Immediate feelings after the interview

Man, I blew it.
Or at least right now I feel that I did. I should have done the prectice interview and other thiings. There is one particular reference that I should have reviewed. "Typical interview code questions" is a real killer. I am one of those people who cannot type when there is an audience. If someone is looking over my shoulder I cannot code the most simple function in the world. I just go into a brainlock.
If I had practiced on a few of the examples, I may have done better.
On the other hand I always blow the first interview. That's what I am telling myself.
Pretty lame excuse huh?

First sign of progress

I have an upcoming interview. Woo Hoo... I did the phone interview thing and now I am going to have the dreaded "face-to-face" interview.
No pressure at all. If you impress them enough, you get a job. If not you're doomed! <>.
The job-search-help organization I have been attending has classes on interviews, practice interviews, seminars, and reference material. All of which I have pretty much ignored up to now. Am I suddenly worried? You bet your butt I am! But It is no more than the natural nervous feeling that I always get before giving a presentation to a group of people. Did I mention that I'm a software nerd? Usually the only time I am in front of more than two people at a time is at a family reunion.
So I keep telling myself I am not doomed. It just means the search continues. And continues...and continues...etc. Maybe I AM doomed bit I won't realize it for quite some time. Now that's something to look forward to. Right?

Win the lottery or get a job. Choices..choices...

This is the way an engineer's mind workss. Follow along now and don't get lost.

I have a dollar for a lottery ticket.
If I win the lottery then I don't need a job.
If I get a job then I might not "need" to win the lottery. But it would still be a good thing.
Statistically, my chances get pretty good for winning in about five thousand years.
I see reports where a lot of lottery winners end up broke.
Spend the dollar on beer, forget about the lottery.
Drink the beer.
What problem?? I don't have any problems...

Back to the job search.

Weekend Vacuum

Actually I only named it that so I could show off that I knew how to spell vacuum. Else the title would have been Weekend Sucks. When you are not working, it is hard to tell the weekend from any other day. In reality you are busy all the time. I have been using the weekends to make up for work that I should have been doing the rest of the week. Usually things to do with the job search that I didn't get to do because I was interrupted.
My family just assumes that if I am home then I am not "working" and therefore I am available to do whatever. It is not thier fault. That is the way it has worked for years and I guess it has become a habit. taking out the garbage or fetching something from outside doesn't sound like much but it's a complete shift of mental gears. It takes a while to get back to what you were doing.
The seminar type classes I have been attending told me that job-hunting was a ten hour-a-day job. However I didn't really believe it until I had to do it. Oh well some time spent revising the resume for the twentieth time and another copy e-mailed to an employer that will probably get a hundred applicants a day.
Well that just makes my point. Weekends are depressing.

Daily ramblings

I think I mentioned back a few posts that I have spent extensive time in the defense industry. The reason I mention this is because one of the must-haves for that job is a security clearance. I included my last clearance level on my latest resume for two reasons. One is I would definitely accept a job offer in that arena. The other was it should be a clue to the commercial job recruiters that I would probably never be an embaressment to any company. It is an indication that unlike certain public officials I have never been associated with a brothel or any other strange group trying to overthrow the present government ( democrats included ).

The point is, the group I am working with suggested that I remove that from resume copys that I submit to non-defense companies.

Nah, I'm leaving it in there. I think that indications of stability, ethics,,etc shoud be pretty important to a recruiter. I for one would hate to wake up and find out that I had hired the unibomber just because he had a great interview personna.

Any opinions out there?

Nobody Out There ??

That's what I get for asking. No one replys. Probably my fault for not knowing how to advertise a blog. Of course the "other" answer is the blog is Boring... Of course it is boring you idiot... I'm a software engineer nerd!! The only thing more boring would be a resident Egyptologist in an obscure musuem in Bumsquatch Nebraska!
You would think you would be getting used to being ignored by now. It starts as soon as the layoff announcement is known. Everyone at work tends to avoid you like you have the plague or something. Maybe antibiotic-resistant TB is a more recent simile. I know they don't mean to, but it is kinda like some kind of superstitious ritual like not walking under a ladder. You just cannot avoid doing it.
Another interesting thing about being laid off is the emotional turmoil. You pretty much run the gamut from anger to fear. That can cause you to appear a little unstable to friends and family. I have to watch it to keep from exploding over some little thing around the house.
Well another day and another resume copy in the mail. By the way, did I mention that I am really good at this software thing? I got lots of awards and stuff. That's just in case you are a hiring manager with a hot job request in your hand.

Oops. That's why erasers sell better than pencils

So much for the once-a-day commitment. Gee, that lasted a whole day! A combination of Family, previous promises, and unforseen events all ganged up on me.
Enough excuses. I was also carrying on a running e-mail with a head-hunter that wants me to do contract work for him. I want to know a little more about his company's track record before I sign on the dotted line. It looks like they prefer to work in a W-2 environment instead of a W-1099. There is something to be said for each. I gotta do some research. Anybody out there have an opinion?? Any reasons for that opinion??
With any luck the answers to those questions is the total amount of my research.

I'm going to try to do this once a day. So some of them are going to be boring. I guess you pretty much have the picture now. I'm seriously looking for work.

I am a software engineer with extensive experience in the embedded software field. I have worked for defense companys and most recently for a commercial company in the telecommunications area. The assumption that I am going on is my departure is the result of outsourcing jobs to overseas locations. That assumption is based on recently training two chinese nationals to do my job. That was one of the signs that I should not have ignored. I just assumed I would be assigned to a new project. Silly me, my new project is job hunting.

So far I have taken a bunch of classes that attempt to teach me what my resume should look like, what are the most effective jobsearch techniques, and some hard reality looks at what I need to do in order to compete with other job applicants. Mainly that amounts to an advertising sales pitch with me as the star product. You know... a meat market.

Later that same day... Well some of this is coming together so I better get back to the main attraction. Me and my jobhunt.


First let's set the stage. The reason I started this is I got laid off for the first time ever in my life. Every other time that I parted ways with a company it was because I believed I saw the end coming. Now I did not just run around job-hopping. I stayed a minimum of 6 years at any one company and I usually wasn't wrong when I left. One got company sold to BarinCo and got severly downsized and re-directed. One closed shop entirely, and in another one the division I was in got sold and re-located out-of-state. This time I guess I ignored the portents or perhaps I just thought I was bulletproof. After all, I had survived there over 8 years and over 3 years of twice yearly downsizings, re-orgs, and just plain old job-cuts. Well I am here to tell you I was Wrong.


They tell me that these days the average time spent at a company is about 6 years before some major event happens. That event usually entails looking elsewhere for employment. So if you are reading this you better figure that it will happen to you too. So pay attention and don't make the same mistakes that I am about to. I promise to let you know what works and what doesn't.

Let's get started. Part of the reason for starting this is to document my jobsearch and part is to leave a trail of breadcrumbs so other people can tell me where I am going wrong. One other thing I hope to accomplish is to get over the initial loathing and shyness about the self advertising that is a necessary part of the jobsearch process.
More to come as I get used to this blogging thing...