When Will My Hot Streak Turn into a J-O-B?!
Posted by: ashute on: February 8, 2010
- In: Job Hunt
- 2 Comments
When does a hot streak turn in to a job? I mean seriously. After the massive disappointment of the research position that I did not get a few weeks (or was it last week?) ago I kept my head up, as I said I would, and applied, e-mailed, and faxed.
That work has paid off, as I have had five interviews scheduled within the last two weeks. That’s exciting! Is it because I started off a new year or is it just that it’s my time? Whatever it is I am not overly excited, because we have seen where that has gotten me.
I have read plenty of blogs and have attended plenty of webinars throughout my unemployment and know plenty of skills, points, and questions to ask to make me stand-out in the interview process for example:
Dress Well: Dress appropriately for the business (organization) you are interviewing with. I’m not going to wear a three piece suite to interview with a small Christian based non-profit- maybe black pants and a nice sweater and heels. Now, if I do go to interview with a corporation then the suite is good.
Bring Copies: Copies of resumes, writing samples, reports, references, etc. The latest interview I had was with three people. I had three extra copies just in case. The director had a copy, but the other two prospective bosses did not have copies. Bazinga! They had copies. Interview before this one I brought reports to show a prospective research position even though they didn’t ask me to bring them.
Know the Company: Look at the website, see if they have a facebook or twitter account and see if they have any upcoming events that you can discuss. Don’t get too gritty though, they don’t want stalkersunnless the job title is “Official Company Stalker.” They will love that you have taken interest in the company.
Ask Questions: After learning about the company you’re sure to have questions. Is the company growing? Is this a new position? What is the company culture? Casual Friday? Happy Hour? Just kidding about the Happy Hour business.
Write Thank-You Notes: Thank them for the time. Many people see hundreds of people for one position. Others are making special time for you, especially if it is for a small organization. I remember setting up interviews for my last employer for a very specific time. If the prospective employee could not make the interview they wouldn’t get the interview. It’s that simple. Time is money people! Thank them for the time!
So, when in the world will my time turn in to money? I mean, obviously someone has noticed me. My cover letter and resume are getting noticed. And I know what to do. Just answer me this world, when will this interview hot streak turn into a job?
Happy New Year to Me!
Posted by: ashute on: February 1, 2010
Everyone goes through slumps. My slumpy time of the year is late September to February. Since roughly 1995 to 2010 crappy things have happened to me during those months.
October 1, 1995 a classmate died in a car accident. Every October 1st I make sure I wear my seat belt extra tight. The fifth grader inside me hasn’t died apparently. In late September 1996 my maternal grandmother died. She was amazing. I miss her even today. I love my paternal grandmother but she doesn’t make me laugh like my maternal grandmother did, even if I was 12 when she died. In mid October 2002, around homecoming my senior year, a close friend of a friend died on her way back from a basketball game. Late October 2004 another close friend of a friend died while training for track season close to campus.
By 2008 I thought I had gotten rid of the curse that was October. Not so much. In late October 2008, the Voter Registration Fraud scandal broke. And I lost my job. And then, October 31, 2009, the same thing happened again. What’s the deal with October? Seriously? Can a girl catch a break?
So, needless to say it would take a girl like me (I am 100% ENFJ) to recover from these tragedies. The holidays never were that grand and fun for me. Of course there are always presents and fun, but in this slump of the late year it really isn’t as fantastic as some people expect it to be. What I look forward to is my own personal new year. My own personal new year starts on February 1st, hopefully without fireworks.
I say hopefully because 5 years ago they did. 5 years ago today something happened that I never thought would happen again. When I was little (I mean very little) I was diagnosed with pediatric epilepsy. Many people grow out of their epilepsy, and I did. It never crossed my mind to think that it could happen again. However, after a long hiatus it made an appearance at college. And it was scary. After a trip to the hospital, a bruised shoulder and a horrible clenched jaw I will remain on anticonvulsant medicine for the rest of my life to make sure that these seizures don’t make another appearance.
