OK... so I know this is way, way long. I understand if you don't feel like ready my life story.
Writing helps me think. I did this as much to lay things out for myself as anything. But, since I took the time to put it down, figured I'd post it anyway.
I've been self employed for the last 10 years. I've been doing QuickBooks consulting, small business bookkeeping, and resale - buying stuff at auctions estate sales, etc. then selling on eBay and Craigslist.
I got into accounting by accident. In no way am I an accountant type. I was a stay at home dad while my wife, an airline pilot, went back to work after our daughter was born. When our daughter started pre-k, I called my CPA and asked him if he had any small business clients looking for part time help. Ultimately the CPA hired me to do basic accounting - data entry, bank recs. After a couple of years, I had enough skills to hire myself out at a much higher rate and did. It was great when our daughter was little, but still very much "not my thing."
Resale used to be great. Buy something at Goodwill for $5, that might sell for $100 on eBay. Buy a bike for $20. Clean it, tune it, sell it for $150-$200 on Craigslist. Over time, more and more people started doing the same thing and the competition for good used stuff became fierce (I've seen shoving matches when a cart full of new stuff came out at Goodwill). Thrift stores figured out they were underpricing stuff and began significantly raising prices. Meanwhile, more people discovered they could sell their own stuff on Craigslist and Facebook. Now, instead of $20, a decent bike at Goodwill will be priced at $60-$80 while the prices on Craigslist have dropped because so many are for sale. This same pattern goes for electronics, jewelry, and a variety of household items I used to be able to count on to make a profit.
Now our daughter is only 4 months from her 16th birthday and is learning to drive. Realistically, it'll be next school year before she'll be driving herself to school. Due to her JROTC commitment, we have to drop her off at 6am so she can't take the bus in the mornings.
My wife is still flying with a random travel schedule. Her schedule varies from week to week and month to month. Generally she's gone 3-4 days each week.
So over the past couple of weeks, I've applied for a few jobs. I think I've sent out 3 or 4 resumes total. Out of those I've had two interviews. The first response resulted in two phone interviews, but no offer.
This morning I received an offer for a job that I'm having trouble warming up too. It's basically a work from home on the phone gig helping people sort out the elder care system. At least that's how it's billed. Reality seems to be that it's a high volume, home based call center job where you're making as many as 100 phone calls/day trying to get middle aged folks with elderly parents to schedule tours at assisted living facilities. It's really a sales job, base plus commission, where they claim "a few" people make 90K, but most are closer to $50K with full benefits. But... it's from home. No commute. Schedule isn't great since it would be 11am - 7:30pm Sunday through Thursday.
Now I'm faced with the choice of taking the work from home job with a later than I'd like schedule (I'd see our daughter about an hour/day at most) or pass and continue looking. I guess reality is that a rush hour commute home from central Phoenix probably would only get me home slightly sooner.
Just don't know if I can sit (or stand) on the phone all day. The recipients of the calls have just requested help/info, so it's not cold calling. The reviews of the company suggest that most people find the service valuable.
The hard part about this is I feel like I'm giving up my entrepreneurial roots. Having been self employed one way or another for 18 of the last 20 years, it's hard to sign up for a job. BUT I currently don't have anything else lined up. I'd feel way better if the offer for the counselor position had shown up after I'd been working at the job search for a couple of months.
I'm 51 and based on my history of self employment (considered UNemployment by some companies), feel a little flattered by any positive response to my resume.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Thanks!