Intellectual Poison

So I've slowly come to realize that I'm a mildly hot property in the school district where I used to used work full time. But the reasons for my relative hotness are kind of annoying and a good symptom of what's wrong with education in California in general.

I don't fully understand how the system is currently set up or even what to call my situation. But it skinnies down this, I can be hired on a contract basis to work at schools. My pay rate is set by HR and is even less than what I made last year. I do not qualify for benefits meaning no health insurance which saves everyone a huge chunk of money and puts my ass out in the wind.

Everyone benefits from this arrangement except for me. I get paid a little bit less and have no protection. I cost about half of what I used to cost to hire because of the loss of the benefits which has made me a hot property.

It is ridiculous that HR is setting my pay scale lower than it was last year. In fact, I think I'm going to ask them why this is so because it is ridiculous. I need to be making more per hour to compensate for the loss of my benefits.

I actually got in touch with HR yesterday to find out why my pay rate was lower and they investigated before letting me know that I should be, and now am, getting paid at my previous rate. Which is a nice little boost and every little bit helps. We're still not where we need to be but, because I'm one of those optimist types, I feel like we are moving in the right direction with all of our revenue irons.

But I sure would like the security of some health insurance so, uh, government types, why don't you get that universal healthcare thing sorted out and enacted, m'kay?

Labels: clusterfuck, education, employment

Today is my last day of formal employment with the school district. So far this morning there's almost no one else on campus and I'm not expecting too many people here at all today. A good day to wrap up projects and leave things in as good a shape as I can.

I thought it would be fun, as I'm wont to do, to list the top ten things I won't be missing in the rolling clusterfuck that is the educational bureaucracy in California.

1. Sandpaper disguised as toilet paper.
2. Calling my payroll rep 10 times while trying to find out about unemployment procedures, never getting through to her, leaving messages (her outgoing message requests my social security number which is abysmally stupid and dangerous) and never getting a call back.
3. Overbearing power-mad control freak office managers who have absolutely no problem screaming at staff in front of kids and parents. Well, to be honest there's just one office manager I've heard of that does this. But she seems like multiple people because she can be really nice or really just downright mean.
4. Paperwork.
5. The absolute lack of timeliness.
6. Have I mentioned the sandpaper yet?
7. Students who treat staff and faculty like they are there to serve them.
8. Curmudgeonly custodians constantly chaffing computer correctors.
9. Nightmare parking lot access irritations.
10. Parents who see schools as complicated babysitters for their poorly raised children. They pull up into the faculty parking area, drop off their kids and nearly burn rubber getting out of the parking lot.

All of this said, some of it not really explained with much detail to protect the guilty, I have enjoyed my time in the school district. The people working in the district are, by and large, dedicated, wonderful and caring people working in an industry that's treated badly by the state government with budget cuts year after year that forces districts to make horrible choices.

Labels: employment

The last week before a school break is, more or less, throwaway time for any educational processes. The children are unfocused, incredibly chatty and defiant in ways that are rather tiresome.

Well, more so than usual.

I'm having a hard time not being a cranky geek. And snapping when a kid asks a stupid question they should be able to resolve on their own if they applied even a tiny bit of effort on their part. But then, that isn't much of a change.

Some of the kids at my schools are used to having literally everything done for them. I would even believe some of these kids have their asses wiped for them given how apathetic they are to trying to do something for themselves.

You may have to pardon my crankiness. I had no coffee today and have the dual "pleasures" of a performance review this afternoon followed by a meeting with HR this early evening that will almost certainly end up in my being laid or bumped from my job. Hard to feel anything but frustrated about that eventuality.

I'm sure the rain isn't helping my mood any either.

Labels: employment

We had a good weekend with great weather, I got a good bike ride in, took a bunch of pictures, Nande got a good long run at the dog park and I even planted some tomatoes (Early Girl hybrids!). And, of course, lots of chores got worked through, lawns got mowed, laundry got processed, glue spills on the carpet got steam-vacced up, office spaces got cleaned (some). Oh yeah, I also got to gorge myself on some fan-fucking-tastic In-n-Out burgers on the way back from Pleasanton yesterday.

