Employment update

Turns out that second interview didn't go well. I knew it had gone strangely, but I found out Monday that I hadn't gotten the job. In a way, that was a relief, because that last minute job potential had been distracting me from creating a business proposal to put before the Self-Employment Assistance program. The Canadian government provides the opportunity for unemployed people to seek self-employment, and the government is sometimes willing to extend unemployment benefits; providing you can put forth a business proposal that makes sense.

During the first week in January, I had attended a three-day course to learn how to prepare a business plan. Normally, when the government puts on this course, it runs from Monday through Wednesday, then you have an entire day to work on the plan before attending a question-period appointment. Because of the New Year falling on a weekend, the first Monday in January was a statutory holiday. The course was presented from Tuesday through Thursday, with no extra preparation day before the Friday question period. And it was during this period that I was also attending the job interview.

Anyway, I worked through the weekend on the proposal and presented it to my advisor on Tuesday. I was told that a decision would be made on Thursday, but was also informed that my conservative sales projections might work against me during the Thursday meeting.

About 1/2 hour ago, I got word that my proposal had been conditionally accepted. The program will monitor me closely to see whether I am achieving my revenue targets, and if not, they could still decide to withdraw their support after a three month trial period. But for the moment, the decision has been made to fund my efforts, and I'll be starting a four-week preparation seminar next Monday.

Here we go!