In 2006, a year after the seizure happened, I threw myself a New Year’s celebration including hats, cupcakes and movies. It was a new me and a new year. So, instead of starting the year on January 1 I choose to start the year on February 1st. It doesn’t matter to me. And it shouldn’t matter to you. If you somehow seem to hit a slump every single year and hit a high note every single year at another point make that your new year. Celebrate and celebrate big.
Please RSVP: My Jobless Pity Party
Posted by: ashute on: January 29, 2010
I had several great interviews for an excellent educational research position earlier this month. I trudged down to the office in inclement weather (for Texas…it was rainy and in the 50s), paid to park and curled my hair. If you know me the curling of the hair put it over the top. I believed the interviews went well. My future co-workers complimented my writing style, my data collection, and asked questions about my personal life as if I had already accepted the position. However, since it was an academic position they were taking their time to find the perfect candidate. I wasn’t too freaked out about that. I continued to look for other options with this one in my back pocket.
I woke up this morning (actually it was afternoon…it was almost noon) and checked my e-mail with fingers crossed that I may have received e-mails asking to set up interviews for resumes I had sent out earlier this week. No dice on that end. However, there was an automatically generated e-mail from my back pocket job saying the position was filled and it didn’t have my name next to it. It was a sinking feeling. I was totally bummed. It’s one of those bummed out feelings that makes you want to go to the refrigerator to get the closest thing that resembles ice cream…and finish the whole container.
And then it hit me. Now I understand why people stop looking for work. It just seems impossible some days. Just down right impossible. No matter what you do, no matter how stellar your resume, no matter how amazing your hair looks or how awesome your interview answers are, or even how genuine your thank you note is. There’s always that one person out there who is going to be better.
Now, I think I’m just throwing myself a pity party today because I really wanted that job…but it just gets me down. I will continue to send out those resumes, continue to send out genuine thank you notes and continue to network. I just now understand how people are one day part of the unemployment numbers and the next day not. Discontent, dissatisfaction and pity parties. It’s always something. Today it was the automatically generated e-mail.
My BFF (James O’Keefe) is in Trouble!
Posted by: ashute on: January 26, 2010
- In: Tangents
- 3 Comments
Well, James O’Keefe…I’m still waiting for my paycheck from you. But, I guess I’m going to wait quite some time for that. It appears my friend who is responsible for my joblessness, may, himself be in quite a bit of trouble. And I am laughing hard. I mean so hard that I think my neighbors across the street heard me when I read the story from the New Orleans Times Picayune.
James O’Keefe, as we all know, is one of my best friends. The guy, for all intensive purposes, caused me to lose my job my “uncovering” the inner workings of my former organization. So, it took me by no surprise to see that my new bestie is accused of aiding and abetting wiretapping the office of moderate leaning Democrat Mary Landrieu.
While some people hail Mr. O’Keefe as a conservative hero, I am hailing him as an idiot (along with his friends who he appeared with in court). There is an art to gotcha journalism and you, sir, have not learned it (maybe it’s genetic…). And, when you get out of jail in 10 years I will still be waiting for my paycheck.
Oh and P.S. I updated my resume for everyone. Happy day!
My Proclamation: Unemployment Is Still Too High
Posted by: ashute on: January 19, 2010
Jobs Fairs, in my opinion are a big waste of time. They are an excuse for the Human Resources department to get out of the office, set up a pretty table, and chat for a few hours. They may talk to a few people and may pick up a handful of resumes and may even suggest a handful of people go online to apply for an open position.
However, I came across a very specific advertisement for a Job Fair last week. It advertised for 20 available positions, listed the qualifications, information about program and all the things that a smart candidate would read before they would apply for a job. I was excited. I decided to write a stellar resume, a nice cover letter and put on my Jessica Simpson heels for the day for this “Job Fair.” The advertisement said they would be conducting interviews and scheduling second interviews for selected candidates (this should have been a warning…interviews? That would take forever!)
Now, mind you, I thought a lot of people would have self selected for this job fair. I decided to take it easy yesterday morning. I arrived at 10:15 am when the flyer advertised it started at 9am and ended at 4pm. We all know how I feel about the placement in the interview process (I don’t get it). The parking lot was packed. I had no idea. There were at least 100 people already in the room waiting. Some people applied for 3-4 of the available positions and arrived at 8:45 am. They didn’t leave until 3 pm.