And I'm looking at a rather nice three day work week as the district goes into spring break mode.

But getting to the break is going to be a slog through the mud. From a mostly meaningless one year job review later today to a 2+ hour staff meeting tomorrow morning to a meeting with HR tomorrow evening to breakdown who's going to "bump" me from my job.

This bumping is a curious process. It takes away control from the school campuses and allows anyone with seniority to decide which school they want to work at. And it also means the junior site tech gets bumped, either to another school or out of the system altogether. Why yes, it does suck balls to be a junior tech. Don't get me wrong, I understand why it is set up this way but that doesn't mean I have to like it. At least not until I'm a more senior employee with bumping capability. And even so, I'd still feel like a big tool for forcing someone else into the unemployment line. Most especially now.

Not that I wouldn't do it, I've got a family to feed, bills to pay and all the rest of it. But still, the system is geared to create divisions within departments rather than a unified front. This is, I suppose a defense against the unionization aspect of education and an effective one at that.

By the way, my job review is effectively useless because there's a wage increase freeze across the entire district. With the grotesque exception of the "leadership" people who voted themselves a raise last October and then further voted to make those raises "untouchable" in the coming budget cuts. This is not leadership, this is ugly coffer-raiding before the coffers are emptied and it thoroughly disgusts me that they did it. And then they justify it with bullshit like retaining "top talent". Its crap and they know it.

So, the skinny is that I'll have a spring break to kick my job hunt into high gear as I'm pretty much expecting to get bumped out of work tomorrow night. Know anybody that needs a computer tech with public relations and marketing skills? Drop me a line.

Of course, if our Kyani starts to take off then this is all moot. The opportunity is there, it just takes a little kicking to get it started and rolling.

Labels: education, employment, work

I just got out of a budget meeting for my department. To say that I'm shocked and deeply concerned is a massive understatement. The cuts that have been passed will shred my department from just over 30 on staff to 10. Ten lonely people trying to keep more than 6000 computers and support machines up and running for more than 27000 students at 32 schools.

What the fuck do they think is going to happen?

I'll tell you what will happen. Computer labs will fall apart. Computers in classrooms will stop working. Printers will stop being usable. The digital divide will expand into a chasm. The students will get absolutely no computer time. Help Tickets will sit open for months on end because there will be two zone techs available for 32 schools.

The investment in technology will be wasted. The computers will stop being used because the teachers have neither the patience or knowledge to keep them running or to deal with even minor issues like bad logins.

No other department is facing such deep cuts to staff. No other department does as much as we do with so few people to begin with and now they are going to chop two thirds of our numbers.

To say this will cause massive damage to our ability to educate children is a ridiculous understatement. We will be doing a disservice to our kids. And, oh yeah, I'll be out of a job at the worst time in the last fifty years, that'll suck quite alot too.

Labels: budget, employment

I had a meeting with the district HR department this afternoon. I figured I was either going to get in trouble for something or I was going to get good news about my job for the fall.

I got good news about my job for the fall. Due to some sites finding extra funds for my position, the layoffs in my department were being, effectively, rescinded. Not in so many words but that's the end result. I'm not sure about the other guy in my department yet but he may also escape the chop.

The funny thing is, earlier this week my buddy at one of my schools cornered the superintendent for our zone, he used to be the principal at the school and my pal has a good relationship with him. Well, he bent the supe's ear for a while and talked me up but good.

And then, a few days later, this news hits and I'm rehired into the district. Coincidence? Maybe but I kind of doubt it.

As of right now, my contract stands at 50% time but that'll increase as other schools re-up their site tech positions and more time becomes available. I can guarantee that I'll get one more school since that's the one where my buddy works and they won't fund the position unless they get me back. Which is a pretty strong endorsement if there ever were one.

