On the tyranny of job hunting
The worst thing about job hunting is not the actual hunting. Finding job postings is pretty easy, especially given the internet and how it has conglomerated the jobs into a few sites. The first day has the most postings to sort through. You find a bunch of jobs that seem to match your experience and interests, so you send off your resume. You also post your resume on sites like Monster and Dice. You hope to pull off the shotgun effect of firing a bunch of pellets and getting one or two hits.
Now comes the hard part. After the first day the postings slow to a trickle. The same jobs get posted again and again. You sit at home, waiting to hear back from people. You get some phone calls, but they are all from recruiters trying to peddle your wares or show you off for jobs you have already sent resumes to. It's funny, they almost seem offended when you tell them you've already sent off your resume to a company. They can't make any money if you've already sent a company your resume.
Days go by. Maybe you hear from a company confirming they got your resume. Most of the time you don't. Maybe you have a phone interview with an HR staffer, asking the usual HR questions. The rest of the time you're just sitting at home, waiting.
Always waiting.
Weeks pass and before you know it a month has gone by. Maybe you get a few phone interviews and one or two in person interviews. You usually feel they've gone well but you simply never know.
In the mean time, you continue waiting. You pounce on new job postings.
Then the worst happens. You start doubting yourself and your skills. You begin to doubt your future and ever having gainful employment again. You start thinking you'll never make money again. In the mean time your savings start to drain and you have no more income coming in.
All the while, the waiting continues...
So I've had one interview in person and another one tomorrow up in SF. I'd rather not have to move but I may not have much of a choice. Had a phone interview yesterday with another company down in SJ but who knows if that will turn into another on site interview.
However, I'm about at my whits end. I'm trying to plan various expenditures and a vacation in the summer so it's hard to follow through on plans when you're unemployed. I'm also basically out of game jobs to apply for and quite frankly I'm alright with not being in games. Tomorrow, I start looking for regular work, both in programming and IT.
Now comes the hard part. After the first day the postings slow to a trickle. The same jobs get posted again and again. You sit at home, waiting to hear back from people. You get some phone calls, but they are all from recruiters trying to peddle your wares or show you off for jobs you have already sent resumes to. It's funny, they almost seem offended when you tell them you've already sent off your resume to a company. They can't make any money if you've already sent a company your resume.
Days go by. Maybe you hear from a company confirming they got your resume. Most of the time you don't. Maybe you have a phone interview with an HR staffer, asking the usual HR questions. The rest of the time you're just sitting at home, waiting.
Always waiting.
Weeks pass and before you know it a month has gone by. Maybe you get a few phone interviews and one or two in person interviews. You usually feel they've gone well but you simply never know.
In the mean time, you continue waiting. You pounce on new job postings.
Then the worst happens. You start doubting yourself and your skills. You begin to doubt your future and ever having gainful employment again. You start thinking you'll never make money again. In the mean time your savings start to drain and you have no more income coming in.
All the while, the waiting continues...
So I've had one interview in person and another one tomorrow up in SF. I'd rather not have to move but I may not have much of a choice. Had a phone interview yesterday with another company down in SJ but who knows if that will turn into another on site interview.
However, I'm about at my whits end. I'm trying to plan various expenditures and a vacation in the summer so it's hard to follow through on plans when you're unemployed. I'm also basically out of game jobs to apply for and quite frankly I'm alright with not being in games. Tomorrow, I start looking for regular work, both in programming and IT.