An Acquiring Mind

One of my (nicer) dates submitted my resume last week for an "acquisitions" position at one of the premium cable stations. The job would have been right up my alley (buying TV shows), but they received more than 100 applications, and several of those applicants had related experience in television. So, even with a connection, it's unlikely I will be interviewed. Too bad because it also would have been an easy commute!

My friend K. brought this article from the San Diego Tribune to my attention. The full article can be found on their website, but here is the short version:

Real estate, construction woes slow Calif. job growth to a crawl

By Dean Calbreath
STAFF WRITER

July 21, 2007

Hiring in California was hit by a bad case of June gloom last month as the effects of the real estate slowdown seeped into the job market, according to data released yesterday by the California Employment Development Department.

Statewide, employers added only 400 jobs in June, after adjusting for seasonal fluctuations, compared with a jump of 29,700 in June 2006. Sharp declines in home construction and financial activity – such as mortgage lending – put a crimp in last month's job growth.

San Diego County reported the slowest year-over-year job growth since January 1994, when the county was crawling out of a recession.

In the past year, local employers added 1,600 jobs to their payrolls – one-tenth of the growth rate from June 2005-06. If government jobs are taken out of the equation, the county has lost 1,500 jobs since June 2006.

“Things are looking pretty bad,” said Alan Gin, an economist at the University of San Diego. “It's conceivable in the next couple months that we might see negative job growth – a fall in jobs.”

Unemployment in San Diego jumped from 4.2 percent in May to 4.6 percent in June, just a fraction below the unadjusted national rate of 4.7 percent, but still well below California's unadjusted rate of 5.2 percent. It was San Diego's highest unemployment rate in two years.

Economists pinned the blame for slow job growth on the local housing market. In the past year, home sales declined 24 percent, meaning less work for mortgage and real estate brokers. And applications for residential-construction permits have declined in nine of the past 10 months, meaning less work for builders.

“It really is the real estate market that's causing this,” said Kelly Cunningham, an economist at the San Diego Institute for Policy Research. “Even though job growth in the visitors industry and the professional business sector is still positive, we're losing as many jobs as we are adding.”

For the past year, Cunningham and Gin have been predicting that San Diego would be able to survive the real estate slowdown without falling into a recession. Now they say they are not sure.

“If this trend keeps going on for the next couple months, it would suggest that we might have a recession before the end of the year,” Cunningham said. “Not a big recession, but a slight one.”

Cunningham added that if the number of real estate foreclosures begins to increase substantially – which he doesn't think will happen – a recession could be more severe.

For both the county and California, many of the job losses over the past year were involved in real estate.

Statewide, construction companies shed 5,300 workers last month, contributing to a loss of 12,000 jobs since June 2006. Financial activities – including mortgage and real estate brokerages – lost 5,700 jobs in June, or 7,000 from year to year.

Those job losses were countered by hiring at hotels and restaurants, educational and health services, and professional and business services, resulting in a net increase of 400 jobs.

Economists note that the total may be revised upward, which has happened several times in recent months. And they say it is impossible to judge the strength of the economy by a month's worth of hiring.

“Any one month is not worrisome,” said Steve Levy, who heads the Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy in Palo Alto. “But if we kept losing jobs at this rate, it would be worrisome. For one thing, slower job growth could play havoc with the state budget next year and the year after, with fewer taxes coming in.”

Kei Matsuda, an economist for Union Bank of California, said some areas in the state are doing better than others.

“For annual job growth, Northern California is accelerating noticeably because of the tech comeback,” Matsuda said. “Tech-related consulting and research and development is very strong, which is why Silicon Valley and the San Francisco metropolitan area have been gaining jobs.”

On the other hand, San Diego, Los Angeles and the Central Valley are all slowing sharply, he said. Locally, the job growth rate slowed from 1.4 percent during the first half of 2006 to 0.6 percent during the first half of this year.

Another Week, Another Roller Coaster

I found out yesterday that the current tenants in my condo in Austin will be moving out in May. I'd be lying if I said I'm not sorely tempted by the prospect of throwing in the towel on L.A. and moving back. But, despite what appear to be my dismal prospects here, it does seem too soon to make that decision. There's some hidden parties up in those hills, and I'd like to attend a couple before splitting town!

I do think my decision to leave Austin and try something new was a sound one, but I'm just not sure I can build a life here, for reasons out of my control.