I'm really pretty happy to be able to stay despite the financial concerns. I'll get a pay bump in July and will be eligible for another on in February. More so, my benefits aren't going to change and that's really good news for my whole family as they are excellent. Some of the other perks are also pretty darned nice too. Like the fact that I can choose which school in the district I want to send my children to. Oh yeah, and they don't get to take my delicious MacBook Pro back either!

Plus, I'll be back at my main school from the start of the school year which means I'll be able to get some student projects going early.

Labels: employment, school, work

With each day that passes, I get one day closer to being retrenched again and I need to be compensating each day pushing me out the door with an effort to get another door opened.

I've been working on my materials, my resume, cover letters and the like. It isn't very much fun but I don't expect it to be fun. Hunting for a job is work, work that pays really badly but its work nonetheless.

And what have I learned from my daily and sometimes hourly perusal of job boards? That things are very tough all over and that it is most definitely an employer's market right now. I'm seeing help wanteds offering a ridiculous $15 an hour for skilled employees with master's degrees. Let me be the first to tell you that you are not going to be able to pay your bills AND have money left over to eat with at $15 an hour.

Unless you are somehow able and willing to work 80 hours a week, which I am not nor am I willing.

The good thing about this pending layoff is that I can see it coming, I can prepare and make it a stepping off point rather than a laying off point. So there's some good. And I'd be pretty hard pressed to find a job that paid less than what I'm making now so that's good too, sort of.

There isn't a whole lot of good in this pending layoff but there's some and I'm going to try and focus on the good and leave the bad behind. I probably won't be a hundred percent successful but I think its the effort that's important rather than the outcome.

Labels: employment, layoff, work

It never ceases to amaze that true rock stars can be playing almost in your back yard and you wouldn't know it unless you actually take a look and see.

In my, seemingly, neverending quest for employment that actually pays my bills, I have come across a start up in Santa Cruz that appears to be a near perfect fit for my skills, temperament and motivations.

The company was founded by a bonafide internet and technology rock star. A man with vision and the financial backing (his own cash since he appears to really dislike being beholden to any VC or shareholder interests) to do what he thinks is best which is good because he has a track history of success, innovation and of leading the market.

I have entered the next phase of my process, that of collecting information, finding out more about the company and the founder. Then crafting an entry into the company based on my experience and skills.

Ideally I would be able to function in a role best explained by a metaphor, I'd like to play the position of sweeper on a soccer team. That is, a player who can equally contribute on offense and defense, can use his judgment to impact the process at the point where he will be the most effective and to fly free to determine where to best help out.

My reasoning is that I have a solid body of experience in many aspects of running a business. From my public relations and media handling skills to my ability to rip into a data file and find relevant information for internal and external use. To my ability to provide extra horsepower on deadlines to my underutilized ability to develop marketing materials, slogans and logos. I have an awful lot to offer a company, not the least of which is my attitude which is pretty relentlessly positive and not prone to fits of freaking out.

I am not, of course, neglecting my other job searches and won't be putting all my eggs into this basket because I need to get and keep as many irons on the fire as possible. How's that for a bad mashup of metaphors? Eggs, baskets, irons and fires. Loverly.

Back to my research work. Woops.

Labels: employment, target

Today is my first day on the job as a full-time, benefited and permanent employee of the school district. The first adjustment I had to make was getting to work a half hour earlier which is actually kind of nice because I get here well before the kids start arriving and that means I can get the lab ready without rugrats underfoot.

And it means I can get a few minutes to get myself sorted out for the day, think about what's going to need to happen today and then what's going on for the rest of the week.

Part of my week is still very much up in the air since my work schedule is still undergoing negotiations between three schools. And that's nice, it makes me feel wanted.

Also, I can jam music for a little while before the kids start rolling in. That's nice too.

I will be supporting the computers at three area elementary schools. Predominantly Macs and mostly in the computer labs but there are computers all over each other campuses that teachers need to get and keep in running order. I don't know how each of the other schools will shake out but I'm pretty confident that I'll like being at each of them as well.