This is Texas. Texas. It’s not a state you hear much about when it comes to unemployment. We’re doing better than most states. The unemployment rate (not adjusted for seasonable unemployment) here is 7.9% (from the Bureau of Labor Statistics). That’s nearly 3% lower than that of Ohio (10.2% not adjusted seasonably – again Bureau of Labor and Statistics). Granted, yesterday was a Federal holiday so the company could reach many more people than usual, but this was still shocking to me. That was a ton of people!
This is my proclamation, no matter how good the news says it is, no matter how good they say it is getting or will be…there are still a lot of people without a job (and it’s not just me). So, everyone who may have been at this job fair, who is considering a job fair, sending out hundreds of resumes, keep the faith. There’s something out there. We just need to find it.
Does it Matter Where I Fall in the Interview Game?
Posted by: ashute on: January 14, 2010
In a previous blog post I wrote about the recenecy effect and how I feel it effects getting a job interview. Now, I am kind of wondering the same thing about the placement of the jobseeker in the job interviewing process. Does it matter where you fall? Whether you are the first, middle or last person your future employer interviews? Or, does it matter at all?
Throughout my job hunt I have usually fallen in the top half of interviewees. Aside from my one faux-pas (discussed in Don’t Forget to Turn Your Phone On) I am steadfastly standing by waiting for the phone to ring. When it does I set up an interview as soon as possible, unless of course, there is a Spurs game that coincides with the interview (I kid!). So, this usually puts me in the front of the line. I always ask when decisions will be made and how many more people are going to be interviewed. This usually gives me some sense of where I stand in the process.
Recently, though, I ended up as the last interview. Perhaps it was the general corporate environment, time of year (it was Christmas time), actual person interviewing, or a combination of all of the above, but I felt as though it was just a favor that I was being interviewed. Taking my seat and answering a serious of questions that could be gathered from my resume was a waste of time. They had already picked their new staff member, or so it seemed. This location was very close to home (within ten minutes) so I sent the decision maker a very polite and quick thank you note to ensure that she knew I was interested. I haven’t heard back though.
So, this gets me wondering…is there a recenency effect in the hiring process as well? Should I walk in wearing some sort of flashy outfit so they don’t forget me? Print my resume in rose smelling paper a la Elle Woods? I just don’t get it. Does anyone else have any insight on this?
Photo from: sxu.hu
Why I Lost My Job and (seriously) Who I Blame
Posted by: ashute on: January 13, 2010
This is a ballsy post. I may regret it once I hit publish. However, it’s been on my mind for some five months now and only a select few who know exactly why I am jobless know my feeling about the subject. This may not be a pretty color on me. – so, please forgive me. The subject is one, James O’Keefe and Biggovernment.com.
I chose, in the beginning of this blog to keep tight-lipped on the topic of ACORN and the issues at hand. As the topic has died down some, except for those few at BigGovernment.com and all far right winged websites and a handful of Fox News Channel reports every few weeks, I feel a bit more comfortable approaching the topic and how I feel about the organization and the “scandal.” I will not rant or rave about their coverage. This is neither the time nor the place. And I am not the person to do that.
For a quick background on why I joined the organization you can read the Non-Profit Passion.
In early September James O’Keefe and his friend, Hannah Giles, released some pretty damning footage of some of my former co-workers. I take full ownership of the subsequent videos, and will even admit to speaking and working on several projects with a few of them. It shocks and appalls me. I hate it. But, that’s not this blog entry is about. Soon after these videos were released several members of Congress announced their support in the backing of the Defund ACORN Act. This did not directly affect my position, or my grant. However, it did affect people I knew and we ran in crisis mode for some time.
This was in mid September. By mid October ACORN Housing was tangled in a web. Were they or were they not affiliated with ACORN? I still don’t officially know the answer, nor do I really care. For this reasons all relations were cut with ACORN. Shared spaces were not shared anymore – copiers were moved, coffeemakers weren’t shared, and even hellos were a bit strained. It was a sad time, as my location was particularly friendly. Others have strained relations and do not share spaces, so no sharing spaces was not an issue.