In terms of my workplace, I've taken a look up the ladder, and my desire to move upward has been, uh, greatly tempered (oh, how interesting this blog could be if I didn't feel I had to edit myself). Not to mention that almost everyone over the age of thirty appears hitched. Right now I'm just trying to cope with my current position, hoping it will at least cover the bills and that I can stick with it long enough to give L.A. a real chance. I love the short commute and the hours (I work a later shift) and have been pretty successful at walking into the job in the mornings with a good attitude. But then I encounter the chaos and find myself in yet another impossible, no-win situation, and I want to run screaming from the building! I'm still in the temp period and so could decide it just isn't working out, but I'd like it to work, for a while anyway. At least now I'm starting to have conversations with coworkers.

A different temp agency called me this week, dangling an interview for another temp-to-perm job. It was at a higher level, but the compensation, although slightly better, wasn't enough for me to take the risk. In truth, none of these jobs pay livable wages for a city this expensive. I've learned the hard way not to think of the people who work for employment agencies as job counselors. They are more like used car salesman, and if you're lucky, you'll end up with something you like reasonably well that has a minimum of problems. I've also seen some friendly personalities turn on a dime when I didn't behave a certain way. Enough said.

I went to the dentist this week and, big surprise, he told me I've been grinding my teeth at night.

I'm nearly finished with "The Royal Nonesuch" and recommend it highly. The author started a "naming" company while in Los Angeles, and I appreciated his insight on that type of business, as I temped for a "branding" company a few months ago. I definitely don't have the personality to work in marketing, although my skills would lead me there.

I know that if I go back to Austin I'll just be facing another long hard job search. I've started running the numbers and wondering whether if I moved back, found a roommate, and sold my car, I could survive on a part-time job at the Starbucks at 45th and Lamar (for the health insurance). Sadly, I think there's no way to get off the treadmill, if you want to eat.

I'm becoming happier and happier that I don't have kids!

TGIF, Part IV

I didn't have a chance this week to update the blog until now. The new job has consumed all my time and energy, and since I don't want to go into details about my workplace on here, I'm in a conundrum about what to write.

In general terms, the job is (probably) a great opportunity but also very challenging. The company is growing like gangbusters, and the majority of the employees have been there less than six months. A lot of the administrative employees arrived through placement agencies as the company is still building an HR department. The place has the atmosphere of a mid-nineties dot com startup-- lots of young people and lots of chaos.

Since I'm new to L.A. it seems like a good place for me to have landed. I will meet scores of people and learn quite a bit about the city, since the company is investing in and developing properties in key areas all over town, involving everyone from investors to tenants to community leaders to the Mayor and city council. As the front desk person I'm on the bottom rung of the ladder, and yet I need to know who everyone is in the company and what they do, so I'm on a very steep learning curve. I'm learning all about leasing, investment development and analysis, construction, property management, and so on, while at the same time learning how to run the office.

On the other hand, I feel like my life here is going to get smaller, as I won't have much energy left over for other adventures around the city. I have extremely mixed feelings about that but know it was time to plant myself somewhere to give my life in L.A. focus. My blog might get awfully boring though.

Although I'm interested in urban development, I'm also unsure if this is a good match careerwise for me and whether I have the motivation to work my way up into a better position.

I had several bouts of insomnia this week and a third round of a stomach virus I contracted in December, which I'm beginning to think is stress related after all. It's been disorienting to start over in an entirely new city and an entirely new industry as "the girl who answers the phone." I'm being trained by someone right out of college. I feel as if all my former work and life experience never happened. To heighten matters, by the time I get home from working and the gym, it's too late to call friends in Austin, so I haven't been able to talk over any of this with old friends.

Instead, I drive past posters for Entourage on my way to and from the office in Hollywood, and then I come home and watch Entourage on HBO. Or E! News.

Bird in Hand

I accepted the Hollywood Boulevard gig with the urban development company on Friday and start Monday. It's temp to perm, so there will be some time for me to try it out before going permanent.

Of course, several hours after I accepted the job, the Entertainment Placement Agency called to find out if I was still available. First time I've heard from them since going in there. As expected, I did not score an interview with The Big Important Talent Agency, and I do not know what else the agency was calling about, as I had to tell them I was no longer available.

Oh well, "a bird in the hand..."