The pros outweigh any cons by a good margin but I'm sure I'll have my complaints moving forward. But for now, I'm happy to be working full time again, locally. Now if I could only get some heat in this computer lab, its a crisp fifty degrees in here this morning.

Labels: employment, work

The guy who held my position before, as I've noted before, went well out of his way to not only burn his bridges but scorch any possible references for a job in the future. He went so far as to send an email to an entire school district to broadcast his dissatisfaction with the administration, the teachers, the parking and the fact that he had to share his lab computer with teachers.

Well, I heard that he asked to come back to the district and start working here again because he has been unable to find another job somewhere else. You can imagine the district's response.

Unless you are moving to another country it is just stupid to burn your bridges. Especially in a volatile environment like technology. People are always moving around, to startups to academia to any number of other places and you are bound to run into the same folks at some point or another. Any company he tries to get a job with that has any connection to the district is going to know what a crappy and disgruntled employee he is and will pass him over for a better candidate.

I've burned a few bridges in my time but none without really good strong cause. One boss felt empowered to call me on my days off to bitch at me about stuff I didn't do (not stuff that I was supposed to do, stuff that he couldn't blame on anyone else so he just blamed it on me). Another who felt empowered to decide not to pay me sales commissions I'd earned. I haven't run into her again yet but I know I will, eventually and I'm kind of looking forward to it because she was such a hateful and capricious bitch of a boss.

But I would never in my life broadcast an email to an entire company. The stupidity is beyond comprehension and I wonder if he's starting to regret his flameout resignation?

Labels: employment, flameout

If all goes according to plans, I'll be a unionized employee of the school district in a few weeks. Which definitely has some quality perks to it and I'm looking forward to having them. But gaining an understanding of the impact of the union on positions within the district makes me question the uncommon goals of the educational system and the union that represents the workers.

Uncommon meaning that the educational system has a goal of graduating every child with a certain level of skills. The union has a goal of getting as much as possible for the workers it represents. And affording those workers a strange sense of job security even if they happen to do a really bad job.

That's one of the things I don't get about unions. They protect really crappy workers. People, who would normally bounce out after a few months and go on to find something they were actually good at, can sit and fester in their position. They can do a bad job for a long, long time and still draw a paycheck just for occupying their seat at their desk.

There are also some bizarre job claiming rights things going on. If my current temp position's job requirements are rewritten and hours are added to make it full time then the position is opened up to anyone qualified person with seniority (pretty much everyone) in the district to decide they want it can come and take it and force me to work somewhere else. Oh, and the school has no say in it either. Does that make any sense? The school that will be dealing with the tech can't say no to the person coming in to occupy the lab and work around the campus.

Just because they can pass a fingerprint background check doesn't mean that there aren't some pretty freaking creepy geeks walking the earth. Some say over who works at your school would be, I don't know, polite at the least and smart bureaucracy at the best.

I don't pretend to understand even half of the nuance of union relations and definitely not very much of the educational system. But I have a little knowledge of bureaucracy and its special forms of tortured process. It involves lots and lots of meetings and meetings drain life force.

If there are any union folks reading this, enlighten me as to the value of retaining obviously sub-standard workers.

As an aside, someone should make a funny movie called Bureaucrazy modeled after Office Space, it would be instantly accessible by far too many enslaved 'crats.

Labels: bureaucracy, employment, unions

So, it may be news to some readers that I am now employed as a computer tech support and instructor at a local elementary school. I am presently a temp but am working towards a full-time (read that, with paid time off, great insurance and some job security) position.

This is my first ever foray into the hallowed world of academia and so far I've found quite alot more pros than cons.

Some of the cons are easy to list off: my computer lab is a balmy 51 degrees right now and, if I'm lucky, it'll hit 65 by quitting time.

But really the pros are outweighing bad stuff by a good margin.

