Current Updates - New Job, Moving, Etc.
Okay, so now that I've finally finished the spring break updates, I think it's about time to do some more recent updates.
Well, luckily college is almost over. 25 more days (total, including weekends and the day I don't have classes). Advanced Electronics isn't so bad...have one or two more things to do for that, but I'm not sure what all is required for one of 'em. Digital Systems 2 is getting into microprocessors...after I really started looking at it, it doesn't seem too bad, though I do admit that it'll be my toughest class for a final (it's comprehensive and just sounds really not fun). Signals and Systems, also not bad. Getting into some things that I've seen before, luckily. The final is comprehensive, apparently, but is take home and pretty much considered a 'group' test. There is a group project as well, though I may see about switching groups. Beyond that, all there is is Senior Design. Very not happy with my group members right now, but can't do much about it at this point. All I can say is that after the way I've been treated, I don't consider them friends.
On to more pleasantish things. For awhile there I was rather frustrated with my job search. Nobody wanted to interview me for Interview Day (I don't count Home Depot wanting to interview me for a floor manager position - not a job for an EE). Another company didn't like my resume, and another was initially interested, then stopped contacting me for some reason. The main job I was seeing from monster.com or hotjobs or the other one was 'Online Survey Taker' - yeah, after getting a Bachelor's in EE, that's what I wanna do, be a survey taker. Sheesh.
Anyway, a few weeks ago my dad suggested that I come work for YESCO to get some more hours in to help me pay my bills. After talking with his boss, Lee (and Karl, who seems to be Lee's right-hand man, and a good friend of my dad), he told me that Lee wanted to interview me and potentially create a position for me there. I ended up meeting Karl and my dad at the Springfield Grille so he could do a 'pre-interview' of sorts. That seemed to go rather well. Also interesting as I'd never been to the Springfield Grille before. The week after, Lee wanted to interview me, so I went in after work one day. Wasn't too bad, though it was probably my first *real* interview. A few days later he had me take some online profiling tests (not difficult, but kinda time consuming). In anycase, it seemed like he wanted to offer me a position. At 21 (almost 22) I'd be the youngest person working there. He wanted me to check pricing, work on the website, do lighting/electrical layouts, estimates, and I'd end up being a department head and training those under me. Rather similar to what I've been doing at Santon, which is not what I wanted to be doing.
In the meantime, I found out that ABB wanted to interview me. The closest branch of ABB is in Wickliffe, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland). Apparently their power technology group was looking for a Systems Engineer. My uncle works for them and called me when he found out their HR lady contacted me about an interview. I ended up spending the night at my Aunt and Uncle's house, then driving in for the interview around 8:30am the next morning. Technically my interview wasn't til 9:30am, but my uncle wanted to show me around first. Going back a bit, the day/night before I researched the company via their website, asked my uncle questions about it, and went through a 6 page list of tough interview questions to prepare myself (I REALLY wanted the job).
My uncle showed me around, introduced me to people, explained what exactly Systems Engineers with ABB do, etc. He then took me to the HR lady, Trish (really nice lady). I felt a tad out of place as I was in my suit and everyone else was casual - mainly Indians shirts and jeans, since it was friday. Trish did a sort of prelim interview (kind of a warm up), gave me some forms to fill out, then took me to my other interviews.
I interviewed with four people, each one separately. The first one seemed nice, but mainly stuck to your run-of-the-mill questions. The second one I couldn't quite figure out what he thought, though it seemed to be doing better when we found guitar to be a common ground. The third was very laid back and relaxed, not difficult. The last was also fairly relaxed, and showed me around some more. I asked him when they were looking to hire people, and he said they'd probably send out offers in the next few weeks, then asked when I'd be available - I said June and that I'd already been looking into apartments.
I headed back to my Uncle's office, filled out the paperwork for Trish, and gave it to her on my way out. Also when I was leaving Cleveland I happened to pass one of the apartment complexes I was thinking of moving into. Looked nice. :)
To my surprise I got a call on monday (not yesterday, but the monday before) from ABB, wanting me to come in for an interview the next day. So back to Cleveland I went. My heart wasn't as into it as it had been the first time, but I did still prepare to an extent before going. Anyway, this time it was with a different HR person, Fran, and a panel of four others. Didn't go too badly...course about halfway through the interview I realized that it was for a different department (same type of job, though in their department it's called 'Process Engineer').
On the way in to that interview I'd ran into Trish, who wanted to see me after my interview. When I got to her office, she told me they wanted to make me an offer. I looked over some things then and asked a few questions, then left.
In anycase, the offer's way too good to pass up, so last friday I accepted the offer.
Now, Tony and I had been discussing this for awhile, and when I accepted the offer, we decided for sure that we were going to move in together. So the basic plan is that I'll move in the very first weekend of June, then the week after Tony will bring most of his stuff up. We'll fly back down to Nashville, then drive his car back up here with two of his cats (he and his mom have four and she told him he has to take two). Take the next week to get things settled (bank accounts, insurance, etc.) then I'll start work the third week of June. Course, it got a tad more complicated cause Tony's mom wants him to wait til the end of the month, but for many various reasons (that I'll leave out of here) Tony and I both feel our plan is best and have solutions to what she brought up. We'll have to see. It makes me more reluctant to look into things more til we get this resolved with her. Oy.
Anyway, we have it narrowed down to two favorite apartments, then a few others that didn't seem too bad. Our favorite one is Pine Ridge Apartments, which is in Willoughby, Ohio (literally 5 minutes from ABB) - reasonable rent, good security, and amazing amenities. Course we'll go check them out first, but that one's in the lead thus far.
