The search for employment continues. I've expanded my efforts. Hopefully something will come of it soon.
The "interview" I thought I had last week was actually what I would just call a "meet and greet". The recruiter from the consulting company and one of the account managers just wanted to "put a face to the name". It was actually a bit disappointing. We did talk a bit about one of the companies they service. It is a place that I am quite familiar with and I would love to work there. They commented that I would be a great fit given my background. The downer part, though, is that they mentioned several times how slowly this company is to take any kind of action.
After the meeting, I went home and decided to post my resume on one of the many job websites. My resume attracted immediate attention. The rest of my week was spent taking phone calls from various recruiters and responding to emails containing job descriptions. Because many of these companies target the same clients, I've had to create a spreadsheet to keep track of who is submitting my resume to whom. At this point in time, I think I can be a bit choosy on which jobs I apply for. Some of the recruiters quoted pay rates that were insultingly low. One in particularly was upsetting. This particular recruiter is someone that initially reached out to me last fall before I left my job. When I reconnected with him last week, he immediately presented a position with a local company. We talked about the job, benefits and an acceptable pay rate. I tailored my resume for him and hunted down examples of past work that could be submitted to the client. Things sounded very encouraging. After 3 days of effort, just before my application package was to be submitted to the client, the recruiter comes back and tells me that his boss said that the rate I'd be paid is going to have to be reduced by 20%. I told the guy that this was a deal breaker. I withdrew my permission to have him represent me and did not apply to that client.
Last Friday morning I had another "meet and greet". It annoyed me a bit also because it took place downtown at the consulting company's main office. Before going to the meeting I had to fill out their online application and provide three references. The young man met with me for no more than 5 minutes. I bet I spent more time hunting for a parking spot than I did with him. At the end of our meeting he mentioned that they didn't currently have any positions that I would qualify for. He just wanted to "put a face to the name". I wished he had mentioned that earlier. I would have suggested we defer the "meet and greet" until he had something viable for me.
At this point in time I believe I have had my resume submitted for 10 different consultant positions. No bites yet.
Sometimes I wonder if these recruiters even really look at the resumes they find on those websites. For example, I had someone call me yesterday. She said she found my resume and thought I'd be a perfect fit for a position she had. She then went on to describe a telemarketing position, selling life insurance. Now, my degree is in software engineering and my entire career has been spent designing and developing various types of software applications. Nowhere on my resume does the word "sales" appear. I told her I wasn't interested and she acted incredulous that I would decline such a fantastic opportunity. Experiences like that make me want to not answer my phone.
Today I decided to take a different approach. I made a list of major companies in my area and looked directly at their websites for jobs. I found three positions that interested me and submitted my resume. There are still companies on my list, but I'm calling it a day. My head feels like it is going to explode. I'm going to spend the rest of my day relaxing.
It is a good day to relax. We awoke to this scene. We finally had some winter weather!!!
Blake had the day off school. It probably snowed only an inch. I'm not sure why school was cancelled except that maybe since they haven't yet had an inclement weather day and they are coming off of a long weekend, the school district decided to make it another day longer. At any rate, it was pretty this morning. I'll take it.
Blake's Gradient blanket is coming along. I did the first row of contrasting color.
I'm am getting close to the end of my first skein of blue. I calculated the 1/3 mark. It is about 7 rows beyond where I am in this picture. Hopefully I will reach that point before having to start the second skein of blue. If that's not the case I may have to buy an extra skein as I'd be a couple rows short. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
I'm also making some progress on Relax, but nothing photo-worthy.
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