Job hunting blues

Day three of scanning help wanteds on the internet... On the one hand I really appreciate being able to look at what is available and where on line, and even potentially email my resume off to them, but on the other it takes a bit away from the personal touch, in that there are some jobs I have questions on, and don't want to waste either my time or potential employers' time by just mailing in the resume and hoping for the best... Most are "no phone calls will be taken", or worse, there are no phone numbers even listed; most don't list a salary or salary range, and, many don't indicate clearly what shifts they are looking to hire for. There are some I would be highly qualified for, but they don't indicate what areas (locales) one would be working in (e.g. community outreach workers, family foster care case managers, etc.) where there will obviously be travelling/driving involved, and I don't know this area I live in well at all, let alone St. Louis and it's surrounding suburbs. Now if it were Minneapolis or St. Paul, that would be another story! And with gas prices being what they are, I am not sure if it is a good idea to apply for them or not! (I was telling a girlfriend yesterday that if I did take one of those types of job I would probably need to upgrade my cell phone to a blackberry or something so I have access to mapquest at my fingertips, or some sort of GPS system... another expense I don't need right now, although it would be fun to have...)

I was telling another friend and former co-worker who is also job hunting that this job search feels a lot like being in a beauty pagent or a blind date: you know what you have to offer, but it is a crapshoot if they see it too and want to even give you a chance! There are jobs out there I can do--there is a residential counselor job open at a treatment center that I am fully qualified to do, but it starts at $9 an hour, doesn't require a college degree, let alone my being an internship and final thesis away from a master's degree, but that would be almost insulting to start at after where I have been and what my experience is. And I really don't want to work primarily evenings anymore (or worse, straight overnights, which is what is available for most hospitals too)! I know I got spoiled working on salary as an admin staff: I liked being able to choose what holidays I worked (and I generally worked many of them, taking off the Sunday before them or other days to get a long weekend out of it), and I enjoyed having a quantity of vacation time I could use for travel or being home with the kids. I accept that I need to start at the bottom again, but man, there has to be some compromise in there that utilizes my skills and talents without my having to give up having a life! I don't mind shift work, nor do I mind working every other weekend; I don't even mind working some holidays! I just want to be able to participate in my new life as well as work without sacrificing everything to a job. Bingo had to spend 6 years of my not being home evenings to do things will him, oversee homework on a daily basis, or attend early/midweek functions with him and I don't want to continue that pattern now. I especially want to be here to be a part of my new family's life and not an adjunct to it. And then there are the jobs I *could* do, if I already had my master's degree finished... That would be ideal, but it isn't done yet, so no use crying about it... It will all come in time. I am tenacious that way. And I have only been seriously looking for work since Monday--not worth getting worked up over it yet. There is something out there for me I can do and do well, that will meet the needs of my family. I just have to have faith, and maybe a really good map of the St Louis/IL border area....