OK, the economy must be getting better. Or maybe I’m just dealing with more organized and/or more ethical people. I thought I had a job lined up a week and a half ago, one I wanted, tablet network support for a Fortune 500 client. Definitely a useful skillset to acquire. But as luck would have it, they were trying to squeeze me in at the last moment, I was the last guy hired and the client downsized their needs at the last second, so I was out of luck.
It was disappointing. But the reason I found out what happened is the lady who recruited me actually followed up with a full explanation and an apology, sincerely in my opinion, .i.e., treated me like an actual person. Which hasn’t happened lately, for the last few years, if you didn’t get the job, you either hear nothing back at all or you get a form letter. And that’s not even the best part.
She kept track of me. Two days ago an even higher paying, better job — that will confer network certification after a three-month period and a written exam — popped up. She hung onto my app and recommended me for it, before it was even posted on the company website. The hiring manager who interviewed me for the job that fell through concurred.
I do the final interview for that role tomorrow, but I’ve already aced the skills test. And BTW, this was not a lay up test. It was like a cross between an IQ test, pattern recognition and conceptualization questions, the kind of stuff you can’t study for, plus detailed multiple choice and essay questions on everything from SQL queries to network basics to DirectX and CMD prompt functions (They didn’t say this, but judging by the way the test appeared, if you stepped off the page during the test to consult “Google University,” it may have generated a report on that, and I didn’t do that. I took it clean and fair). If they give me the OK on that interview, I have to pass a drug screen and prove citizenship sometime next week, neither of which is an issue for me. Then the training for the job would start in late April. It pays enough that with a little overtime and a bonus or two, I would just barely edge into the middle-class. After four years of barely above poverty wages, no leisure life, no frills, no vacations of any kind, no luxuries, I literally would not know what to do with all the money.
I’m sorry for being AWOL, but I decided a few weeks ago that getting a real job would have to be top priority and any distractions, no matter how fun they might be, would have to wait. Hopefully, that will be over soon. And even if this one does fall through, I can tell, the economy is definitely improving, I’m getting call backs on jobs I’m not even ideally qualified for from applications submitted weeks ago.
Congrats!
Fair enough and bonne chance.
Understood and wishing you all the best.
Thanks, haven’t gotten it yet though. But I’ve gotten close enough over the past two weeks with jobs that I’m sure it’s just a matter of time now. There are a ton of boutique software and support shops that have popped up in NW Austin over the last few years, survived the recession, and many are now going thru an apparent expansion and hiring phase, sort of a mini tech boom may be cranking up. If it keeps going like this, within another year or two, anyone in the region who can fog a flat screen and use a mouse can probably find a job.
Congrats on acing the test with no support materials =).
Best of luck!
Best of luck; anywhere that decides to hire you will have gained a more valuable asset than they understand. I know you’ve been waiting for these opportunities to come in for a long time, so I’m really glad to hear that things are finally starting to tentatively look up for you.
This sounds very promising. Best wishes, and stay away from poppy seed bagels.
About effing time! I’m sure that you are ready for less drama in your life. Fingers crossed and whatever other stupid superstitious sh** floats your boat.
Good luck!
Good news!
Now that sounds like a good company to work for!
I hope that all goes well with the interview tomorrow, and I’ll be thinking about you while I endure yet another fun test at the neurologist’s office.
Give us an update tomorrow, please.
Here’s hoping the good news continues. My old company called me a couple of weeks ago for a part-time job, so I’m hoping it might lead to something full-time.
Glad some things are finally looking up for you; here’s hoping the trend continues!
Sounds like the break you’ve deserved for so long.
Break a leg, as they say, on the final interview.
Your saga has been frustrating even for your readers, so I can barely imagine how it must have been for you.
I don’t want to jinx you or anything, but WHAT A RELIEF!
… wait… we don’t believe in jinxes, do we?
Best wishes, and good vibes flowing towards you. Really looking forward to some good news from you, because your saga – especially this past year! has been heartbreaking.
There’s a really cute commercial for a school here in Texas in which a lovely young lady stops to check her e-mails while shopping in the mall and then gives other shoppers an impromptu show by dancing while singing “I got the job! I got the job!”
I expect to see Stephen posting his own version of this in a video. Hopefully we’ll see it tomorrow, or next week at the latest.
Things are looking up!
… “treated me like an actual person”
How the hell did that happen? Does she know that she will never get ahead with an attitude like that? Don’t mention it to her boss, it would likely get her fired.
Well, I got through my EMG at the neurologist’s office.
Now I’m checking back here to see if Stephen has some good news to share.
GOod luck! I very much hope you will have some good news to share with us very soon!
@Reginald Selkirk #7
Nonsense! In non-drug-paranoid countries, we have things like poppy-seed cake which never harmed anyone. That mature poppy-seeds contain anything but trace (and biologically irellevant) amounts of opiates is a North American fear-mongering urban legend.
=8)-DX
My hubby works for the military and has to submit to random drug tests. He has been given orders to never eat anything with hemp seeds. Chobani is marketing a yogurt with hemp seeds, which was pulled from the shelves in our commissaries.
I’m allergic to any opioid medication. I have some really severe reactions. If I eat anything containing poppy seeds, I develop a rash around my mouth and my tongue and throat begin to swell.
Those seeds may have only trace amounts of what the medications contain, but it sure is enough to make my body unhappy.
It’s great to hear some personal good news from you. As others have said your future employer is at the least getting someone who communicates well.
I lost my software engineering job last fall. Fortunately I had enough “fuck you” funds to take a break from the rat race for a few months without worry. Sadly it’s now time to once again to find gainful employment before those funds are exhausted. Reading your story reminds me that I should expect a roller-coaster ride but the ride will probably end without major trauma or death.
Best wishes to you. In fact, best wishes to the company. They’d do well to take you in.