The teachers are grateful to have a positive and helpful tech again after the last guy, who was a grumpy jerk for the most part. The last guy also burned his bridges badly when he left by emailing the entire school district with his resignation and then descending into personal attacks with curses and other stupidity. I understand not liking your job and quitting because of it but I cannot, for the life of me, understand why he felt the need to burn every single contact in the district. That's just short sighted, stupid and demonstrative of a piss poor worker.

I've also gotten a little bit of insight into the workings of the public education system which has been interesting and welcome. More on those later.

Right now I'm closing in on my first paycheck since I started working here almost seven weeks ago. And yes, this is my first real and substantive gripe about the position. One, I dislike being paid once a month. Two, I made sure all of my payroll paperwork was completed and turned into HR well before the deadline because I wanted to make for damned sure I got my paycheck as soon as I could.

The only problem is that my paperwork wasn't processed for ten full days after I turned it in. Five days too late to be processed for the current pay period. The solution they offered? Just wait until January. My response was polite but quite firm that No, I needed some damned money now, not next month but thanks for trying to weasel out of your laziness in not doing your job very well by screwing me over. Thanks ever so much.

With just a little prodding the issue got kicked up the chain and, with some luck, will be resolved later today by the special drafting of a revolving check. The HR director was very helpful in blasting through the red tape and getting this done and I'm appreciative of his help.

Because working for nearly three months without so much as a penny to show for it is absolutely crazy and it would have given me an awfully strong reason to keep my currently idling job search process going at full speed.

As it is, I'm looking forward to the holiday break but not looking forward to no income during that time so I'll be doing what I can to keep the duckets rolling in.

Overall, I really like my job, the kids are great, the teachers are grateful and very nice, the administration is open to suggestions and the hours are really pretty sweet. Oh yeah, my commute is whopping 3 miles which totally kicks the buttocks and I'm looking forward to riding my bike to work soon (once the winter weather has gone away).

Labels: education, employment, work

Movin' On Up: 5 Signs it’s Time to Call in Sick via the Express Personnel blog. All of the reasons below are expanded upon over there.

1. A high fever
2. A very sore throat
3. A cough
4. Stomach problems
5. Pinkeye

The best reason to call in sick is to help get yourself better, of course, but it should also be noted that keeping other people from getting the same flu or cold is just as important. A small office can be pretty well stopped dead in its tracks by a nasty flu.

So how do you keep yourself healthy during the runny nose season?

1. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water.
2. Do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth after coming in contact with anything else (i.e. touch these gateway places only after washing your hands or having just used a hand sanitizer).
3. Keep hand sanitizer handy and use it often.
4. Disinfect common areas and surfaces regularly.
5. Get enough sleep to give your body a chance to fight any attacking microbes.
6. At the first sign of a cold or flu, start really loading up on Airborne or one of those zinc based remedies. If you can shorten a cold or flu by even a day or two, it'll be worth it.
7. Get a flu shot.
8. Be aware of potential hot spots for germs (i.e. door knobs, toilet handles and any other public common use area) and make sure to disinfect or wash your hands after touching. I sometimes go so far as to use a paper towel to open doors that I know get a lot of traffic.

The best way to stay healthy is to become a compulsive hand washer. I wash my hands at least six times a day now and use an instant hand sanitizer after any contact with the regular computers in the lab. I know they're crawling with nasties so I murderize them every time. I am also starting to kill them en masse by hitting up each machine in the morning with a liberal dose of Lysol.

Labels: employment, sick, work

There's something kind of nice about seeing a job you wanted, interviewed for, interviewed again for and then they end up giving the job to someone else, there's something kind of nice about seeing the job posted again a month or two later. Meaning that the person they did hire ahead of me didn't work out. There's some measure of vindication in knowing they choose poorly and have to restaff the position again so soon.

And there are the three or four people who've taken on my old job at the research company since I quit. That's less than six months each, if you want to keep score. It was the opposite when I saw an ad for the place that laid me off earlier this year. Not that I'd consider going back and definitely not now that I work at the school.

I am, of course, keeping my options open and would not have a problem taking a better job if it were offered to me. But, for now, I'm enjoying my current job and that's pretty unusual for me.

