Absolutely Nothing

I would post an update but there has been absolutely nothing going on. I apply to jobs and hear nothing back. I really wish I could say that I wasn't updating because things were going good and I was busy with interviews and prepping for interviews but I can't. I have actually been pretty down lately. I just haven't had the energy to write down my feelings mostly because they are at this point severely negative. I am beginning to think that this thing called life is worth it.

I am almost certain at this point that it seems that the money and time I invested in getting my second degree was not worth it. Before, I was eating steak and lobster for dinner every night but I also wasn't chin deep in debt like I am now. Sure, I had about 12,000 in debt between some small student loans and a car payment. Now, well quadruple that. My social life really took a hit in the three and a half years I was getting my degree. Not only was I going to school full time but I was also working 40+ hours a week. The best I could do was post to some message boards in between breaks in studying. Hopefully, and boy do I hate that word as I see hope as a denial of reality, my trip to South by Southwest in the beginning of March will recharge my batteries some because I need some good news right about now.

Signed,
MG

Brooksource or Why Recruiters Can Suck

I have only been contacted by one recruiter, Brooksource, so far and it was because I actually applied for a job through their agency. I applied for a position which they required a couple years of professional experience in the field. I didn't have that but I almost always apply for positions if they require less then three years. I also applied for the job because it was e-mailing my resume to a person. That is far superior then having your resume screened out by a program. The recruiter e-mailed me back asking if they had missed something on my resume. Being the truthful person that I am, I responded that no I didn't have professional experience but I do have a degree and educational experience. I figured that I would probably get a rejection letter as that requirement must of been very important.

The next morning right before I leave for work, I get a call from the Brooksource recruiter. They actually had another position that wasn't exactly in my field of study but that I could do available. I of course expressed interest because I wasn't going to decline something right out of hand. The recruiter made it clear that if I was able to, they could probably set me up with an interview on the same day.

When I got back from work that night, I reviewed the information that the recruiter sent me. It sounded like a good starting point and something that I could do. I responded back to her saying that I was interested. I didn't expect to hear anything back that say since it was after 5. The next day, I didn't hear anything back from Brooksource. I figured that it was only a day and maybe the recruiter or their contact with the company  didn't respond yet.

On Monday, I sent Brooksource the short questionaire that was e-mailed to me since I still hadn't heard anything from the recruiter. I guessed they were waiting for that. A week passed and I heard nothing from Brooksource except for the original e-mail. It is now two weeks and I have heard nothing from Brooksource. It seems either that the recruiters original time estimate was exaggerated or they were just blowing smoke.

I have a long history in customer service. I know that sometimes you do have to give people bad news. It always sucks doing it because you don't know just how exactly they are going to respond. Some people are nice about it and some people throw fits. I can tell what will universally make people upset though and that is not getting back in tough with them at all. In my job, if I don't follow up with a customer in an allotted time frame, even if it just to say that the issue is taking longer then expected to resolve, I get reprimanded. I am guessing that what these recruiters don't understand is that not only are the companies that are recruiting through them are their customers but that the people they are recruiting and contacting are as well. Right now, my opinion of Brooksource is very low and I wouldn't recommend that anybody deal with them at this point. Sometime, in the future I hope to be part of the hiring process and I wouldn't recommend to use them as a recruiting agency because of this experience. I have an awfully long memory and I can hold grudges. To this day I refuse to shop at Harris Teeter because I met the president of the company once professionally and he was a jerk to me. I refuse give that person any of my money.

Feel free to comment if you like.

Signed,
MG

Job Hunting is Manic Depression

Sorry, for the delay in posting in which I didn't get to last week. It has been a busy week and the events therein lead to the title of this post. I thought I had a good lead lined up and ready to go but alas it seemed to fall apart but that is a post for another day.

If job hunting was a psychological disorder it would be manic depression. The whole process is bipolar for the majority of us. I believe that there are those get the job they want with little effort but I haven't met one yet. For most of us the job hunt swings to periods of excitement and activity when we think something is going good. We scored an interview or we got a positive response to our application. The possibilities seem wide open at that time. Energy is high as you prepare yourself to put your best foot forward.

