Translated into the job search, that puts Farmer on the laptop for four or five hours just after his stepson catches the school bus at 6:30 a.m.
“I stop when my battery dies,” he said, “or when the words start to blur together and I can’t read anymore.”
He has kept up that pace for more than two years. With an even keel, he recalls the applications he has filed and printed — sometimes half a dozen a day, including repeat inquiries to highly coveted employers.
On Thursday, Oct. 20, without the slightest tinge of excitement in his voice — the mood he has trained himself to maintain — Farmer announced that a staffing agency had called about an interview. The temporary forklift driving position — with a chance to become permanent — was in Mt. Juliet, 45 minutes from home, and offered a late shift running until 11 p.m.
Mindful of gas prices and his wife’s preference that he work days, Farmer kept calm. He cut short that day’s search.
Jack of many trades
Farmer, a lifelong resident of Wilson County, has tried everything from car sales to construction. He worked for Toshiba almost nine years, was laid off four months in 2006, then worked a different full-time job until July 2008. He has worked temporary jobs since.
“My unemployment (payments) are exhausted, so I’m just looking for a job,” he said.
Unemployment is familiar to the family: Farmer’s wife, Mary Anne, went two years without a job before landing a position in medical insurance billing. Unlike her husband’s computer process, she described her job search three years earlier as “old-fashioned,” with in-person resume deliveries.
Farmer handled his morning interview on Oct. 21 as he did others.
“I had good body language and eye contact. She seemed interested,” he said. “I didn’t really get my hopes up.”
Celebrate successes
Going into the weekend, he said it was time to recharge. The Farmers observe a “no computers” rule on weekends. Because they’ve cut expenses, they rarely go to movies or restaurants.
“We do some kind of game night to keep everybody’s mind off what was going on,” Mary Anne said. “We try not to talk about job searches.”
Scouting also is at the family’s core. Joseph Farmer trained to be a leader and organizes troop programs as his eighth-grader, Nathaniel, approaches the rank of Eagle Scout.
Being successful at things other than looking for work is important to maintaining confidence, said life coach Corinna Bowers of Chapel Hill, Tenn.
“Folks that are hitting the streets, looking for jobs, often their feelings of success are few and far between,” she said. “Be successful at something else and acknowledge that.”
Cautious optimism
When Farmer returned to his search Oct. 24, he was interrupted by a call from his mother, who needed help with a locked car. It was after 3 p.m. when his phone rang with a job offer.
The forklift job. Day shift. A chance for it to become permanent.
Farmer waited for his wife to come home, then put on a sly act, answering “sorta, kinda” to his wife’s question about the call. But it wasn’t a joke, and the distribution company meant business, too, asking Farmer to arrive for orientation at 6 a.m.
He zipped through training and is already working full days.
Farmer still speaks of the job with caution, as it could be months before he learns whether it will become permanent.
