November 19th, 2006 by GoldenAppleCorp
This is another one of GAC’s unpublished (and unfinished) posts. I’m not sure when it was written, but judging by the first line, and the last line, it would have been 5 or so weeks ago. I wanted to hear her voice again on a quiet morning.
-AT
The countdown has officially begun. I have almost exactly 2 months left of school. That means I need to find my ass a J-O-B.
Right now, I’m seriously considering Home Depot. It’s still retail, which I’m familiar and comfortable with, but I would be working one-on-one with customers, hopefully designing kitchens and baths. I’ve heard excellent things about Hizzle Dizzle, such as good hourly wages, commission (in certain sales areas), company stock options, etc. After 2 years, Home Depot would pay for me to become a National Kitchen & Bath certified designer, which means I could make decent scratch.
But that’s the soft option. That’s a small return for a small investment. Safe and comfortable, sure, but I’m not going to break any glass ceilings there.
Another option (and one I’m currently persuing) is residential design, working directly with the home owner. I’m still waffling on whether or not this is something I really want to do. It’s extremely scary to go out on one’s own, to trust yourself to make smart and popular decisions. This job can be made even more difficult, or impossible, if you don’t like your client.
School has, unfortunately, only quasi-prepared me to fend for myself in the business world. Sure, I can draft a floor plan, and I can follow codes, and I can tell you about various types of flooring and where they are best used, but I will be coming out of school with no idea of how to use this knowledge.
For instance, the hiring process. It would be wonderful to learn how to write a winning resume, how to knock ‘em dead at interviews, how much money my services are worth in the real world and how to schmooze a client.
Once I secure a client, how do I write up a contract? What classify as billable hours? How do I calculate an estimate?
I would also like to know a few go-to guys. The client I’m working with right now has expressed interest in having her room painted.
November 19th, 2006 at 8:42 am
I’m keeping vigil with you as long as you need this relief. I can grieve for her without crying if I’m not reading this, but I can’t keep from crying when I read your writings. Jake, I can’t even imagine what you are going through and what you have to face ahead of you. It hits me in waves, and I imagine it’s way over your head. You have to face this alone, I know, because there isn’t anything that can give you relief, except maybe being a father.
If you ever think you need anything from me, I’d drop everything to be with you, just so you can yell at me, or rail at me, or whatever. I love you, Jacob.
November 19th, 2006 at 8:56 am
I could have helped her with the Human Resources side and told her all about the interviewing process, knocking ‘em dead at interviews (something tells me she would have done that naturally) and I could have told her what kind of salaries to expect….it’s what I do. But I could have never told her the most important things that we are finding out now….how much she was worth to you, her personal friends, her kids and her family……Wow, what an inspiring story almost like fiction, THEN you snapback that’s its so far removed fiction - this is life at it’s finest and at it’s hardest, at it’s highest and it’s lowest all entwined in one story. She was a shining star in a sky all to her own, had a leading role in a movie and maybe didn’t even know it, she’s captured the hearts of innumerable numbers and was maybe never asked for her autograph or stalked by the paparazzi….BJ Kilpatrick famous to many!