Labels: employment, work

I knew this day would come, I also knew that the moment I got a job, I'd start getting callbacks from other jobs. It is just how the world works.

But I'll take it anyway.

Yes, it is true. I am working again. I don't know for how long because I'm temping but that's alright, I like what I'm doing, they like me doing it and I'm the most likely candidate for the permanent position.

What am I doing, you ask? I'm the new chairman of FEMA! Woohoo! Just kidding. At least I know enough to not staff my press conferences with my staff members. Woops.

No, I'm a tech support/computer lab guy at a local elementary school. Its a good place with good folks and it happens to be an all Mac place too which works out nicely for me.

I'm sure it won't be all fun all the time but that's alright, its a great start, I like the place and its only a couple of miles from my house. Which is totally excellent as I'll be able to ride my bike to work again. And there's the whole access to computers all day everyday, that's sweet too.

There are also all the school holidays and summer vacation too! Once I've gone permanent then I get great benefits as well. All in all, I'm pretty darned happy about this turn of events!

Labels: employment

Today was supposed to be a Good Friday for us. I'd interviewed really well earlier this week and knew I was the strongest candidate for the position. Its with a company I'd love to work with as they are a total world leader in the sports field.

And I got the call a little while ago to let me know that I did not get the job. Nor did the other candidates. Someone who'd had the position before popped up out of nowhere and said "Hi, I'm available again" and got hired back. For my goddamned job!

Of course there is a little bit of silver lining. The woman I interviewed with was sufficiently impressed with me to tell the HR contact to find me a job with the company. And that's nice and all but I cannot afford to wait around, I need to be working last week, not next week or next month.

It isn't the only hot lead I had going but it was the most exciting and a job I could have really embraced and made my own.

So it is back to the job boards and the application process. I have another interview this afternoon, totally different job but something I'd also like to do.

Its really hard not to get down about these repeat disappointments but a depressed job candidate might as well show up drunk and naked since neither gets the job and being drunk and naked is at least fun.

Damn it all!

Labels: disappointment, employment

I expect that this week will be a big one. I have an excellent interview lined up for tomorrow morning and a line on a couple of other positions that I would be equally excited and happy to get.

I refuse to jinx myself by saying anything more. But I'm doing my research, learning about the company and their competitive space.

The one thing that bums me out is that I'm fighting a bit of a cold that Grady had last week. My first in a very long time, its amazing how much healthier I got when I wasn't working in an office all the time. Especially my last office with its poor ventilation.

But I'm making sure to get my rest, drink my fluids and prep as best I can for tomorrow morning. If you want to, send some good interview vibes my way. And, on that note, I'm back to my study sheets and notes.

[Update: The interview went really well, I had a solid and friendly rapport with the woman I interviewed with. Which was really nice as she would be my direct supervisor. The company is far larger than I thought and has its hands in an amazing variety of sports related fields. She had a couple of other interviews scheduled this week but will be making her decision by the end of the week as she'll be gone next week for a well deserved vacation. Keep those fingers crossed, folks, this might be my ticket out of Unemploymentland!]

Labels: employment

As you might guess, I've been spending quite a ridiculous amount of time on job sites looking for a good job or even a mediocre job.

Part of that process is taking advantage of all the resources each site has to offer.

I've stopped using Monster.com because of their security issues and their lack of being completely forthright with their users when they did realize that they'd been breached. Which is two big and nasty strikes. These days, that's one too many and they handled it badly. Oh yeah, the huge splash page to sign up for Phoenix University or some other school upon signin was really annoying too. So Monster had to go.

I've been trying to use CareerBuilder with limited success. They do not seem to understand that 25 miles means 25 miles, not 40 or 50 or 60 in some cases. A fifty mile commute here means close to two hours each way and that is just going to happen. But I still try to use the site and was reading my email this morning and they said something about a service called ResumeDirect.