Alice in Jobsearchland, Part II

I got firm today about two things: no more driving to Santa Monica and the desire to find permanent work. It worked on both counts, with a temp job offer in WeHo and a job interview at Hollywood and Highland.

Santa Monica is not that far away in terms of mileage (maybe 8 miles?) but it takes at least 40 minutes in the morning and at least 1 hour in the evening to travel to and fro from this area of town.

I would advise anyone considering a move here without a job to locate yourself in Santa Monica. Seems like a healthy job market there (thus the traffic).

Alice in Jobsearchland

I'm taking a break from job searching today to deal with my befuddlement. I wrote again to what I will call the "Personal Assistant Company" with an updated resume, and as usual they sent back an enthusiastic e-mail, but then... nothing. I made some connections recently who insisted they could help, but their response to my resume this week was to "try Craigslist" or "The Personal Assistant Company." I feel like Alice in Wonderland, going around in circles.

One of my agencies asked me to e-mail them with jobs from their website that I am interested in, so I picked out some general office/ admin stuff, but then they didn't respond to my e-mail. Huh? What does no response mean? I have no idea.

I had a talk last night with my roommate and she was railing about the complete incompetents she has to deal with at one of her gigs, and how they all have high-level jobs, and how employees who lie and cut corners are rewarded. Might I just add that the woman at the Entertainment Placement Agency, the one who said I had no relevant skills, had to call her assistant into her office to send an e-mail for her.

I found a discussion board of frustrated L.A. jobseekers this morning that validates some of what I have been experiencing. Basically, that in L.A. it is all "who you know," that "incompetence is rewarded," and that "mediocrity is preferred" on the job market. Not that I'm getting bitter.

Link to discussion:

city-data.com/forum/los-angeles/42784-anyone-else-relocate-east-coast

The Monday Blues

Had a nice, social weekend. Dinner and drinks Friday night with a friend in the neighborhood and then an all-day pool party in Sherman Oaks on Saturday. It’s fashion week here, so on Sunday morning I walked by a model lying in the driveway next door having her shots taken.

Found out today that the cruiseline is not going to fund one of the positions I interviewed for and they chose someone else for the other one. Luckily I put some other job search strategies in motion over the weekend (including some networking, L.A. style, in the hot tub at the party) since I predicted that might happen.

I’m trying not to fret (yet).

Temping Reconsidered, Part II

I had a discussion with my current temp agency today and it was suggested I look over their permanent job offerings and let them know what interests me.

There are several decent-paying admin jobs in my immediate area of town, from Hollywood to WeHo to Beverly Hills to Century City. So I am now switching strategies and hopefully can line up more interviews for permanent positions in the case I don’t get a job offer from the cruiseline. Only one of the positions is entertainment-related, but, other than trying one more time with the personal assistant agency, I no longer have the stomach for the entertainment industry run around, at least not right now.

I realized after posting yesterday that May is just around the corner—only about six weeks away. I think that is way too soon for making a decision about returning to Austin, so hopefully a decent-enough job will come through by then, one that will allow me to spend at least another year or two evaluating Los Angeles.

Temping Reconsidered

After my interview on Monday, I debated about calling in to the temp agencies or taking the rest of the week off, with the hopes that I would get a job offer soon. Out of guilt that I was wasting the week and that I needed to reestablish contact with two of my agencies, I called into one on Monday, but they didn’t get back to me with any work. So, after more internal debate, I called into another one on Tuesday.

It’s always a gamble. The agency may call with something appealing, or they may call with something that you don’t want to do, and then if you say no, there’s a mark against you.

This time I gave them my geographic parameters, and of course they called immediately the following day with an assignment outside of those parameters but with a promise that it would be a “fun” job in the “publishing industry” doing administrative work “for a trade show.”

So with visions of myself blowing up balloons for the booth of a book publisher, I acquiesced. It didn’t help my decision-making powers that the agency had woken me up and needed someone within the next two hours.

As it turns out, the company is a publisher of a couple of trade journals and the job is strictly data entry. Three full days of repetitive, mind-numbing data entry. I have to be here at eight, which means I have to get up by 6 a.m., since of course the job is again near Santa Monica. At least this time I get a real computer chair.

Needless to say, I’m in a black, black mood. They have already asked if I could come back next week, and I, of course, said no. Thank god I had the presence of mind to tell the temp agency that I was only available through Friday.

Oddly, at lunch today I ran into one of the few people I know in Los Angeles.

