While she read my resume, proposal and 3 job postings, I stared at her undecorated cube walls.

Hurdle #5 - Once the proposal was done, the meeting was met,  I had to wait for Marylou to go before the Training Board to see if my proposal warranted funding. About 2 weeks later (Or 10 days later), I was awarded training funds. YEY!! Ahhh, but Marylou has some really good news.  I was given more money than I applied for and would there be anymore training that would I be interested in taking…. Well, OF COURSE I WOULD!! BUT, (wait for it!!)  in order to get the additional funds,  I had to complete another training proposal! So Wash, Rinse, Repeat!!  Another 10 days, another meeting with Marylou, another training board meeting and more waiting (but not as much as the first go around) and I’m approved again! YEY!!!!

Hurdle #6 – So now that I had the grant, I had to get permission to continue to receive unemployment benefits. More paperwork, more waiting – 30 days to be exact (because heaven forbid if the TOPS unit actually worked efficiently!!) I got approved for Section 30. YEY!!! Happy, Happy! Joy, Joy!

So now I can sit back, study, learn and still collect unemployment. It’s not much but it takes the pressure of having to look for a job while I’m in training. By the way, I still am looking at job postings and such but no networking meetings!! (That’s a subject for my next post!!)

My lessons learned:

 1)      Ask for what you need and know what your needs are!

 2)      Make sure your needs are real – do your homework on what additional training is necessary for your job function and industry.

3)      Be persistent! Not overly aggressive but assertive!

4)      Be patient (Not a strong skill for me!!)

I think after all the hurdles I jumped over, I would have won a gold metal!!! I did …. It was a grant for $10,000!

PS: as of today, July 10^th, while I was waiting at unemployment I overheard the Intake Advisor say “NO MORE FUNDS”.

 (edited for clarity and format).

So join me on my journey on moving towards being a “placed” worker!  Some days will be good and some days will be bad.

Some background:

I am a project management professional and my field of expertise is process improvement and re-design.  Working as a Certified Six Sigma Green Belt in the QA space, utilizing my proven results oriented skills, I was successful in raising QA associates satisfaction from 30% to 85%.

I am a passionate, high-energy, goal-oriented, results-driven self-starting team player who achieves goals and strives for continuous improvement.

My former employer was a privately held financial services company and was impacted by the current economic situation. So I lost my job. Well, I know where the job is, they just won’t let me have it!!

I’ve been looking for opportunities, in transition (whatever euphemism you want) since February of 2009.

I’ve updated the resume several times (I’m on revision 9 of my standard resume) and I’ve lost count of the special resumes that I created based on the job I was applying for. I went to one interview (a practice one really – didn’t get to the second round of interviews) and I’ve had several phone ‘interviews.’ (screenings with inexperienced HR people)

I don’t have my PMP so I’m receiving training through my state’s Department of Employment and Training. That should finish up in August.

So while I take my training, I continue to search for opportunities. This journey has been interesting to say the least.

More to come, I am sure!