11/05/2007

sub-employed

I´m a bit bummed right now. I´m thinking about this whole "getting a job" thing, and I won´t be able to avoid the "full time" part.

I´ve been freelancing this year, and it sucks here in Medellín. Maybe it sucks everywhere, but I have no way to compare. I was employed for a company which would send me tasks every month, they would call me with new projects and ideas and wished to get me more involved. Then, nothing. They dissappeared and I haven´t heard back. Then I started doing work for another company and now I´m waiting and waiting for them to pay. It´s been a couple of months and still no news of when payment will be.

Next year I´ll need to head out on my own once again, with the added burden that I decided to go back to school. I´ll either have to find a full time job that gives me flexibility to study in the morning (unlikely) or have to decide to go full time and stop studying (likelier). Part time jobs here in Medellín, at least for someone with no connections, are not enough to live on, much less pay tuition. Minimum wage here in Medellín is 240 USD , bus fare is .50 USD per bus, tuition at the institute is $100 and insurance is $25. That doesn´t leave much to spend on rent or food, now, does it?

So if the whole reason for coming to Colombia was to be able to live with my parents and save rent... and now that won´t be possible: does it make sense to stay here or should I head back to Costa Rica, where at least there are enough jobs to go around, and I seem to fit better with what they are looking for in employees?

I would like to believe that I could get a job that pays a lot more than minimum wage, but so far I haven´t heard back on any of the resumes I´ve sent out.

For the first time in my life, I feel unwanted and unemployable. I don´t like it one bit.

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