Updates
Interview in Boston yesterday. First time in the city proper -- I've only been to Logan once. (Yes, I live in New England. However, I didn't live here until my senior year in high school, so I missed all the elementary school trips to Boston and such.)
At this point, I've had three second interviews within a week... most of them promising to get back to me in a week or two on whether I've made the cut. I consider it a great accomplishment that I'm nailing the first round interviews to get the foot in the door, but it's the 2nd round interviews that are making me nervous. The problem once again is the "Well, why are you job hunting? What made you leave your previous position." I have the canned politically correct response. I have the line I drop in the interview ("not seeing eye to eye with management after 6 years, looking for new challenges and a place to invest my career in"), but inevitably, someone pries deeper. I suspect that cost one the first of the three 2nd interviews last week, could have knocked me down a peg or two in yesterday's interview, and then on my way back home, the recruiter called regarding the third, needing more details on that, but "promising to show it in a good light". ::sigh::
I'm of mixed minds working in Boston. Typical rents anywhere near the city are double or even triple what I pay here in Maine, plus there's the hassle of traffic/parking common to any city. Plus the apartment I live in, I get pissed off every time I have to listen to police/fire go screaming by on sirens... not like the inner city would be any better for that. But... there's perks. Salary tends to be higher, and finding a cheap but decent place would help. And let's face it, it puts me closer to family and friends, instead of being out on the ass end of civilization. (Sorry Maine, but it's true.)
I've no qualms about moving; the other two potential hires are both just minutes away from me, but I'd still probably do some apartment hunting. These days, my current place feels more like a dorm room than an apartment. Pretty much just feel like I need a new start. Or at least an apartment with a washer/dryer in unit so I don't have to wait forever to get laundry done. And maybe something a tad bigger, or at least with some storage.
Not that I'm slacking off on going after more work at this point. Still applying for jobs. I even re-activated my Dice profile and got immediately inundated with spam email and phone calls for contract work. The kind where the people clearly didn't read any part of my profile. ("Opportunity in Austin, TX!" Um. I have three cities listed for relocation that keep me in southern Maine, southern NH, or eastern Mass. Texas is a no-go. "We want you for a job that requires secure clearance!" Believe me, if I had that clearance, I'd have it on my resume. And no, I don't have Security+ cert, I'm still figuring out if I can afford a shot at the MSCE and CCNA certs right now or if I hold off to eek more time before I need financial assistance.)
The company I interviewed for in Boston would be an impressive step up for my career. They're essentially restructuring their entire technology department after a lot of retiring and looking to move their technology operations to a level that makes them the shining example for other similar organizations to follow... and the people they've hired so far that I interviewed with have the passion, knowledge, and experience to make that happen. The opportunity to get in on the ground floor of that, to help shape that future, it's pretty exciting. It's reminiscent of how it felt working at Walch and the early years of my last job, where I was leading the company through virtualization and embracing technology in new ways.
As much as I know a relocation to the Boston area would be short-term stressful and expensive (I'd *have* to do short term stay somewhere, and I'd need financial help from my parents for that), that job is The One that would make it all worth it.
So I have The One job that I want there that was 2nd interview. I have the 2nd interview down the turnpike a bit from me. That one would keep me in the financial industry, but at a different level that would present some interesting new challenges. Then there's the 2nd interview that is just down the road and would be like working for a slightly larger Walch, though not in the financial or publishing industries. It has the feel of Walch, but with more of an IT team, so it would feel more comfortable to me. No idea of the number of candidates in the pool for any of them, but all of them saying 'end of this week, sometime next week or so' for getting back to me.
Still leery of recruiters. I'm still trying to limit my work to just one, but when you're looking at major cities like Boston, there's another recruiter that may have more inroads there. (Hard to tell; I suspect a lot of recruiters are posting fake potential jobs just to get more resumes in their database, and most of them on job boards are nuking and recreating postings daily so they show up in date searches. Grr.) My other problem is that not knowing who the company is makes it much harder to determine if you're a match for them in advance, in terms of culture, growth opportunity, company goals, etc.
Mind you, that's for applying a blind posting on the Internet; one of the jobs here in Maine on my list above is one that I was hesitant to apply for when I saw the direct posting, but the recruiter contacted me about it and had a little more background on the opportunity, so I went for it.
There's also the other concern: Most recruiters want you to send in a job application that includes your SSN. How much do I *really* trust their data security?
OK, there also might be a little bit of revenge on my part as well. Most of the recruiters I talked to last time I was job hunting pulled the "we'll keep you in our database" and never spoke to me again.
The hardest part right now though is still putting out applications. I want to hope that one of the three companies will step forward... but I can't really count on that happening. But the rate has slowed down a bit -- lot of college graduates entering the workforce soon, so not much in the way of mid/senior level positions around.
