Salt Lake City, Utah

Not the Job for Me!

On Monday I went on an interview for a job at Aetna insurance company. The job formerly was with Magellen Behavorial Health. They used to contract for Aetna to manage their behavioral health benefits. About 2 years ago, they were bought out by Aetna, and are now Aetna employees with Aetna benefits and insurance. The interview went very well, and I learned that because I have 13 years of post-grad experience, I'd make the top of the salary range, which is about 10% more than I made before. So...based on the salary, it's the perfect job, right? Wrong. The job is a call center job where you are on the job for 8.5 hours a day, including 1/2 hr. lunch. You have to log into and out of your phone in your cubicle. You are expected to be "logged in" for 6 hours a day (logging off means every time you leave your desk for anything...potty breaks, copying, filing, etc.). I was starting to think, "this may not be the job for me". Then I got a tour and saw the sea of cubicles. Then I knew it's not the job for me.

While I was in the interview, I got a voicemail from another resume I'd sent. This one is for an on-call counselor at Sierra-Tucson drug/alcohol rehab in Tucson, Arizona. When I got home, I talked to the woman who called who was thrilled to learn that not only can I do counseling, but utilization reviews (calling insurance companies) as well. She just had to check with HR to see if she can interview me by phone, or if she'll have to wait until I get down there in October.

We're thinking that we'll continue our travel plans and land in Tucson in October and stay until April. During that time I'll do the on-call thing and Rich will get some type of job. By April we may come back to Salt Lake City for more permanant jobs, or see if we can "take the heat" of Tucson and hang out there. Who knows?

-Laura