Sunday, September 20, 2009
"Shriveled"
¶ 11:57 AM Well I would say how I am going to write regularly now, how this time will be different, how I'm definitely going to make more entries in the blog but...considering I still have post left from my Intel job which ended more than a year ago on my main page I don't know if there's really a point to making the commitment.
This time I did make a large table with days of the week and the minimum tasks I want to get done each day on my dry-erase pen board I have hung in my room. As I get each thing done I will check mark the task. Sounds like something out of second grade or something. I've been having trouble motivating myself to certain things regularly whether that's writing in a blog or remembering to do some rudimentary calisthenics semi-regularly. So maybe this will work much better maybe it won't.
The four tasks, for the record, are eating breakfast (although this doesn't really seem necessary now that I think about it), the calisthenics thing, writing in the blog and participating in a web site called Experts Exchange.
Experts Exchange is where normal people go to ask PC/technology type questions where experts such as me go to try and solve said issues/questions. I figure I should try and stay some-what in practice with support questions and thinking about that stuff in normal-people terms. On a daily basis ideally.
The blog thing is actually because I enjoy it and I should probably be fairly up with the idea of writing if I am going to do the novel-writing-marathon again in November. So it being only about six weeks away I guess it's good to try and get in some practice. Though this isn't really creative writing like that is. Right?
Of recent news is a hiking adventure I recently went on. I'm not exactly in good shape. Outside of the occasional couple mile walk through he local neighborhood I really get hardly any exercise. But I ended up going on a rather advanced trail. It involved walking up rather harsh terain up a mountain for literally 2 1/2 hours straight. I don't know how I made it. Nor do I know how I was going so strong whilst my mother, who has been going to the gym regularly for at least fifteen years, was doing so badly. But then she is in her fifties and drank much less water than I did. It still surprised me though.
The blog thing is actually because I enjoy it and I should probably be fairly up with the idea of writing if I am going to do the novel-writing-marathon again in November. So it being only about six weeks away I guess it's good to try and get in some practice. Though this isn't really creative writing like that is. Right?
Of recent news is a hiking adventure I recently went on. I'm not exactly in good shape. Outside of the occasional couple mile walk through he local neighborhood I really get hardly any exercise. But I ended up going on a rather advanced trail. It involved walking up rather harsh terain up a mountain for literally 2 1/2 hours straight. I don't know how I made it. Nor do I know how I was going so strong whilst my mother, who has been going to the gym regularly for at least fifteen years, was doing so badly. But then she is in her fifties and drank much less water than I did. It still surprised me though.
I think I was sore all over for about a week after that. I'd like to believe I came out much stronger for having done it. Maybe? Did remind that I should probably be in better shape. And I should also pack a lot better for body-killing hikes perhaps. I found a while back a bottle of gatorade and two bananas is like a real shot-in-the-arm...of...energy-related...stuff...
Moving on. I did have one interview back around the 10th or so. Whatever job interviewing magic I once had has now apparently been lost to the ages because apparently I didn't do too good. Well first it took longer than I had hoped to eat lunch before the interview. At least I did eat. Nothing worse than going to a 1:30 interview having not had a thing since 8am or whatever. Right? So then I get there not as early as I had hoped but still early but I couldn't find the proper entrance. So I wander back in forth in front of the building looking and finally I try calling the staffing company. Just then the lady that was supposed to meet me finds me and I hang up. So I'm like 10 minutes late. I was told they were running late anyway. I probably had 2 1/2 strikes against me from the first moment.
It was hot that day so I'm really perspiring when the interview first starts. That wasn't pleasant. So there's two guys and the first one just gives me this quite long summary of what they'll be doing for the project etc. Then the two guys ask a couple questions, at some point requesting a copy of my resume. Ok fine, maybe I should have offered. I haven't been to an interview in literally years in which the interviewers didn't already have my resume in front of them. I brought several copies anyway I guess I should have offered. But then they probably should have asked at the first moment anyway. I mean they're the ones interviewing aren't they?
Anyway it seemed like there were very few technical questions. Few chances to really go into depth on all my accomplishments and accumulated skills.
I probably could have given some better answers and possibly had some prepared answers for the normal "give me an exmaple of difficult customer and how you dealt with it" sort of thing. I don't think I did that one very well. But where I really did the worst, if I had to guess, was on the team-related quetion. The guy asked if I prefer working on a team or working alone. I should have just gave him a direct answer that I knew he probably wnated to hear, indirectly assuring him I am good on a team. That's what my alter-ego who was so perfectly super-great at interviewing would have done. I knew I did poorly though because the guy came back to the same question toward the end of the interview. I could tell I must not have answered that one suffeciently. He also asked something like "have you ever updated a database" which seems like a rather odd question. I mean if you have ever used a contact/address book on a computer you've done that. If you've ever kept large amounts of data straight in a spreadsheet you've done that. Maybe he just wanted assurances I could keep track of stuff quite effectively, I still have no idea.
I actually did prepare for this interview. Writing down some accomplishments from a couple past jobs, trying to jog my memory so it would be some-what fresh for the interview. Didn't do that difficult customer one though. Obviously I need to come up with a standard example of it happening and how it was resolved just for interviews like this. So I have something on the tip of my tounge when it is inevitably asked.
One thing I have noticed about these jobs: three weeks before the start of the new fiscal quarter I will get like 12 calls from different recruiters, eight of which will be for the same stupid postion. And for some reason if you are double-submitted you're auto-magically disqualified from being interviewed.
This happened the week after forth of July, August 1st being the new quarter and the week of Labor Day, October 1st being the new quarter. I don't know that the same will happen the first or second week of December. I always assumed most everybody imoportant would have all or most of that month as a vacation. Which means I could possibly look forward to my next wave of calls coming in early to mid February. That seems like such a long way off to me some how. I'm not sure my sanity will still be intact.
