Well that was . . .

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So, I had my first real job interview in six months. By real I mean a job where the company isn't hiring as many warm bodies as possible knowing that they need volume to make up for their revolving door.

And the interview was humbling. I haven't done any hard core web development since 2004 and it showed. I've been doing little side jobs and thanks to them I didn't look like an idiot, just like I was really out of my depth.

So, the plan now is to continue.

Continue looking for work. Continue building my skill set.

I also met with a guy who is doing some consulting and I may head that direction. Based on our conversation, he seems to think I have skills that small businesses need. So I'm looking into that as an option.

I will also get back to using this blog to aggregate information on how to get a job. To add to this I will also be updating my website to include a job search how to section. This serves two purposes. First, it allows me to work on my web dev skill set. Second, my hope is that it will help others find jobs.

Anyway, I now have much to do.

Keep checking back to see where we head.

Apologies

My apologies for the non-posting goodness yesterday. I'm prepping for a job interview on Monday that I expect to be pretty in-depth. The info gleaned from speaking with the recruiter and then in the follow-up email has me digging deep to make sure I know what what I'm talking about (or at least sound like it) by Monday afternoon.

I may post just to maintain my sanity but don't expect anything amazing.

czesc!

. . . and two steps back.

One of the challenges with an extended job search is that you eventually reach a burn-out point. Sometimes burnout will last a day, other times it will last for much longer. One of the best pieces of advice I received this search is to set a time frame for disappointment. You know it's going to happen so plan for it.

What I mean by that is when you get the rejection call, allow yourself to be depressed for a couple of hours, or even the rest of the day, but then get over it and start looking again.

I allowed myself to have self-pity for the last couple of days. It is now time to FIDO - forget it and drive on.

New application hell

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So, the new concept for applying for jobs is a lot different. The new way of doing things is to customize your resume and cover letter for every job. Now, I used to do this before but it was always minor tweaks to a basic resume.

Resume filtering has become automated and somewhat sneaky. Companies are getting so many resumes for each job posting that there is now software to filter out those who don't meet their requirements. This is even more insidious than it sounds. In the past I would look at the job requirements and what the listing said they wanted and then change my resume or cover letter to match. The problem is that I would reword it . . . hey, isn't that the way we all got through school? Otherwise it's just plagiarism, isn't it? Not with the modern job search. Nope, if you don't take what they want verbatim off their posting and find a way to put it in your resume and/or cover letter (oxymoron alert) creatively verbatim. Yep, if you don't do a data dump of what is on the job posting don't plan on getting the call back.

And that has been the pain this job search. No call-backs. The only bites that have come have been places that have a revolving door process. They hire as many people as they can get and some will eventually stick. I guess I'd do that if there were no other options. I just believe that there have to be more/better jobs out there.

So, today I spent the day following this new process. Dang, it's a pain. I'm sure it's like everything. The start is slow and painful but it gets better and faster as you go along. It took me hours just to get out three applications/resumes.

I created a web page to post all the information as I come up with it so I can copy/paste chunks for new job postings. Feel free to check it out at travellis.uuuq.com/mondores.php

We'll see how it goes.

Topics

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For the first of my daily posts on searching for a job I think an overview of topics I'm going to cover is in order. I doubt that this list will be comprehensive as things will pop up that I will want to cover but this will give me a pool of topics from which I can draw.

I will be attaching this post to the sidebar as a reference. As I write on a topic, I'll put a link on this page to the individual post and as I add topics, I'll add them to this list. I will also be creating a section on my personal website with links to the topic posts. I look forward to your input.



Goals
Discovering what you want to do when you grow up.
Transferable skills.
You in 30 seconds.
Making a plan to reach your goals.
How to identify sources of employment
How to contact people effectively
How to interview effectively
The functional resume
Negotiating salary
Effective Networking
Power statements
Informational interviews
Cover letters
Being a memorable contact
The daily job search.