Things That Keep me up at Night

I am not a light sleeper. Most nights I don't remember my dreams, if I have them. And most of the time, I could pretty much sleep through a marching band. But this past week I have not really been sleeping well. I wish I could totally attribute it to the late night thunderstorms we've been having, but I know that's only part of it.

It could be from a lot of different things. There is an awful lot that has been swirling around in my head lately. But at the forefront of it all is my current state of unemployment.

I think I really took for granted the fact that I am a nurse. I assumed that with the so-called nursing shortage, HR would be banging down my door, begging me to interview. I assumed that with my six years of critical care nursing experience, I would be a top candidate for any job I applied for. And I assumed that this process would go much quicker than it has. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

I applied for three different jobs 29 days ago. I allowed one week for processing of the application, and then I started trying to contact nurse recruiters. I left messages with multiple people in HR, stating my interest in interviewing. Not one of my phone calls was returned. The next week I was on vacation, and I tried not to worry about it, telling myself that they are just busy and that they would call me soon. Nothing. As soon as I got back from vacation, I made some more phone calls, and finally got someone on the phone. The nurse recruiter seemed to have a genuine interest in me, asking me questions about myself and why I was interested in these particular jobs. He seemed confident that I would be contacted within the next couple of days for a possible interview. All last week, nothing.

So what am I supposed to think? Was he just stringing me along? Are there that many other candidates that are better than me that they are interviewing first? Or is it just a delay from red tape, paperwork, or other processes? Should I continue to be patient and wait for a phone call? Or should I be a persistent, pain in the ass? Have I been going about this all wrong? Should I have been calling from day one of submitting my application? What if I have waited all this time, and I don't even get the job? Should I go ahead and apply for other jobs, or just wait this out? And all the while, my checking account balance is slowly decreasing, my credit card bill is staring me in the face, and there are about one million things that I would like to buy for my house.

By nature, I am a very patient person. But enough is enough already! Persistent, pain in the ass, is what I will have to be. And I can be a very persistent pain in the ass when I want to be.