Prayer request

[KittyCatCurledUp]

No, not exactly. He's a postdoctoral fellow (doing research for a professor), and also does sessional teaching. The university can't afford to fund another proper position, so they just pay him by the course. So he ends up earning a lot less than what a professor would, even though he's doing pretty much the same job and has the same qualifications.

From what we've read, this seems to be the trend in academia (here in Canada, at least), because universities just don't have the kind of funding that they used to. The situation is so bad that my husband and others in his situation just have to take what they can get and be thankful for it.

My husband got his PhD in 2003, so he's more than ready for something more permanent, but there's just nothing out there. When there are permanent positions available, the competition for them is huge.

If nothing turns up within the next couple of years, we might have to consider leaving Canada for the sake of my husband's career. But I don't want to do that!

This sounds like what adjuncting is in the US -- mainly because the colleges would prefer not to pay medical benefits. In city college, some professors commuted between 2 or 3 different jobs. (This was the case in the city system as I understand it -- I am not sure how private universities work. There seem to be less adjuncts where I am now, as opposed to the city system where I got my BA. And boy were the profs vocal about it, understandably so.)

 

[KittyCatCurledUp]

What are their respective fields of study, Orchard and Rebekkah?

 

[Rebekka]

What are their respective fields of study, Orchard and Rebekkah?

My husband's is Roman law and Latin.

 

[Amélie Unbound]

This sounds like what adjuncting is in the US -- mainly because the colleges would prefer not to pay medical benefits. In city college, some professors commuted between 2 or 3 different jobs. (This was the case in the city system as I understand it -- I am not sure how private universities work. There seem to be less adjuncts where I am now, as opposed to the city system where I got my BA. And boy were the profs vocal about it, understandably so.)

We do have that title here -- "adjunct professor" -- but my husband hasn't been given that title at his current job.

Fortunately, here in Canada, the government covers our health insurance, so we're good as far as that's concerned. There are other benefits though, like dental insurance and pension contributions, that the university doesn't want to give. And most importantly, they don't want to pay my husband a professor's salary. The head of the department was telling my husband that they do actually need another faculty member, but the money is just not there.

What are their respective fields of study, Orchard and Rebekkah?

Physics.

 

[snoochface]

Good grief, physics, Roman law, and Latin. Y'all are married to some smart guys!

 

[Amélie Unbound]

Good grief, physics, Roman law, and Latin. Y'all are married to some smart guys!

Yeah, my husband's smart, but he's very humble about it.

 

[KittyCatCurledUp]

I'm English and Medieval lit. I can sympathize with the job issues. I've been taking a leave of absence to try to find work (we moved to the suburbs and can't afford my commute to school right now for one thing), and it has been frustrating. I've had 3 temp agencies tell me point blank that they can't help me, and haven't had any bites on more permanent jobs. I know MS office, am a good writer -- I have the skills but I can't even get a clerical position b/c I haven't had experience in an office setting in the past year. It is very frustrating. Even with all my schooling, I am apparently completely underqualified. *sigh*

 

[fuzzymel]

Guys sorry to derail. I just wanted to put another prayer request in. Its for my family but I dont really want to go into it right now (nothing life or death serious or anything like that). Sorry I am not more specific but as it affects family rather than me directly and I promised not to say anything at the moment but it is playing on my mind a lot.

Oh and also for my cat Barney who eats material. The vet said he has a death wish. He ate another one of his cat toys yesterday and threw up last night. I am tired today because that happened at midnight. I was up at 5am making sure he was ok. By 7am he was hungry again so I knew he must have thrown up what he ate. Not had a good day today.

 

[KittyCatCurledUp]

*praying for fuzzymel and Barney!*

I hope he is ok, and that your family issues are resolved!! Does the vet have any suggestions?

 

[fuzzymel]

Nope he says its just not normal for a cat. Some do it for attention but with Barney you can be giving him attention and he will do it. He chewed paper at the vets right in front of him so he knows how bad the situation is.

He said he would read up on it. Another of our cats has her annual booster next month so he will probably let us know what he has been able to find out about it.

 

[KittyCatCurledUp]

Nope he says its just not normal for a cat. Some do it for attention but with Barney you can be giving him attention and he will do it. He chewed paper at the vets right in front of him so he knows how bad the situation is.

He said he would read up on it. Another of our cats has her annual booster next month so he will probably let us know what he has been able to find out about it.

I hope he can find something out. Barney just started doing this out of the blue?

 

[Amélie Unbound]

Mel, I'm praying for your family and for Barney!

And you're not derailing. We're here to pray for each other's concerns, whatever they may be!

