I'm pleased to report that Job Hunt 2011-12 is offically OVER and (even better!) that I have a good full-time (yay!!) university position in Paris starting this September! I'm 100% relieved to no longer have to attend job interviews, send out resumes and wait breathlessly for job decisions. The wait is really the worst and I had butterflies in my stomach every morning when I cranked up the old computer to check the old email to see if there were any decisions in my inbox. And I'm also so so grateful for practical details of my new job, like the fact that I'll have a fixed monthly salary and paid vacation next year! (With private language schools like the one where I currently work, these are NOT luxuries that they offer their woefully underpaid and exploited staff). I'm also delighted that I won't have to change the dates of my American vacation from mid-August to mid-September since the French academic year begins at the end of September.
Unfortunately, although next year should be great, I WILL have to go through the job hunting process again next spring, since my job is only a 1-year position, but I'll have another year of university experience, hopefully some new contacts and the place where I'll work is the largest uni in the Parisian region, so I naively hope that this means that they have lots of available jobs each year... I was also suprised by how many full-time jobs I saw advertised and how many interviews I was invited to, so I feel optimistic for next year. And next spring seems faraway now.
Now that this major life hurdle has been cleared, I can think about other goals for next year, besides repeating Must Find Better Job. Despite the obnoxiousness that is the metro, people in crowds, how neglected my apartment building is, etc., I'm so glad to be staying in Paris. That job I mentioned in Scandinavia? It was in Stavanger, Norway. (Google/wikipedia at will). What I can tell you about it: 3rd largest city in Norway and the oil capital of the country. And dark and cold in the winter.
I honestly thought that if it came down to another year in my current job or a better more stable position even if it were in Norway, I'd take Norway. But felt a little desperate about it, like it wasn't really much of a choice-- like when you have to decide between 2 presidential candadates, and it comes down to the worst and the not quite as bad. I'd still love to visit Norway, but I'm pleased that my final options didn't come down to these 2 possibilities only, as I'd feared.
This year in Paris should be a very different experience from last year, thanks to better pay and financial stability (i.e., the SAME salary every month!) I'm really excited about the possibility of traveling (since it's not something I can afford at the moment) and I already have a list of places I want to go! I took 1 trip all last year to Strasbourg for the weekend and it was ONLY possible because my lovely friends knew I couldn't swing both train fare and a hotel, so they paid for the hotel.
Anways, now that the job situation is taken care of and I should be able to afford both trains and hotels next year, I can move on to some other questions. Like what do I want out of next year in the city of light? Since I love list making and goal setting, (they make me feel so organised and in control), indulge me here.
Professional goals for next year, in no particular order:
-Prep excellent classes for next year!
-Work some extra vacataire hours on the side (at another university where I interviewed but didn't get the job of my dreams). This would be in online distance learning and I'd like to get some experience in this area since it's up and coming.
-Plan some career moves. I attended a TESOL workshop yesterday about career development and decided that what I'd ultimately like to do is be Ken Wilson. Which if you're not an English Language Teaching geek, means more specifically, write/edit ELT textbooks. I decided that I want to have a job in this field in 5 years (since I'm sure you need 10 years of teaching experience) so my deadline is June 18, 2016. Why not send CVs to the ELT companies next year when I'm job hunting, but I imagine that you'd need more than 5 years of teaching experience. I chose my 5 year goal b/c in 5 years, I'll have 10 years of teaching experience.
And some more fun goal setting...
Personal goals for next year:
-Little running goal: run a 5K on a Delaware beach the day of my 33rd (gulp) birthday. I think this would be a lovely way to spend that birthday.
-Big running goal: train for and run the Paris half marathon in March 2012! I plan to join a marathon training group in Sept/oct when their season starts and I'm already on their contact list.
-Continue to work on Spanish and take a class with the Mairie de Paris, as well as keep up my language exchange with a Spanish professor. Hope to place into the advanced beginner level and finish the year with an A2 level (elementary).
-Try to make this blog a little more focused and organised. With different tabs (um, however you do that!!) for running, health (like receipes and also management of a metabolic problem that I have) and funny stories about France and ELT teaching. Maybe these subjects are too varied, and I'll have to figure out the best way to organise them, but I think it's better to have 1 well-organised blog instead of devoting a different blog to each subtopic... I'd also like to get a digital camera so that I can post photos.
Let me just reiterate that it's really a pleasure to be able to move on and think about other things for next year, like blog organisation instead of job hunting!
What are your goals for next year?
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