On Getting a Job

For fifteen years, I worked as a claims adjuster. It was an exciting job; a tedious job; a super stressful job; and a job that paid very, very well.

As an adjuster, you had to be one part investigator, one part negotiator, one part inspector, one part hand holder, one part diplomat, one part legal eagle, one part report writer, one part contract specialist, well, you get the idea. You had to be a LOT of things in one. And everyone depended on you for everything from checks to rental cars to hotels to explanations to decisions to just someone to vent at because every customer that called me had something horrible happen to them. Car accidents, dog bites, fires, thefts, water leaks, slip and falls, deaths, bee stings, cows, you name it, I’ve had a claim for it.

The stress of this job comes at you from all angles and even if you have handled something really well, there is someone (a claimant, a body shop, a manager) who will step right up and say you handled it poorly. And that was just how it was. For fifteen years.

So, long about year fourteen and a half, I had had enough. Like enough. It had been a regular Tuesday and I had just gotten off the phone with a claimant who wanted me to know that I had handled their claim so well, they wanted to switch to our insurance. Now, that’s a good day, right?

Well, no. Because right after I hung up, the agent for the insured who was at fault called me and berated me for ten minutes straight. He was mean and vicious and called me incompetent because I had found our customer at fault. Never mind that our customer had ran a red light when the other driver had a green arrow. Never mind that two independent witnesses gave their statements to the police. Never mind that our customer was cited for several violations. Never mind.

When I hung up with that call I said out loud. “Enough.” It was involuntary, but that was the switch. Enough was enough. My stress induced rashes, stomach aches, headaches, and plain old exhaustion were visible signs that my body had had enough, too.

I had been praying for another job and as I prayed at that moment, I felt the nudging to just quit. Over the next nine months or so, I saved and saved and put things in to place to quit without another job in place. Because, that was the way I felt the Lord was leading me to go. It scared me and I certainly didn’t understand, but faith has to come with action, and I knew somehow that He would take care of me.

When the time came, I told my dear co-worker and we tried to figure out the best time for me to put in my notice. The dilemma was real. We were so busy that both our pendings (open active files) were in the 90’s. I implored her to take at least one vacation before I left, because they would work her even harder once I did leave.

Looking back, I remember the absolute relief and giddiness I felt when I called my demon boss and told him I was leaving. Relief. Joy.  Exhaustion.

Freedom.

That was two years and two months and one day ago.

And today, I was hired for a fantastic position with a company that by all accounts looks to be solid and a place I could be with for the next twenty or so years.

I actually interviewed for this job back in August and I did absolutely great until they gave me a test at the end of the interview. Now, it was 3pm and I had not eaten since 7am, which for me, is a bad, bad combo. I don’t do well without food in my system and the first thing that goes is my mind. The test had math on it and, well, I was an English major for a reason. I was completely embarrassed and wrote a little note that I must have gotten too used to the computer doing my calculations for me and that I was clearly rusty.

When I didn’t get the job, I asked why and yes, it was because I bombed the math.

I was crushed.

Then, in December, they called and wanted to interview me again. I was over the moon! But, the next day they called and said that the position was in Phoenix and asked if I could move in the next two weeks. I couldn’t, no matter how much I wanted to make it work.

So, last Friday I saw they had just posted for the position here in Tucson. I emailed the man I had interviewed with and today, he called and offered me the position. No interview. No test. And for more money than they offered in August.

When I hung up the phone I shouted in absolute joy, then collapsed in a heap of tears.

The last two years have been wonderful, truly wonderful. They have been scary as I have watched my money dwindle down to nothing and have had to make the decision to take money out of my IRA. I have cut my own hair, gone without any new clothes or shoes, and have been unable to support others as I normally would. My tithes have been a pittance. My house is clear evidence that I have had no income from the peeling paint on the fascia to the pool that is in dire need of a new Kreepy.

Through it all though, I have had peace. I knew that quitting was the absolute right thing to do. It was necessary. I wanted a different life and I went to the One who could give it to me. Trusting Him was excruciating at times. I thought I would be out of work for 6 months, tops.

 

But, God is just so, so, so, so, good.

I think of everything I’ve done, and everything I didn’t do. It was everything and nothing like I thought it would be. It was thrilling and lonely and brave.

And I don’t regret a minute of it.