Well, luckily college is almost over. 25 more days (total, including weekends and the day I don't have classes). Advanced Electronics isn't so bad...have one or two more things to do for that, but I'm not sure what all is required for one of 'em. Digital Systems 2 is getting into microprocessors...after I really started looking at it, it doesn't seem too bad, though I do admit that it'll be my toughest class for a final (it's comprehensive and just sounds really not fun). Signals and Systems, also not bad. Getting into some things that I've seen before, luckily. The final is comprehensive, apparently, but is take home and pretty much considered a 'group' test. There is a group project as well, though I may see about switching groups. Beyond that, all there is is Senior Design. Very not happy with my group members right now, but can't do much about it at this point. All I can say is that after the way I've been treated, I don't consider them friends.
On to more pleasantish things. For awhile there I was rather frustrated with my job search. Nobody wanted to interview me for Interview Day (I don't count Home Depot wanting to interview me for a floor manager position - not a job for an EE). Another company didn't like my resume, and another was initially interested, then stopped contacting me for some reason. The main job I was seeing from monster.com or hotjobs or the other one was 'Online Survey Taker' - yeah, after getting a Bachelor's in EE, that's what I wanna do, be a survey taker. Sheesh.
Anyway, a few weeks ago my dad suggested that I come work for YESCO to get some more hours in to help me pay my bills. After talking with his boss, Lee (and Karl, who seems to be Lee's right-hand man, and a good friend of my dad), he told me that Lee wanted to interview me and potentially create a position for me there. I ended up meeting Karl and my dad at the Springfield Grille so he could do a 'pre-interview' of sorts. That seemed to go rather well. Also interesting as I'd never been to the Springfield Grille before. The week after, Lee wanted to interview me, so I went in after work one day. Wasn't too bad, though it was probably my first *real* interview. A few days later he had me take some online profiling tests (not difficult, but kinda time consuming). In anycase, it seemed like he wanted to offer me a position. At 21 (almost 22) I'd be the youngest person working there. He wanted me to check pricing, work on the website, do lighting/electrical layouts, estimates, and I'd end up being a department head and training those under me. Rather similar to what I've been doing at Santon, which is not what I wanted to be doing.
In the meantime, I found out that ABB wanted to interview me. The closest branch of ABB is in Wickliffe, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland). Apparently their power technology group was looking for a Systems Engineer. My uncle works for them and called me when he found out their HR lady contacted me about an interview. I ended up spending the night at my Aunt and Uncle's house, then driving in for the interview around 8:30am the next morning. Technically my interview wasn't til 9:30am, but my uncle wanted to show me around first. Going back a bit, the day/night before I researched the company via their website, asked my uncle questions about it, and went through a 6 page list of tough interview questions to prepare myself (I REALLY wanted the job).
My uncle showed me around, introduced me to people, explained what exactly Systems Engineers with ABB do, etc. He then took me to the HR lady, Trish (really nice lady). I felt a tad out of place as I was in my suit and everyone else was casual - mainly Indians shirts and jeans, since it was friday. Trish did a sort of prelim interview (kind of a warm up), gave me some forms to fill out, then took me to my other interviews.
I interviewed with four people, each one separately. The first one seemed nice, but mainly stuck to your run-of-the-mill questions. The second one I couldn't quite figure out what he thought, though it seemed to be doing better when we found guitar to be a common ground. The third was very laid back and relaxed, not difficult. The last was also fairly relaxed, and showed me around some more. I asked him when they were looking to hire people, and he said they'd probably send out offers in the next few weeks, then asked when I'd be available - I said June and that I'd already been looking into apartments.
I headed back to my Uncle's office, filled out the paperwork for Trish, and gave it to her on my way out. Also when I was leaving Cleveland I happened to pass one of the apartment complexes I was thinking of moving into. Looked nice. :)
To my surprise I got a call on monday (not yesterday, but the monday before) from ABB, wanting me to come in for an interview the next day. So back to Cleveland I went. My heart wasn't as into it as it had been the first time, but I did still prepare to an extent before going. Anyway, this time it was with a different HR person, Fran, and a panel of four others. Didn't go too badly...course about halfway through the interview I realized that it was for a different department (same type of job, though in their department it's called 'Process Engineer').
On the way in to that interview I'd ran into Trish, who wanted to see me after my interview. When I got to her office, she told me they wanted to make me an offer. I looked over some things then and asked a few questions, then left.
In anycase, the offer's way too good to pass up, so last friday I accepted the offer.
Now, Tony and I had been discussing this for awhile, and when I accepted the offer, we decided for sure that we were going to move in together. So the basic plan is that I'll move in the very first weekend of June, then the week after Tony will bring most of his stuff up. We'll fly back down to Nashville, then drive his car back up here with two of his cats (he and his mom have four and she told him he has to take two). Take the next week to get things settled (bank accounts, insurance, etc.) then I'll start work the third week of June. Course, it got a tad more complicated cause Tony's mom wants him to wait til the end of the month, but for many various reasons (that I'll leave out of here) Tony and I both feel our plan is best and have solutions to what she brought up. We'll have to see. It makes me more reluctant to look into things more til we get this resolved with her. Oy.
Anyway, we have it narrowed down to two favorite apartments, then a few others that didn't seem too bad. Our favorite one is Pine Ridge Apartments, which is in Willoughby, Ohio (literally 5 minutes from ABB) - reasonable rent, good security, and amazing amenities. Course we'll go check them out first, but that one's in the lead thus far.