 

[Amélie Unbound]

I'm English and Medieval lit. I can sympathize with the job issues. I've been taking a leave of absence to try to find work (we moved to the suburbs and can't afford my commute to school right now for one thing), and it has been frustrating. I've had 3 temp agencies tell me point blank that they can't help me, and haven't had any bites on more permanent jobs. I know MS office, am a good writer -- I have the skills but I can't even get a clerical position b/c I haven't had experience in an office setting in the past year. It is very frustrating. Even with all my schooling, I am apparently completely underqualified. *sigh*

I sympathize! I'll pray for a good job for you!

 

[Rebekka]

I'm praying for your family and for poor Barney, fuzzymel!

KittyCatCurledUp, praying for a good job for you! That's so cool that you did medieval literature!

 

[KittyCatCurledUp]

Thanks for praying guys. I may, *may* have a bite. A temp agency let me come into interview "with the proviso that we may not be able to help you." But once I got there they brought in their legal training consultant, who may enroll me in her class to learn key software, at which point I would be eligible to work with law school interns at major firms. "They are willing to overlook a lack of legal background if you know the software, and most lawyers have a liberal arts background like you do."

It's funny dh and I always talked about legal as a viable option for me, so if I really like the experience, who knows. So hopefully the agency will live up to their promises and I can get some good work going. Thanks again for the prayers!!

 

[Rebekka]

Thanks for praying guys. I may, *may* have a bite. A temp agency let me come into interview "with the proviso that we may not be able to help you." But once I got there they brought in their legal training consultant, who may enroll me in her class to learn key software, at which point I would be eligible to work with law school interns at major firms. "They are willing to overlook a lack of legal background if you know the software, and most lawyers have a liberal arts background like you do."

It's funny dh and I always talked about legal as a viable option for me, so if I really like the experience, who knows. So hopefully the agency will live up to their promises and I can get some good work going. Thanks again for the prayers!!

That's good news! I'll keep you in my prayers!

 

[desmalia]

Thanks for praying guys. I may, *may* have a bite. A temp agency let me come into interview "with the proviso that we may not be able to help you." But once I got there they brought in their legal training consultant, who may enroll me in her class to learn key software, at which point I would be eligible to work with law school interns at major firms. "They are willing to overlook a lack of legal background if you know the software, and most lawyers have a liberal arts background like you do."

It's funny dh and I always talked about legal as a viable option for me, so if I really like the experience, who knows. So hopefully the agency will live up to their promises and I can get some good work going. Thanks again for the prayers!!

That sounds very encouraging!!

 

[KittyCatCurledUp]

Thanks!! I won't actually bring in any money at first, since the program lasts 4 weeks, and my original recruiter is not quite sure if she can find me anything else in the meantime before I am finished with the program. But hey - according to the paperwork I got, it looks pretty promising afterwards. They said that most of their temps hate legal assignments, but one loved it so much she became a lawyer, so you never know.

 

[desmalia]

Legal assistants tend to make more than the rest of the administrative field. So if you enjoy it, it could be a great oportunity.

 

[snoochface]

You're sweet, Orchard, thanks for asking

Actually I would have posted something, I've just been so stressed and busy that I've been snatching moments on CF here and there, and haven't really had time to browse around too much.

Anyway, the interview went great. He met with 7 guys and had a really good feeling about everyone but 2, and still felt pretty good about those two. Today, an HR person called to tell him there was "definitely interest" and go over some details about salary, relocation, etc. They're supposed to get back to him around the end of this week, but he thinks they will make him an offer. If it's a good one, he wants to accept.

The funny thing is that while he was in CA, he took a day to visit his dad and we found out that he is going to be moving to about 10 minutes from where we'd be. He's about an hour away now. So it may be very premature still, but I'm cautiously suspecting that God is putting things in place for us to make this move.

And I am a ball of stress, heh.

I'll keep you posted, and I really appreciate all the prayers! You guys are great. That's one nice thing about the internet -- no matter where I live, I can still hang out with y'all.

Well, I have an update on our prayer request....

We found out yesterday, after two months (almost to the day) of waiting, that my husband got the job in San Diego. They made a good offer, not so great relocation package, but doable, and he's going to accept. Sometime during the first two weeks of August, he'll be starting with them.

This is and :o and and all at the same time, LOL. I'm so happy for him, and proud of him -- and I'm so stressed and freaked out by the prospect of a cross country move, I don't even know where to begin.

Thank you all for your prayers. I always felt this was going to happen, it just seemed like God was opening doors for us left and right (but slooooooowly, heh). Now, if you find a minute to say a little prayer for us to make this happen as quickly and smoothly as possible, I'd really appreciate it.

Ideally, we'll be able to move out there together, but things have to really fall into place perfectly for that to happen. Realistically, we're going to be living on opposite coasts for a while, and that really sort of terrifies me and makes my anxiety flare up.