Thursday, April 23, 2009

Leave no door unopened...

OK. So it started with babysitting. Then the dad, C--, referred me to his neighbors across the street, who were looking for an assistant, so he told me about them and we connected.

The woman, J--, has her own thriving voice-over business. She and her Guy also have a blues band and have made seven albums. He has a music business on the side, and he's currently working with a songwriter to do custom music for a Bar Mitzvah. They have a recording studio in the basement. She has branched out into managing huge workplace surveys for multinational companies, and is getting ready to finish one now -- she runs the email Help Desk, which is what I'm helping with. I take emails from employees looking for their password, for example (in a variety of languages) look up the information, and send back an approved scripted reply (in the appropriate language).

She needs help with her invoicing, managing work and files, helping record talent - in short, everything, and she thinks she wants me to help with it all. I may also be able to do voice-overs myself. It's chaotic but kind of fun - I bike two blocks to their GORGEOUS house, where they ply me with snacks and their cats love to be petted, and we go to work. Today I also helped them take out two storm windows. It's crazy but fun. I'd be paid as a subcontractor, so the downside is that I'll pay more in taxes (we also need to figure out pay; right now it's not quite what I need), but the upside is that there is potential to be part of a lucrative venture. So the verdict is still out, but I'm seeing how it goes.

Then tonight I met with a guy who has an organic apple orchard and is looking for someone part-time to do his bookkeeping and organize his files, etc.. He makes no money on it yet but loves it; his money-making business is running a consulting firm that works for FDIC -- they close banks. So yeah, his business is booming. We talked for over and hour, and he said, "You know, I don't know whether you'd work better on the farm side or the consulting side. I think you'd be good in Operations - I think we're looking for someone right now."

I'd be part of a bank-closing team, and the way he described it, it's kind of cool. The banks that failed get shut down, the FDIC takes over, and the employees become FDIC employees. Except for the managers, of course; being the ones that drove the bank into the ground, they get fired immediately.

"I want that job," I said. "I want to walk into a room full of managers dressed in a sharp suit, and say..."

"Gentlemen, I'll need your IDs, your keys, and the combination to the safe," Farm Guy said.

"Oh man. Yep; I'd do it," I said.

The cool thing is that each closing can take 3-6 months, and the team sent to close it travels to the bank's city and lives there during that time, in a hotel. It's a great way to see other cities, right? Except, as I told him, I can't travel right now because of my pets.

"It's only a matter of time before we have some locally," he said.

Oh yeah; he says it pays really good money. He also seems like a normal sort of guy.

So we left on an up note; I think he really liked me. I told him to be sure and mull me over.

So I've gone from no job to several potential radically different career opportunities. It's kind of exciting.

4 comments:

SP said...

I hope Willis Corp. is the first one you'll shut down.

Anonymous said...

Cool news! How did you "meet" this apple orchard guy?
kb

JC said...

Willis is insurance. this is banks. But I can try, just on principle.

JC said...

I met the apple guy via a Craigslist posting in the Help Wanted section. PT Bookkeeper. I figured what the hell. I hope he calls me back; he seems really sharp. He's also HOT, which is kind of beside the point, given that he's married, but it's a nice change to talk to a guy who's smart (CPA, owns own consulting firm), passionate about organics and preserving the natural food chain, and attractive to boot. You don't see that a lot and, like a nice car, if I can't have the pleasure of driving it myself, I can enjoy watching it as it cruises down the street. Most Midwestern males I've met are kind of stupid, and they all lose their hair by 45. No edge whatsoever.