The final countdown
Ah...a day off, entirely empty of the usual feelings of guilt that I'm not looking for a job, don't have a job, et cetera. This is wonderful. I'm sitting at my computer, listening to the rain fall gently outside. My cup of Earl Grey tea is next to me, an empty bowl of Cream of Rice cereal with nectarines and honey next to the tea. My tummy is warm and happy, and so am I. Sometimes, it is the little things in life. I am at peace, and all is well.
Continuing on with our story...my job!
Let me start at the beginning. As regular readers know, I have explored a number of options and ideas during my job search as of late. I've considered and applied for jobs as account managers, librarians, development assistants, temp workers and many others. My only qualifications for my new job were no mandatory late night or weekend hours, plus I refused to do anything related to tech support ever again. I applied for job after after, hearing nothing. The weeks turned to months and frustration reigned.
About two weeks ago, in a fit of frustration, I handed my resume to my friend S., who is a career counselor. I told her "Tear it apart!". And so she did. She cut it down to a page and made it easy to read. I really liked what she did...I had been looking at it for so long that I had become unable to do the editing job necessary. Armed with my new resume, I began applying for jobs, focusing on the non-profit sector, but throwing in jobs from the corporate sector that I deemed interesting.
Last week Thursday, I got up bright and early (for me) to take Klaus to the dealer for his "What the h377 is making him buck and jolt when we are idling?" checkup. After coming back, I found that I didn't want to go back to sleep, so I spent my time searching for jobs, updating my resumes on Monster.com and careerbuilder. As I searched the timesunion want ads, I found a position for account/project mananger. I read the description, and a tingling sensation goes up my arm. This is the kind of thing I've been looking for! Intrigued, I applied, flagrantly stealing yuckapoo's cover letter format that she gave to tenner in a recent post. I sent it off, hoping to hear back, but expecting nothing, like usual.
I then proceeded to read LJ, drink more tea, IM with tenner, talk with my mother, and other such things. About an hour later, I get an email. It is from the guy who would be my boss, expressing interest in my resume! He wants to make sure I know what the job is about: it was listed as an accounting job, but it is not that. I assure him via email that I am very interested in the position and did not want an accounting job. Several emails later, he agrees to call me on Friday so we can set up an interview. Woohoo!
Friday comes, C (my boss) calls, we talk a little and we set up a Tuesday interview time. C explains that they want a quick hiring process, and that he would like to do things on Monday, but it is usually to busy a day. I say that is fine, even as my head is saying "What? I could know within a week or so? WOW!!!? (Every time I have gone through interview processes, the shortest was 1.5 months, the longest 3 months).
Tuesday rolls around. I drive down to Kinderhook. Kinderhook is about 30 minutes from Albany. Although this is a hike, the drive is beautiful, there is NO traffic, and it certainly beats my previous traffic laden Boston commute.
My interview on Tuesday goes very well. C does most of the talking. He explains the entire job to me, making sure I have a clear idea of what the job entails. After a few questions asking if I want to go into teaching, what with my education degree (a fervent no is provided by me, with accompanying explanation), why I want this job, et cetera, C says that he's not sure about the hiring process, but that he'll need a second interview with me later in the week, and do I have references? No mention of other candidates.
At this point, I realize that I really like C's style as a boss. He admits that he is not a micro manager, and just wants people to get their work done. I am told that if my work gets done, I can leave early, no problem. He is friendly, smart and obviously not intimidated by my intelligence and degrees (this has been a problem in the past). He himself started at the company as a temp, and has worked his way to Director in three years at the company. I get the feeling that I can go far in this company if I want.
Essentially, my job is such: my company runs audits for movie theaters and merchandisers, counting heads in movie theaters, checking the state of bathrooms, and in the case of the merchandisers, checking to see if certain products can be found on store shelves. The company employs 15-20,000 independent contractors to perform checks at the theaters and merchandisers, paying them for each visit. Our Operations department handles assigning the checks, collecting the data, etc. My job is to coordinate the whole project: speaking with the client to determine what data they need, then working with operations to assign the appropriate i.c.s. I monitor the progress of the data collection. Once the data is in, I use programs created by IT to create reports for the client. I also follow up on data points that are erroneous.
