EXTRACT FOR
Brenda's Temp Job
(David Monroe)

Brenda had been out of work for about 6 months. She had had a series of very high-profile professional positions in various marketing fields beginning with her first job right out of university. It was nothing she had ever really planned on based on her interests when a student, but the opportunity came along and she just sort of fell into it. A lot of her jobs just out of school were in start-up type of organizations and more often than not they did not last. The newly formed companies were either shakily funded or the management in place was just not the best fit for what it took for running an organization on a day to day basis.

Early in her career, Brenda saw several of the layoffs coming and got out before they hit, or just did not get caught in the net of dismissals. However, one caught her completely off guard and she found herself, for the first time ever, with no job and not having much luck at procuring anything new in her adopted field. At the beginning of her hiatus, it was actually a feeling of freedom once she got over the initial shock. She had invested well in some local stocks and the money in those stocks was now keeping her afloat.

However, as time went on, and the money began to dwindle, Brenda began to wonder what she was to do. She had a small home with a modest mortgage, but fortunately no real other debts. As the months went by, she finally had to bite the bullet and apply for unemployment insurance which really killed her self-esteem. She had never imagined that she would be in this position, but she had to slow the bleeding of her savings. In addition to getting some supplemental money from the county while she looked for work, Brenda stopped into a temporary work agency that was near the unemployment office. It was just on a whim, but as these things often are, it was a decision that turned her life upside down.