I have begun re-writing my resume to be a bit shorter and much more customized and focused. No need to mention photoshop and dreamweaver if I want a desktop support position, right? I have also limited it down to the three or four most significant positions so it will all fit to one page. After that it's just a matter of seeing if the new and improved version actually nets any better results.
Also, I'll probably pay the $100 or whatever for the premium membership so maybe it will be seen by more people. I hope that's worth it. I paid some fee to dice.com and it netted me exactly NOTHING. So whatever. I still use them to check possible positions but I won't be doing much else with them any time soon.
And, as it is a shame to admit, I finally signed up for unemployment. This came as a great shame for some one who may describe himself as a "light-weight libertarian" (a term I just made up). I'm sure I could survive on my savings a while longer as I've done so before but the recession such as it is I have no idea how much longer I could be in this state...of being.
I can only hope some time in the next year I have a full-time positoin. I hope! That's how long my unemployment is for. A whole year.
Of course I could take advantage of this time off. Work on my various VM-related projects, get some meaningless certifications "cuzz they look pretty" to employers. I'm guessing I couldn't teach myself up to an MCSE/MCSA. That would probably require a several thousands dollar series of classes on ITT or whatever.
Well this has been a most fun series of writings and I hope I get to do it again someday. Like tomorrow. We'll see.
Moving on. I did have one interview back around the 10th or so. Whatever job interviewing magic I once had has now apparently been lost to the ages because apparently I didn't do too good. Well first it took longer than I had hoped to eat lunch before the interview. At least I did eat. Nothing worse than going to a 1:30 interview having not had a thing since 8am or whatever. Right? So then I get there not as early as I had hoped but still early but I couldn't find the proper entrance. So I wander back in forth in front of the building looking and finally I try calling the staffing company. Just then the lady that was supposed to meet me finds me and I hang up. So I'm like 10 minutes late. I was told they were running late anyway. I probably had 2 1/2 strikes against me from the first moment.
It was hot that day so I'm really perspiring when the interview first starts. That wasn't pleasant. So there's two guys and the first one just gives me this quite long summary of what they'll be doing for the project etc. Then the two guys ask a couple questions, at some point requesting a copy of my resume. Ok fine, maybe I should have offered. I haven't been to an interview in literally years in which the interviewers didn't already have my resume in front of them. I brought several copies anyway I guess I should have offered. But then they probably should have asked at the first moment anyway. I mean they're the ones interviewing aren't they?
Anyway it seemed like there were very few technical questions. Few chances to really go into depth on all my accomplishments and accumulated skills.
I probably could have given some better answers and possibly had some prepared answers for the normal "give me an exmaple of difficult customer and how you dealt with it" sort of thing. I don't think I did that one very well. But where I really did the worst, if I had to guess, was on the team-related quetion. The guy asked if I prefer working on a team or working alone. I should have just gave him a direct answer that I knew he probably wnated to hear, indirectly assuring him I am good on a team. That's what my alter-ego who was so perfectly super-great at interviewing would have done. I knew I did poorly though because the guy came back to the same question toward the end of the interview. I could tell I must not have answered that one suffeciently. He also asked something like "have you ever updated a database" which seems like a rather odd question. I mean if you have ever used a contact/address book on a computer you've done that. If you've ever kept large amounts of data straight in a spreadsheet you've done that. Maybe he just wanted assurances I could keep track of stuff quite effectively, I still have no idea.
I actually did prepare for this interview. Writing down some accomplishments from a couple past jobs, trying to jog my memory so it would be some-what fresh for the interview. Didn't do that difficult customer one though. Obviously I need to come up with a standard example of it happening and how it was resolved just for interviews like this. So I have something on the tip of my tounge when it is inevitably asked.
One thing I have noticed about these jobs: three weeks before the start of the new fiscal quarter I will get like 12 calls from different recruiters, eight of which will be for the same stupid postion. And for some reason if you are double-submitted you're auto-magically disqualified from being interviewed.
This happened the week after forth of July, August 1st being the new quarter and the week of Labor Day, October 1st being the new quarter. I don't know that the same will happen the first or second week of December. I always assumed most everybody imoportant would have all or most of that month as a vacation. Which means I could possibly look forward to my next wave of calls coming in early to mid February. That seems like such a long way off to me some how. I'm not sure my sanity will still be intact.
I have begun re-writing my resume to be a bit shorter and much more customized and focused. No need to mention photoshop and dreamweaver if I want a desktop support position, right? I have also limited it down to the three or four most significant positions so it will all fit to one page. After that it's just a matter of seeing if the new and improved version actually nets any better results.
Also, I'll probably pay the $100 or whatever for the premium membership so maybe it will be seen by more people. I hope that's worth it. I paid some fee to dice.com and it netted me exactly NOTHING. So whatever. I still use them to check possible positions but I won't be doing much else with them any time soon.
And, as it is a shame to admit, I finally signed up for unemployment. This came as a great shame for some one who may describe himself as a "light-weight libertarian" (a term I just made up). I'm sure I could survive on my savings a while longer as I've done so before but the recession such as it is I have no idea how much longer I could be in this state...of being.
I can only hope some time in the next year I have a full-time positoin. I hope! That's how long my unemployment is for. A whole year.
Of course I could take advantage of this time off. Work on my various VM-related projects, get some meaningless certifications "cuzz they look pretty" to employers. I'm guessing I couldn't teach myself up to an MCSE/MCSA. That would probably require a several thousands dollar series of classes on ITT or whatever.
Well this has been a most fun series of writings and I hope I get to do it again someday. Like tomorrow. We'll see.