Travel is limited, but some of this is because I am taking over accounts from a women who has done the job for 20 years, and is deathly afraid of travel or talking with the clients. I really can make the job what I want it to be.
Excited about my prospects, I shake hands and head home.
Wednesday comes. I'm in the shower, and the phone rings. Thinking it is a call I've been waiting for, I pick it up. It is C, not the call I was expecting, but that's ok. He asks if I can come in for a Thursday interview. I say sure, as the conditioner runs down my face and into my eyes. "10 o'clock it is!"
Thursday comes. As I drive to the interview, J., my old boss calls to let me know he JUST spoke with C. To sum up the call, J. says that he expects me to be receiving an offer. I pretty much feel the same way, and have prepared myself for the possibility.
I find C. and we sit down to wait for J., the Vice-President whom we are meeting with. The company is small, about 75 people, but not family owned, which is important to me. C starts out by making a comment that hits home1) his pet peeve about improper grammar use. We then have a short discussion where Chris asks about the commute from Latham, and could that be a problem. I explain that Latham is temporary, until we purchase a house in Albany, Rensselaer or East Greenbush, and that we want to buy an old house. We then talk about old houses, and I explain how to fix weighted windows so that the weights actually work to help open the windows.
J is ready, so we head upstairs. J starts off by saying he likes to paint the blackest picture and see if it scares people off. The picture he paints, by my standards, is a very light gray. The points he makes are that as a small company, there aren't as many promotion opportunities, but that the company rewards good performance with bonuses and salary increases. After my hellish years at The Crappy Nebula, this sounds like heaven.
They make a point of saying that the company likes to foster and promote talented people. (They are both examples of this program.)
At the end of the conversation J asks "Are you interested in this position?" I say yes.
J say "Well, C, take her downstairs and give her some coffee, then we'll talk!"
(5-10 minute interlude as I drink coffee, trying not to think.)
C comes back, and offers me the job, at a salary that is just fine. I will have a six month review as well.
45 minutes have elasped. For the next 1.25 hours, I am shown around the office, introduced to the people I will work with, as well as the woman who will train me. The people are friendly and for once, I feel as if I have a company who truly feels that they are lucky to have me. I don't expect people to worship me, I just wanted a company where I wasn't treated like dirt and the lowest of the low.
I am very happy and I feel very lucky. Thank you to everyone who supported me and believed in me. Our faith was proven.
Continuing on with our story...my job!
Let me start at the beginning. As regular readers know, I have explored a number of options and ideas during my job search as of late. I've considered and applied for jobs as account managers, librarians, development assistants, temp workers and many others. My only qualifications for my new job were no mandatory late night or weekend hours, plus I refused to do anything related to tech support ever again. I applied for job after after, hearing nothing. The weeks turned to months and frustration reigned.
About two weeks ago, in a fit of frustration, I handed my resume to my friend S., who is a career counselor. I told her "Tear it apart!". And so she did. She cut it down to a page and made it easy to read. I really liked what she did...I had been looking at it for so long that I had become unable to do the editing job necessary. Armed with my new resume, I began applying for jobs, focusing on the non-profit sector, but throwing in jobs from the corporate sector that I deemed interesting.
Last week Thursday, I got up bright and early (for me) to take Klaus to the dealer for his "What the h377 is making him buck and jolt when we are idling?" checkup. After coming back, I found that I didn't want to go back to sleep, so I spent my time searching for jobs, updating my resumes on Monster.com and careerbuilder. As I searched the timesunion want ads, I found a position for account/project mananger. I read the description, and a tingling sensation goes up my arm. This is the kind of thing I've been looking for! Intrigued, I applied, flagrantly stealing yuckapoo's cover letter format that she gave to tenner in a recent post. I sent it off, hoping to hear back, but expecting nothing, like usual.
I then proceeded to read LJ, drink more tea, IM with tenner, talk with my mother, and other such things. About an hour later, I get an email. It is from the guy who would be my boss, expressing interest in my resume! He wants to make sure I know what the job is about: it was listed as an accounting job, but it is not that. I assure him via email that I am very interested in the position and did not want an accounting job. Several emails later, he agrees to call me on Friday so we can set up an interview. Woohoo!