The idea is that they've got access to jobs that aren't even being advertised and will feed those HR Managers your resume to get you in the door more quickly. There are some flaws with the logic but I thought "What the hell" and gave it a try. After getting nearly all of my info loaded in, including a rather stupid idea of a generic cover letter (which is like a flashing neon sign saying DELETE ME to a hiring manager) then they take me to the checkout.

And at the checkout they want to bill me more than a hundred bucks for the service. At no other time during the process was a cost mentioned, nor that the costs would be higher for selecting multiple industries. My immediate response was to close the window and go back to my regular (read that, free) job searching.

Why do companies think it is sensible to hit you with the costs after the groundwork is done? It just pisses me off and could have saved me the time by making it very clear up front that this was a pay-for service.

The result of which is that I no longer trust or want to make use of the site because I feel like they are going to be trying to weasel money out of me.

The same sort of thing for Guru.com. I logged in last night for the first time in months and came across several projects I could definitely do. But when I clicked through them I found out that I could read the projects but not bid on them unless I upgraded my account to a paid account. Which, as you might guess, is not going to happen and I will very likely never even try to use Guru again.

I understand these companies aren't charities and they need to beef up their bottom lines but they charge to post the jobs and should not be obfuscating their costly add-ons by putting the money stuff after the work of entering the information.

And, because I hate having nothing but negativity in my posts these days, I'll wrap up by saying I've got an extremely promising interview being schedule for this coming Monday. Its with a great and stable company in the bike industry and I would love to get on board with them.

Labels: dumb marketing, employment, job hunting

So I was applying for yet another job this morning. The site set off alarm bells pretty early on and they just got louder and louder until the stupid thing just stopped functioning.

One, they required the use of Internet Explorer. That's incredibly stupid and annoying. The world does not use one browser and building your site for just one tells me that you're lazy.

Two, the Home and About Us "links" weren't links, they were static text on the page.

Three, a total lack of contact information on the site.

Four, even when I did use IE (on my wife's computer as I refuse to keep that shit browser on my machine) the site still stopped working properly and there was no way to tell them or let them know.

So, yeah, Impact Resource Group. The "impact" you made on me is that you're a lame company who did just barely enough to get the site set up and, theoretically, running.

Labels: employment, stupid

This has been a very, very painful fantasy sports weekend for yours truly.

In the two hockey leagues I play, I got crushed, one opponent blanked me out entirely.

In the four football leagues I play, I got destroyed. One team had a chance going into tonight's game but got blowed right out of the water in short order. Each of the teams I played against had at least one player who had their career day today. In one league it was Adrian Petersen and Maurice Jones-Drew. In another it was Ladanian and Tony Gonzalez.

It was painful and ugly. And then I got blowed right out of the football pool too. A pretty pisspoor showing all the way around. I'll be hoping this next week sees me with some better luck as I'd happily take a beating in the fantasy leagues for the rest of the season if I can get a job offer this week.

Labels: employment, fantasy sports

Many years ago now, when I used to live in South Africa, I had a motorcycle mechanic that I'd been introduced to. He was an ancient little guy with a pretty quick wit (and, unfortunately, a bad prescription).

Everytime I'd speak to him, on the phone or in person and I'd ask him how he was, his stock response was, "Battlin'". Which I took to mean that he wasn't done fighting yet and he had some spark left in him and stand back. I liked him quite a bit even though I pretty much had to have him redo every repair he did for me.

But that's another story for another time.

The point here is that I am Battlin' these days, I'm Battlin' hard and doing everything I can to keep fighting and trying. But even though I am doing just about everything I can to get a new job, it isn't happening fast enough. No matter how many customized resumes and well written cover letters I write, the process is still too slow.

And being without a job means, obviously, that I need one (unless that damned lottery hit for me). But the more places I talk to, he more people I contact, the slower things seem to go. It is extremely frustrating.

I maintain my positive attitude because I know that something good will happen. But it does get more and more difficult. Something has to give, I just hope it isn't me.

Labels: employment, frustration, jobs

There's nothing so long as waiting to hear about a job offer. Especially if the interview was on Friday and there are more this week. And doubly especially if its a job that you really want and need.