Anyway, I am planning to take next week off to regroup. I already did a review of my finances last night, and I’m not yet in a place where this type of soul-destroying work is financially necessary.

I’m really hoping that the travel industry job comes through. I liked the people, the offices, the hours, and the location, and the job sounds interesting. It’ll be tough to live on half the income I was making in Austin when it is so much more expensive here, but I’ll just have to hope for the best in terms of future job prospects with the company.

As I see it, if that job doesn’t work out, I have some combination of the following options:

1) Telling the temp agencies that I am now primarily interested in interviewing for permanent jobs and will only accept one-day temp assignments (out of fear of getting stuck in another unbearable situation).

2) Revisiting the personal assistant placement agency with an updated resume.

3) Picking a date at which I end the career exploration and submit an application for Los Angeles Public Library (which isn’t a sure thing, as they have a preference for Spanish or Asian language speakers, and there’s no guarantee they would have an opening within what I would consider a reasonable commuting distance). I have to keep in mind the city training that would be involved and the probable six months without benefits and decide whether I want to go down that path here. Perhaps a part-time librarian gig would be the answer.

4) Making a decision by May 1st that I will return to Austin and telling my real estate agent not to lease my place after the current tenants move out in June. This would be motivated by the desire to reduce my “burn rate,” since my living expenses in Austin were 1/3 of what they are here. I would then just make the most of my last two months here and would travel to Santa Barbara, Laguna Beach, etc. I’d like to stick it out a couple of years, though, so I hope the job situation isn’t bad enough to drive me to retreating that soon.

Recommended Reading, Part II

I'm in the midst of reading a book called "New York & Los Angeles," edited by David Halle. As the title suggests, the book compares and contrasts the two cities, with the idea that "New York and Los Angeles are the two American cities with the strongest claims to global city status" (Gladstone and Fainstein, p. 79).

As a sidenote, I once read that Houston might become the most important city in America, due to the rising importance of oil. But now that Halliburton is relocating to the Middle East...

Anyway, this section from the book was enlightening to me:

Unlike the economies of paradigmatic American industrial metropolises such as Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburgh, which were based on "Fordist," mass production industries churning out automobilies, steel, machinery, and domestic appliances, the economy of Los Angeles is composed of "enormously diverse, flexible production sectors, including financial and business services, high-technology industries, and various craft, fashion and cultural product industries ranging from clothing and jewelry to motion pictures and music recording" (Halle, p. 14).

"Flexible" is the key word here, the one connected to my job search difficulties. A lot of work here is contract and thus based on connections. As a newcomer, that's a problem. For a former city employee, it's confusing.

Another interesting bit:

New York and Los Angeles are the premier cities/ metropolitan areas for immigration in America, in a close race with each other to rank first in terms of their numbers of immigrants (Sabagh and Bozorgmehr, p. 99).

Someone wrote into my blog that I was writing only about "white" Los Angeles, but I explained that I must have been giving a "vanilla" impression because I was trying not to divulge too many details about the people I was meeting here. In actuality, I have been hanging out with several East Asians, Asians, and Latinos (both foreign and American born) as well as African Americans. I have also been steeped in Jewish culture here. My acquaintances may tend to be professionals (regardless of ethnic background), but just going to the grocery store or the gym here is a true experience in "cultural diversity."

The Beleagured Temp

Exhausting day yesterday. Filled out all the applications and tests at the entertainment placement agency and while doing so my cell phone kept ringing with other possible temp assignments and job interviews. Finally I was asked to step outside in the hallway to take the calls.

After looking over my resume I was told by the entertainment agency that I had no applicable experience and that asking for a minimum annual salary in the mid-thirties (and I had swallowed my pride writing that down) was an outrageous expectation for the entertainment industry. Yet in the same breath they found a position at a Big Important Talent Agency and called them extolling my virtues.

Afterwards I had to hustle down to Santa Monica for an afternoon temp job at an investment company. I was the receptionist, and it was one of those stressful positions where I felt the roof would cave in if I dropped someone's call. Then I had another dinner date.

I was absolutely beat by the time I got home. I was told I would need a suit for the interview with the talent agency (if it happens), and I need one for another interview this week anyway, so I planned to go suit shopping today. Woke up this morning with a headache and an agency calling me with a one-day job. I told them I couldn't do it and they definitely sounded disappointed.

This is getting difficult.