Friday comes, C (my boss) calls, we talk a little and we set up a Tuesday interview time. C explains that they want a quick hiring process, and that he would like to do things on Monday, but it is usually to busy a day. I say that is fine, even as my head is saying "What? I could know within a week or so? WOW!!!? (Every time I have gone through interview processes, the shortest was 1.5 months, the longest 3 months).
Tuesday rolls around. I drive down to Kinderhook. Kinderhook is about 30 minutes from Albany. Although this is a hike, the drive is beautiful, there is NO traffic, and it certainly beats my previous traffic laden Boston commute.
My interview on Tuesday goes very well. C does most of the talking. He explains the entire job to me, making sure I have a clear idea of what the job entails. After a few questions asking if I want to go into teaching, what with my education degree (a fervent no is provided by me, with accompanying explanation), why I want this job, et cetera, C says that he's not sure about the hiring process, but that he'll need a second interview with me later in the week, and do I have references? No mention of other candidates.
At this point, I realize that I really like C's style as a boss. He admits that he is not a micro manager, and just wants people to get their work done. I am told that if my work gets done, I can leave early, no problem. He is friendly, smart and obviously not intimidated by my intelligence and degrees (this has been a problem in the past). He himself started at the company as a temp, and has worked his way to Director in three years at the company. I get the feeling that I can go far in this company if I want.
Essentially, my job is such: my company runs audits for movie theaters and merchandisers, counting heads in movie theaters, checking the state of bathrooms, and in the case of the merchandisers, checking to see if certain products can be found on store shelves. The company employs 15-20,000 independent contractors to perform checks at the theaters and merchandisers, paying them for each visit. Our Operations department handles assigning the checks, collecting the data, etc. My job is to coordinate the whole project: speaking with the client to determine what data they need, then working with operations to assign the appropriate i.c.s. I monitor the progress of the data collection. Once the data is in, I use programs created by IT to create reports for the client. I also follow up on data points that are erroneous.
Travel is limited, but some of this is because I am taking over accounts from a women who has done the job for 20 years, and is deathly afraid of travel or talking with the clients. I really can make the job what I want it to be.
Excited about my prospects, I shake hands and head home.
Wednesday comes. I'm in the shower, and the phone rings. Thinking it is a call I've been waiting for, I pick it up. It is C, not the call I was expecting, but that's ok. He asks if I can come in for a Thursday interview. I say sure, as the conditioner runs down my face and into my eyes. "10 o'clock it is!"
Thursday comes. As I drive to the interview, J., my old boss calls to let me know he JUST spoke with C. To sum up the call, J. says that he expects me to be receiving an offer. I pretty much feel the same way, and have prepared myself for the possibility.
I find C. and we sit down to wait for J., the Vice-President whom we are meeting with. The company is small, about 75 people, but not family owned, which is important to me. C starts out by making a comment that hits home1) his pet peeve about improper grammar use. We then have a short discussion where Chris asks about the commute from Latham, and could that be a problem. I explain that Latham is temporary, until we purchase a house in Albany, Rensselaer or East Greenbush, and that we want to buy an old house. We then talk about old houses, and I explain how to fix weighted windows so that the weights actually work to help open the windows.
J is ready, so we head upstairs. J starts off by saying he likes to paint the blackest picture and see if it scares people off. The picture he paints, by my standards, is a very light gray. The points he makes are that as a small company, there aren't as many promotion opportunities, but that the company rewards good performance with bonuses and salary increases. After my hellish years at The Crappy Nebula, this sounds like heaven.
They make a point of saying that the company likes to foster and promote talented people. (They are both examples of this program.)
At the end of the conversation J asks "Are you interested in this position?" I say yes.
J say "Well, C, take her downstairs and give her some coffee, then we'll talk!"
(5-10 minute interlude as I drink coffee, trying not to think.)
C comes back, and offers me the job, at a salary that is just fine. I will have a six month review as well.
45 minutes have elasped. For the next 1.25 hours, I am shown around the office, introduced to the people I will work with, as well as the woman who will train me. The people are friendly and for once, I feel as if I have a company who truly feels that they are lucky to have me. I don't expect people to worship me, I just wanted a company where I wasn't treated like dirt and the lowest of the low.
I am very happy and I feel very lucky. Thank you to everyone who supported me and believed in me. Our faith was proven.