I was ecstatic for 24 hours.
My old job — from where I’d been laid off — was open, and I spent 2 ½ hours entering data the company all ready has into its website. I uploaded my resume, and then repeated it, answering the company’s questions.
It was funny — the job originally was posted as “System Tester” which was what it was called when I was hired, and then that was changed to “QA Analyst.” But everything else in the job posting remained the same.
It was a job I’d done for more than 12 years. I created tests for modified and new software, to ensure that it worked correctly, handled errors appropriately, and (sometimes) handled a large workload.
I loved that job. It’s just the right balance of logic and getting to be illogical to keep me focused. Talk about a challenge.
The last project I worked on was an online dispatch program to replace the mainframe, homegrown programming. I proved over and over that it was INCREDIBLY slow, and when I ran true performance testing, it simply faded away to nothing.
The Vice President of IT explained to me why I was wrong about that, and why it would work better on the real (not test) computers, in real time.
Okee Dokee. That’s not what the numbers say, but if you change the parameters, of course things will work differently.
The program was backed out of production within a month of when I was laid off.
There you go.
In the meantime, I searched for a full time job, and worked part time teaching Nose Work. I kept going for a couple of years, when I became homeless — still searching for a full time job, taking part time work when I could find it.
Sunday, my sister sent me a screen shot of the job posting. MY JOB! The job I LOVE! The job where I proved myself for more than 12 years!! And I applied.
And then yesterday, I received an email.
“At this time, we have decided to move forward with an individual who more closely matches the skills and qualifications required for this role.”
So much for being happy.