Now, this sharing of spaces is where my position comes in. My position was a shared position. I was the contact person for ACORN but I worked for ACORN Housing. If we didn’t communicate with ACORN why was I around? Yeah. Great. Awesome. Fabulous. Stellar. What the hell am I going to do now? I did busy work for a few weeks while I started to apply for other positions. However, at some point, there wasn’t anymore busy work. I guess I rock at busy work. Is that a transferable skill?
At this point, I would like to take some time to thank James O’Keefe and all the other contributors of my misery, my heartbreak, my sleepless nights, and my new found ability to call people on their bs for this opportunity. It’s quite an honor. You have no idea how much this means to me. Some people lose their great temporary grant funded position due to the end of their grant terms, loss of donations, or even downsizing. But, I, on the other hand can point to one 25 year old man who I have never met in my life, but has actually had the audacity to call me soulless. So, Mr. O’Keefe, or Ms. Giles if you happen upon this entry I’d greatly appreciate your help in finding a new job. Thanks 5317.44 times because that’s how much money you’ve cost me.
Pull a Florida: Your Criminal Record & The Job Hunt
Posted by: ashute on: January 5, 2010
There is a constant buzzing in my house, it’s the TV. And the TV is usually stuck on CNN or Fox News Channel (don’t hate!). I really cannot put my finger on what makes us a “newsy” family, but it’s always on. FNC has this great ongoing segment called On the Job Hunt.They have news segments covering jobless rates, finding a job, job tips, and all those juicy things people looking for a job already know. Nonetheless, I stopped to listen to this tidbit of information.
They were in Florida this time around and mentioned that many jobseekers today are sealing and expunging their criminal records in search of their perfect job.
This got me thinking. Especially for young job seekers –nothing can stop us. Nothing is ever going to stop us. And the first real hurdle in our lives is usually finding the post college job.
Did you think of that MIP? Speeding Ticket? That one fight you got in at the bar on 6th Street? It’s a different market; perhaps we should pull a Florida. This isn’t to say, as some of the comments have come in on the FNC website, that serious offenders should be sealing and expunging their records (here is a brief explanation of what qualifies for expungement).
That night at Mistletoe Madness, Margaritaville freshman year where your whole dorm floor got caught with alcohol and you got an MIP could be keeping you from getting your dream job. Or, you got in a fight that night. Or even several speeding tickets – but your dream job is a Case Manager and you have to have a clean driving record. You had a stellar interview and they love you. Then they run that background check. Whoops. What do you tell your once future boss? My bad, I was stupid. I just don’t know what happened.
Now what? Just keep that in mind. It’s something I didn’t even think of. It’s these types of things that slip by. Just another tiny tip in the maze that is the job hunt.
The Dream Job Versus The Job
Posted by: ashute on: December 28, 2009
One of my best friends in the whole wide world is going off to graduate school in a few weeks. Well, not so much “going off to” since the university is about 5 minutes from our mutual stomping grounds, but she will be starting school, and I will continue my job hunt. As we were talking about her classes (they sound fun and I kind of get that itch to go back….) she asked if I had applied for jobs in areas that do not appeal to me (i.e. – telemarketing, seasonal tax preparation, administrative assistant)
This got me thinking, when is it time to give up on your “dream job”, move on and look for just “the job”? I’m going on about 10 weeks of sustained unemployment. I’ve mentioned before that the average job hunt takes 6 months, that’s 26 weeks? I haven’t even hit the halfway point. How am I supposed to start really worrying about things when I haven’t even hit the official average halfway point in the job hunt? Of course there are the days where I wonder why that interviewer didn’t call back. I rocked that interview. Or wonder why I never did get a call back about that position for which I poured my soul out in my cover letter never did call me back
Here’s the thing. I went to my local workforce office today to take a typing test for two jobs. Surprise! I wasn’t the only person there. And if I had asked how long a handful of those people have been unemployed, I’m sure that at least a few of them have been unemployed longer than I have and haven’t given up looking for the “dream job.” So, no best friend who most likely will be in my same position two years from now (with a big juicy diploma and a fancy M.A. at the end of her name), I am not giving up looking for “the dream job” just to find “the job.” Well, at least not yet.
