After years of menial jobs in fast food, working around childcare, and learning to type, I finally landed a temp job with a large office furniture manufacturer. After six months, the company hired me as a data entry clerk. I gained experience and got raises, and even headed the social committee for 5 years.

After 13 years on the job, and being told I was "not Customer Service" material, my attitude changed. When the company downsized, I was out the door.

It was a shock. I hadn't been job-hunting for 13 years and I thought I'd retire from that company. Fortunately, the company had a fantastic severance package and I was given 13 weeks severance pay and full benefits for the 13 weeks. I didn't see the economy in that, seeing that they were paying me full pay and benefits and not having me work there, but I packed up my stuff and went home to cry.

I felt worthless. I felt like a failure. I felt betrayed. My employer kept all the people who licked boots, and got rid of me because I wouldn't lie. I was angry. And I was lost. It was the first time since my 27-year-old son was born that I was totally unemployed.

I filed for unemployment the same week, and for 13 weeks, I had a ton of money coming in. I wrote up a new resume, and sent it to some companies that interested me, but I heard nothing back.

Pennsylvania has a program through Careerlink that you must attend in order to keep your unemployment benefits. I was irritated that I had to go, but I figured if it meant keeping the $300 for that week, I could sit through a two-hour meeting. So, I begrudgingly went.

It was at that meeting I discovered that PA would pay for a semester at college. I got the details, signed up for community college, and they paid the tuition. I only had to pay the activity fees and the books. Careerlink also showed me how to look for, and apply for state jobs. So, taking their advice, I applied for the Intermittent Intake Interviewer job and took the Civil Service test.

The college classes got me 12 more credits toward a degree, but I was no closer to a job when my severance ran out. I was getting desperate with 2 weeks of unemployment benefits left when I got a letter telling me to report for work at the local UC call center.
I scraped by until that first paycheck because I'd foolishly wasted my severance pay.

I've been with the job for 6 years now and I love it, but I learned several things during my unemployment and learned much more since then.

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