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

Image via Wikipedia

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

Image via Wikipedia

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.

Time to get serious

Image by Olivier Charavel via Flickr

Since I haven't had a full-time paying gig since the end of November of last year, one would think that I would have been serious about finding something.

The reality is that I have been actively searching for a gig but I have recently learned that most of what I have been doing no longer meets what the conventional wisdom says I should be doing.

One of the thinks that job seekers do on a daily basis is to blog it out. Start writing about the job search and about what you have learned that has helped you and that may help others in the future.

So, here I am, blogging it out. Starting tomorrow (later today, really), I'll be covering what I have learned and what I have put into use from what I have learned.

I finish this brief post by providing information that will help anyone reading this to help me.

Because it's all about me, right?

Please feel free to check out my linked in page and my personal bio page. My personal page is (very) rough right now but will improve over then next couple of days.

Trzymaj sie!

LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/travellis
Personal Site: http://travellis.uuuq.com

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Catharsis at its finest

Image by stevec77 via Flickr

So, a number of happenstances occurred the past few days to bring me to writing this post. I think that the combination of them will lead to a renewed writing of this blog.

As the title suggests, this post comes from some cathartic moments. The first cathartic moment I remember was in 1989. I was newly off active duty and had one of my army buddies visiting. That evening, as we fell asleep we discussed family issues and both of us described the dysfunctional families we grew up in. In retrospect, I really feel for Jim - he got to hear a bucket-load of crap. But then I got to hear about his father went around finding women, getting them pregnant, waited for the baby to be born, insisted they be named James Dean Harper, then disappearing.

So, now I'm here and am in somewhat of a crisis of identity. I have been listening to Glenn Beck talk about his "You Are Not Alone" project and one of the core ideas is that you have to know who you really are and what you really believe. I'm realizing that I don't really know. Thanks to years of reading and association with people who I believe want me to continually improve I have some ideas but I'm really starting to question whether they are my ideas . . . really whether the values I proclaim are really what I value. If so, I have been living a life far from what I value. If not, I've been lying to myself and others.

On top of this my wife rented "Back to the Future" for my kids so that they could have an appreciation for the contrast it showed. I have to say that I unabashedly enjoy the BttF series of movies. They're corny, but there is some good humor and cute lessons throughout. Or so I thought until today. Today I watched the story from a different point of view. Watching Marty McFly's interraction with his "back in the day" father had me comparing myself with my father.

Now this isn't as bad for me as it was for Marty, but it did have me looking at many of the choices I've made in the past as well as how I respond to situations. I am definitely my father's son. After my last visit to his place, I realized how similar we are. We both have well defined values that we profess. What I found out is that we both struggle to live those values.

So, I return to my earlier conundrum: are they my values and I just don't live them, are they values that have been foisted on me, or are they values that resonate with me but I just haven't fully accepted them?

Considering what Glenn Beck has been discussing over the last month or so, it seems that I am late in discovering who I am and what I believe. Please check out his 9 principles and 12 values. It seems as good a place as any to start my self-contemplation so I'll be starting there. If you want, please feel free to follow along on my journey.

Czesc!

Back for the New Year

Image by cogdogblog via FlickrJust a brief note to say happy new year and that I'm definitely looking forward to 2009. Last year is the first year since I turned 18 that wasn't as good or better than the one preceding it. As I start the new year I am mired mid-way through my BSB/M degree and am looking for a new job.

That being said, I am really looking forward to the future. I thing that part of what prompted me to move on is that I became more aware that I was not doing what I was/am designed to do. Many years ago I went through one of those processes to help individuals determine why they were put here on this big blue marble. Among the insights I had was that I am here to help millions of people put their lives in order both temporally and spiritually.

On the face of it, that is a funny statement as I definitely don't feel that I have My life in order - temporally or spiritually. In my musings of the last couple of weeks I determined that this would be the first step. Before I can help others, I need to have at least started helping myself.

I have an idea for what my process will be - both for myself and for others later on. Look forward to more information as I move along.