In job limbo hell. Help me make the best of a liminal few weeks?

July 24, 2018 7:40 AM

I recently interviewed for a new job, and after a month of waiting around, I was told that I am the "chosen candidate" and will be offered the job upon an acceptable background check. The background check could take anything from two to four weeks to be completed, and then, assuming everything works out and I take the job, I'll still have to give at least two weeks notice at my current job. How can I make this next month suck as little as possible? Details inside.

-If it matters: my current job is a desk job at a library resource center, and the new job will be at a correctional library.
-I have been at the current job for eleven years, and I am so done.
-Current job involves very few tasks that need to be done on a daily basis. On top of that, summer is kind of a lull for us, so I wouldn't have a lot going on anyway. It doesn't make any sense to start any new projects at this point. Chronic lack of having anything to do has already been a big part of my dissatisfaction at this job.
-I am already putting together a packet of information for my eventual replacement and cleaning up my files to make them more comprehensible.
-I am spending some time reading up on stuff that will be useful in the new job, but I don't want to get too ahead of myself, especially before the background check comes back.

What the heck am I supposed to do with myself?! I'm chewing my leg off here.

posted by missrachael to Work & Money (8 answers total)

Best answer: Start studying a language you don’t already speak. Or learn a few phrases in languages that may be spoken by people on the facility where you will be working. Brush up your law librarian skills.
posted by matildaben at 8:06 AM on July 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

I am a hiring manager. I am not your hiring manager.

Do you have a written job offer, with a proviso that the offer is contingent on background check? And is the background check in progress?

Or do you have a verbal "you're the one that we want; we're waiting for %something," where %something has been represented as a background check in the future?

Critical distinction here, and by the way, I wouldn't let anyone background check me without a written job offer.

If it's the former, yeah, read a lot of MF, learn Klingon, whatever. (matildaben's suggestions are very good)

If it's the latter, I'd keep looking for a job. Not that they're not serious about getting it done for you, but it's just a "keep playing until the whistle blows" mentality.
posted by randomkeystrike at 8:12 AM on July 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I have a verbal statement from a bored HR person, and I went and got fingerprinted last week, so the background check is in progress.
posted by missrachael at 8:17 AM on July 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

When I was stuck in this last time, I got a weird amount of satisfaction from cleaning; really tidying up my workspace and the spaces that other use in my purview. Lysol wipes, dusting, disinfecting, vacuuming out keyboards, etc. Makes for a good summer lull activity, and has a nice effect on others you work with too.
posted by juniperesque at 8:48 AM on July 24, 2018

Not too much you can do until you have a formal written offer in hand. Until then, it's not safe to coast. Behave as if the job offer is going to somehow fall through, even though it probably won't. Keep your performance up, keep looking for other jobs, etc. It's soooooo tempting at this stage to think that you've made it and you can relax, but you haven't and you can't. Not yet. It sucks, but it's what you gotta do. Try to forget that this prospective job even exists, for now.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 9:23 AM on July 24, 2018 [4 favorites]

Take long walks outdoors. Paint something somewhere secret with some nice paints you sneak in. Hide notes in books for people to find. Make yourself a library card with a fake name... you know... Just In Case?

Find a quiet spot and call all your family members a few times each. Catch up on their lives.

www.boardgamearena.com is a great way to waste a few hours every day.

Don't let your main tasks slack to the point of firing, but your overall quality of work can safely decrease.
posted by bbqturtle at 10:38 AM on July 24, 2018

I wouldn’t coast until you actually receive the offer letter. I’ve gotten to the same point in the job process (verbal offer, checking references, show me where I’ll be sitting, etc) only to have the offer evaporate. Wait until you get the letter, sign it, send it back to HR and get confirmation of your start date.

Clean up files, document your processes, do some industry reading, and heck, keep job-searching. Just in case.
posted by Autumnheart at 5:32 PM on July 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

If you work in a larger place, this might be a good time to (subtly) make the rounds and get coffee or lunch with any coworkers that you like but don't interact with super often and maybe (again, subtly) get them in your LinkedIn network or something. This would also be a good time to indulge in max length, away-from-your-desk, reading-in-the-park-style lunch breaks. The summer lull would be a good cover for either of these things if asked.

As for while you're at your desk, assuming you're wanting a break from industry reading, going through the back archives of Dear Prudence, Etiquette Hell, Dear Abby, etc. is a good way to kill a LOT of hours. If you were looking for something a little more active, this could be a good time to go through a MOOC or online module for something not necessarily job related but something fun or interesting to you? One of my friends did a free online class about dinosaurs just for kicks and she loved it.
posted by helloimjennsco at 8:02 AM on July 25, 2018