At this point, I've had three second interviews within a week... most of them promising to get back to me in a week or two on whether I've made the cut. I consider it a great accomplishment that I'm nailing the first round interviews to get the foot in the door, but it's the 2nd round interviews that are making me nervous. The problem once again is the "Well, why are you job hunting? What made you leave your previous position." I have the canned politically correct response. I have the line I drop in the interview ("not seeing eye to eye with management after 6 years, looking for new challenges and a place to invest my career in"), but inevitably, someone pries deeper. I suspect that cost one the first of the three 2nd interviews last week, could have knocked me down a peg or two in yesterday's interview, and then on my way back home, the recruiter called regarding the third, needing more details on that, but "promising to show it in a good light". ::sigh::
I'm of mixed minds working in Boston. Typical rents anywhere near the city are double or even triple what I pay here in Maine, plus there's the hassle of traffic/parking common to any city. Plus the apartment I live in, I get pissed off every time I have to listen to police/fire go screaming by on sirens... not like the inner city would be any better for that. But... there's perks. Salary tends to be higher, and finding a cheap but decent place would help. And let's face it, it puts me closer to family and friends, instead of being out on the ass end of civilization. (Sorry Maine, but it's true.)
I've no qualms about moving; the other two potential hires are both just minutes away from me, but I'd still probably do some apartment hunting. These days, my current place feels more like a dorm room than an apartment. Pretty much just feel like I need a new start. Or at least an apartment with a washer/dryer in unit so I don't have to wait forever to get laundry done. And maybe something a tad bigger, or at least with some storage.
Not that I'm slacking off on going after more work at this point. Still applying for jobs. I even re-activated my Dice profile and got immediately inundated with spam email and phone calls for contract work. The kind where the people clearly didn't read any part of my profile. ("Opportunity in Austin, TX!" Um. I have three cities listed for relocation that keep me in southern Maine, southern NH, or eastern Mass. Texas is a no-go. "We want you for a job that requires secure clearance!" Believe me, if I had that clearance, I'd have it on my resume. And no, I don't have Security+ cert, I'm still figuring out if I can afford a shot at the MSCE and CCNA certs right now or if I hold off to eek more time before I need financial assistance.)
The company I interviewed for in Boston would be an impressive step up for my career. They're essentially restructuring their entire technology department after a lot of retiring and looking to move their technology operations to a level that makes them the shining example for other similar organizations to follow... and the people they've hired so far that I interviewed with have the passion, knowledge, and experience to make that happen. The opportunity to get in on the ground floor of that, to help shape that future, it's pretty exciting. It's reminiscent of how it felt working at Walch and the early years of my last job, where I was leading the company through virtualization and embracing technology in new ways.
As much as I know a relocation to the Boston area would be short-term stressful and expensive (I'd *have* to do short term stay somewhere, and I'd need financial help from my parents for that), that job is The One that would make it all worth it.
So I have The One job that I want there that was 2nd interview. I have the 2nd interview down the turnpike a bit from me. That one would keep me in the financial industry, but at a different level that would present some interesting new challenges. Then there's the 2nd interview that is just down the road and would be like working for a slightly larger Walch, though not in the financial or publishing industries. It has the feel of Walch, but with more of an IT team, so it would feel more comfortable to me. No idea of the number of candidates in the pool for any of them, but all of them saying 'end of this week, sometime next week or so' for getting back to me.
Still leery of recruiters. I'm still trying to limit my work to just one, but when you're looking at major cities like Boston, there's another recruiter that may have more inroads there. (Hard to tell; I suspect a lot of recruiters are posting fake potential jobs just to get more resumes in their database, and most of them on job boards are nuking and recreating postings daily so they show up in date searches. Grr.) My other problem is that not knowing who the company is makes it much harder to determine if you're a match for them in advance, in terms of culture, growth opportunity, company goals, etc.
Mind you, that's for applying a blind posting on the Internet; one of the jobs here in Maine on my list above is one that I was hesitant to apply for when I saw the direct posting, but the recruiter contacted me about it and had a little more background on the opportunity, so I went for it.
There's also the other concern: Most recruiters want you to send in a job application that includes your SSN. How much do I *really* trust their data security?
OK, there also might be a little bit of revenge on my part as well. Most of the recruiters I talked to last time I was job hunting pulled the "we'll keep you in our database" and never spoke to me again.
The hardest part right now though is still putting out applications. I want to hope that one of the three companies will step forward... but I can't really count on that happening. But the rate has slowed down a bit -- lot of college graduates entering the workforce soon, so not much in the way of mid/senior level positions around.