Thursday, March 12, 2015

They Come In Peace...

...but dang those probes are cold.

That's about as good an explanation as any for the last month or so since my last post. Let me hit the highlights of the goings on, and then I will figure out what to do with this post.

Went to Florida, interviewed, returned home safely. Found out two days ago, not selected. The Queen was not pleased. She was looking forward to living near a beach.

A happy Queen and Princess enjoying some "chockit" ice cream near the beach.
Winter decided to dump a last minute winter storm on north Texas. You folks up north can scoff, but snow and ice shut DFW down hard because ice goes in your tea, not on your roads. Any global warming/climate change nuts in the audience can take your thinly veiled leftist, propaganda and stuff it. Be sure you fold it into sharp little corners for an origami suppository first.

That storm screwed up my other job interview. We were able to squeeze it in between ice storms. Found out yesterday, not selected. That was a bummer because it was a really good opportunity.

Got a call Monday from an HR person that I had written off after they had failed to respond to several phone calls and emails over several weeks regarding next steps letting me know I was still on the list of candidates they want to move forward with, but they have put the position on hold because of some other stuff. We shall see. At this point, my track record may see me still on the market when they get their act in gear.

For those that are interested, the job search enters its eighth month today. The stats so far are:

91 jobs applied for
8 in person final interviews so far
75 rejections (formal and informal)
16 applications still in limbo

Welcome to the new economy. That's hope and change you can believe in right there. To be fair, some of those applications were a bit of a stretch; but, you don't know if you don't try. And, based on the limited feedback I've gotten, companies are reluctant to make an offer to me based on my prior earning history. It's nearly impossible to hide that the way online applications are structured these days.

Castle Erickson has been besotted by various plagues. All three of us at once. I have to suck it up and go to work because we can't afford for me to miss anymore time after the time missed interviewing and waiting out the ice storm office closings. Being a temp on an hourly rate contract sucks sometimes.

Learned today that my favorite author passed away which leaves me in a deeper funk than I was already in to begin with. Sir Terry Pratchett is a British author I have spoken about here before. He has been dealing with the effects of Alzheimers for the last several years. His Disc World series is an absolute gem. If you haven't read it, I can give you suggestions. But, as another, more eloquent blogger said, "The worst was good, and the best was magic."

Farewell, good sir. I'm sure DEATH and Binky gave you a clean exit from this mortal coil and a smooth journey.

5 comments:

  1. Just stumbled on your blog. Been 2.5 years looking. Getting interviews, even second interviews... but no offers yet.

    In the spirit of helping, I collect job-search related articles and compile them about once a week. Here is the latest one. Hope it helps you!

    https://davidhuntpe.wordpress.com/2015/03/05/job-search-article-aggregate-march-5-2015/

    And under "My Originals" page I have some other articles I've written for job seekers.

    Good luck!

    David

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, yeah, I agree - the economy sucks canal water. What REALLY irks me are the people who are utterly clueless and buy the "economy is nearing full employment" bilge.

    And please no politics on my site... I direct people to it to look at my profile and portfolio, so I don't need people - even if I might agree with them - posting strong opinions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David, thanks and welcome. I poked my nose around your blog a moment ago. I'll take another look when I have a little more time to spare. From the networking I've done and feedback from people in my extended circle of friends/family of friends and family, we are far from alone in our predicament. I know of at least two other people in my circle who have been searching for more than a year.

      People buy the bilge water because they don't have the time or the desire to open their eyes and dig into the world around them. It's very sad.

      No worries about leaving the politics off your site.

      Delete
  3. I know exactly what you are going through. I'm sorry the FL job didn't work out. There is light at the end of the tunnel as I was as frustrated as you are. Hang in there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Senior, thanks. I've still got a couple of applications pending in Florida. So, we may yet get The Queen her beach. In the meantime, I've got a death grip on hanging on.

      Delete

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