Two jobs, or maybe one, or maybe none

Unless I land the job as the new traffic reporter for Chicago's CBS morning news team - for which I will likely apply, because why not? - it's looking like I'm close to getting a job. The question is which one.

First, there's Hinsdale Central, which would be a fantastic job to have. It would be well-worth entering the teaching profession if I was hired there, especially if I could teach statistics and discrete math again. My interview went fairly well yesterday. I can't say that it went great, but I believe I answered all of their questions in a truthful way that was well-received. I just didn't feel like I charmed them. Hopefully they're the clinical types, because I likely have a better chance for the job if they are. (And hopefully they looked past the cheesy mustache I'm currently sporting.)

Then there's the job with Riverside Publishing, a part of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. It's listed as a "test development specialist," but I'm having a hard time getting past the travel demands. I've heard to expect traveling 25% of the time to places like New York and Florida. This concept sounded exciting to me at first but now it doesn't. Who likes to fly these days? Not me. When would I have to fly? It sounds like it would not be on a regular schedule. Would I be missing more than 25% of weekends with Margie? Would I have to quit the band?

I'm quite pessimistic about wanting the job now for this reason, and also because it's new, and I'll admit, I'm not one to relish trying new things. So I tried postponing the interview until later next week, by which time I should know about the Hinsdale Central job. But the contact pressured me into meeting with them today. I'm flattered by what she said about me, but I'm going into today's interview feeling somewhat disingenuous.

If I don't want the job, why am I going? Well, because maybe I do want the job. I need to learn a lot more about it. The contact said that there's good room for promotion. If I've wanted to get into the corporate world, this could be a way. The office itself is close by. Maybe the people there are great. And traveling to new places and feeling like a jet-setter still sounds exciting.

I suppose that, in the unlikely event that I land both jobs, I could work for the publisher until late summer and switch to the teaching job. Unlike teaching, where you're possibly blacklisted if you quit during the year, you can quit at any time in the corporate world.

You know what a good interim job would be? The traffic position. I get into these "pie in the sky" situations, you see. I managed to live through the crushing news that I wouldn't be the new Cubs' PA announcer. Oh well, one shouldn't expect that organization to make the right choice, should one?

What's sad is that I spent six months studying for two actuarial exams, both of which I passed nicely, all for nothing. I wanted it to lead a possibly boring job, but one with every other possible perk. But in 2011 Chicago, I can't even get a voluntary position for such a job.

Why don't companies hire people for who they are and for what potential they have, rather than the expertise in one particular subject that they possess? Doesn't anyone want a smart man?