Hopefully I'll hear some good news from the job prospect that I really want. But I'll keep beating the bushes in the meantime.

If you want to, keep your fingers crossed for me to get a call earlier in the week and that they'd like me to start working later this week. That would be a nice birthday present.

Labels: employment, waiting, work

It has been made, somewhat painfully, apparent to me that I will not be able to generate a regular and decent income through my photography at this point. This is further rammed home by the recent and catastrophic loss of my laptop hard drive, may it rest in pieces soon.

On that note, by the way, I'm on last ditch efforts to salvage any of my data from the drive. Disk Warrior has been, thus far, useless and an expensive useless at that. Final steps include refridgerating the drive in the hopes that it'll spin up properly for a little while. I'm not holding my breath but it really would be nice to pull some of my info off it before I take it out back and smash it to hell with my hammer (why yes, I might take pictures).

But the reality is that I will have to go back to working for someone else for at least a while. Which isn't to say that I will give up on my plans, nope, I will just push them to evenings and weekends. In the meantime, I am casting my employment net and hoping to land a great job.

I had a very good interview earlier this week and expect to go back next week for another round with the rest of the team I'd be working with.

And today one of the companies in town that I would absolutely love to work posted a new job opening and its something I could definitely handle. I'll take the weekend to construct a cover letter and tweak my resume for a Monday morning delivery. And I might even follow it up with an in-person drop off to demonstrate just how much I do want the job.

I'd write more about it but I don't want to jinx myself right out of contention. Just keep your fingers crossed that my resume gets me an interview because I tend to shine during interviews. At least I do when its a job I actually want! If I get the interview, I'll tell more about the company and the job (and J? you will be jealous!).

BTW, if you're on the job hunt, make use of Craigslist and their RSS feeds for searches. It is the easiest way I know of to stay on top of new posts in your chosen profession. Take those feeds and add them to your Yahoo or Google home page or to your Bloglines feeds. Easy as pie!

Labels: employment, search

Customer Service Representative

Applicants must have a strong work ethic and general sales experience with an overwhelming desire to work in the investment industry. We are seeking full-time contractors.

And the starting pay for this opporunity of a lifetime? How's a poverty level $12/hr sound. Oh yeah, they'll take your Saturdays too.

The only upside here is that it grows into a tele-commute position but I know of very few people that would have any interest in busting balls for a company for a take home of $24K a year.

This listing is, by no means, atypical. The help wanteds out here are galling in their requirements for low-level positions. And then the pay is almost always about 20-40% below standard industry scale.

The other problem that I've run into lately is that, even after custom building a resume and writing a well thought out cover letter and then submitting it for a position, nothing. No response, no email thanking me for submitting, no nothing at all. And, as someone in a position of information need, this lack of communication is annoying at best.

I understand that there are people that do nothingbut submit their resumes for every single job posted on Craigslist or SC Jobs. But it is easy to tell if someone is worth a look or not. And I'm not submitting my resume for jobs that I cannot or will not do. I'm a highly targeted job applicant and I don't waste my time working on cover letters for jobs I don't want.

It is just annoying. A pal wrote me the other day and said that he thinks the whole resume job submission process is one big, lame waste of time. He may be right. It isn't so much what you know but who you know.

Labels: employment

I just got back from my first meeting with a career counselor. It was interesting, informative and formative. It also feels good to be making positive steps to realign my career goals with things that I am passionate about.

Not that I didn't enjoy high-tech PR, I do and did. But it's not quite the perfect fit. There are several things about the job that I disagree with as being counter productive. But it wasn't up to me to decide the how things got done.

I really liked the counselor's approach and demeanor and expect that this work we are doing together will result in my being better armed to create a better working situation for me and my family.

The next step will be some testing to determine where my passions and strengths are to better map out the route to attain a good job that I really love and can be totally excited about.

If any of you readers have had any experience with career counseling, I'd love to hear some stories and advice.

Labels: career, employment