 Then the rejection letter comes or you simply never hear back from a company that has responded positively. It seems that you just wasted your time filling out that application, tailoring your resume and cover letter, and rearranging your schedule for that interview. At that point the frustration and sadness sets in and you wonder if it was worth it. Here, you don't really want to put up with the daily grind of searching, tweaking, and hoping.

Job hunting is a vicious cycle and there really isn't a good way to improve it. At least not one I can think of. A lot of us that were laid off at the beginning of the recession are now graduating with new skills and finding out that the huge investment we made in ourselves doesn't seem to be paying off. We have experience but not in our new careers. If you have any ideas on how to make the job search better, feel free to comment.

Signed,
MG

Updates coming soon.

I haven't updated in a few days. The weekend was busier then I expected with things cropping up at work and in my social life. I am hoping to have the post I was promising in my last entry up tomorrow.

Till then,
MG

Day 3

Not much going on in the past two days. Work has been pretty taxing and I have been trying to burn off the holiday poundage. I haven't heard any news good or bad since Monday. They say no news is good news but I believe that in this game, no news means HR just doesn't care about you. I was able to apply for a couple jobs in between though. Today, I looked at the Carolinas. Charlotte and Raleigh usually have about 10 new jobs popping up each week that are in the general category for which I am seeking employment. Yesterday, was a trip through the mid south and great lakes region. Usually not much popping up there but Cincy and Cleveland have jobs that I can apply for pop up about every two weeks or so.

Oddly, enough I found a job posted today in West Virginia that was looking for someone to relocate to Green Bay, WI. I found that pretty odd as the job was not posted in Wisconsin the last time. Very odd that it would be placed in an area that doesn't see much movement when it comes to database administration. I applied for as the ad said that they would provide relocation if hired. There are worse places to be I guess then Green Bay. I really can't be that picky at this point as the existence of this blog shows.

I have decided that I will post my rejection letter I received on Monday. Of course, I will blank out any incriminating information. I will also my thoughts and comments on it. Suffice to say I am not to pleased with the company that sent it to me and would be wary to ever waste my time applying for one of their positions again.

For Now,
MG  

Day 1

Today, I focused my search in the Southwest. Texas is actually a hotbed right now as far as database administration jobs go. I have applied for several positions in Texas over my job search. I haven't heard anything back from them so far. Even though I am located in Northern Virginia at the moment, I can move and Texas seems like as good a place as any. I know the cost of living is much better. The only places in the country that I would be hesitant to accept a position in would be New York City and California. I have visited both places and enjoyed them but I don't think I would enjoy living there.

I only found two jobs today that would fit my experience. One was hosted by a variety of companies by I applied for it through Experis. This job was a Houston. The other job I found was in Dallas. The posting was put up by Timberhorn IT. Not sure if that the posting is working for that company or they are a recruiter. I wasn't the perfect candidate but I had some skills they were looking for. Might as well take a chance because if you aren't, who is going to take a chance on you?

I did get some bad news today. I received a rejection letter from a company in Atlanta that I had applied to before starting this diary. I may have somethings to say about it latter in the week. It depends on how much I have on my plate latter on in the week.

Anyway, I think that is it for today.

Signed,
MG

An Introduction

Hello,

This is my diary to chronicle my job search for a database administrator position. I don't expect much readership as I hope to stay as anonymous as possible. Still, if you happen upon this little diary of mine and like the scribblings that I leave here don't be afraid to comment. As for the content of this blog I will try to update at semi regularly about what positions companies I have applied to, their response if any, and a little bit about the persons that I encounter along this strange journey of hunting perhaps the most elusive prey in our current times. This will also be the place where I vent about the process so expect sarcasm and cynicism. I will try to keep it clean.

I guess I should divulge a little information about myself. I am a thirty something job seeker who has two degrees. I recently graduated with a degree in information systems with a specialization in database management. I am trying to break into the field but as a job seeker without experience outside the classroom, I finding it frustrating which is the whole purpose of this diary. I do have work experience outside the field though. I have another degree in a wholly different field which I will not divulge since the combination would be quite unique I think. I am currently working a job again in another field but I am looking to break into the database management field. I am thankful for the steady paycheck but I want to move on to bigger and better things. Not to mention the better pay.

Well, that is my little introduction. Though again, I doubt that anybody but myself will actually read this.

Signed,
MG