Whee!
Yay! Finally!
After 1.5 years of unemployment (that is: "freelance and contract work"), two disparate companies have spent two weeks or so putting me through their hiring processes.
As of this afternoon, I've picked the one that I like better, informed the other of my choice, and started on the moving process to Seattle. (Luckily, I've already got a housemate-on-the-ground up there.)
Three weeks ago - AKA Company I
The company that I'd previously been "cautiously pessimistic" about a month or so ago (the one out in Sylmar with the "Quality Training Specialist" job that was really technical editing of documents) called me out of the blue. They'd hired someone else for the tech editing but wanted to add another "Quality Training Specialist" who would do "training facilitation and instructional design."
For those not in the know (like me!), this means they wanted someone to train and to write training plans for Quality Assurance on the manufacturing production floor for bionic devices. Possibly geared towards an audience that spoke more Spanish than English. Not really what I think my career is heading for, but could be cool and definitely better than unemployment.
Since I had no other prospects, love the product's uses, and enjoyed the people I'd met, I talked with them a bit about the job and training (hah, both kinds) and so forth. The hiring manager said she'd have HR make me an offer.
This was followed by 3 weeks of silence from this company, except on the days that I followed up and called HR to ask whether they'd formalized my offer yet and to ask HR for advice about moving locations. (L.B. and Sylmar are, oh, 70 miles including 30 on the 405 through Los Angeles. Amusingly, HR once tried to convince me that I could start as soon as I got my offer, without moving, because I didn't live that far.)
One week ago - AKA Company II - AKA "What I did with my Independence Day Vacation"
While I waited on Sylmar (and I'd pretty much given up by that last week), a company that some friends work for in Seattle began to talk with me. On of the aforementioned friends had learned about a neat position and passed on my resume.
Just as things started to really heat up with Seattle, Sylmar finally got their act together. Sylmar signed, scanned, and emailed their formal offer to me last Thursday (right before the 4 day weekend) so that I could start apartment hunting.
[Aside: Apartment hunting commenced. I found this supercute bungalow in Pasadena -- about 30 minutes from Sylmar against traffic, and 40 minutes from where my band rehearses. I filled out lease paperwork, and then put down a hold deposit because I had no clue what would happen next.]
I didn't expect Seattle to be at the point in their interview processes where they could do anything, but I felt hopeful. Besides, they definitely wouldn't do what I needed if I didn't ask. So, I emailed the Mktg guy (didn't have his number yet!) and said, "hey. No clue what your schedule is, but mine is now really tight because I've got this other offer on the table. Any chance of interviewing via phone today, having me fly out Sun/Mon to meet you IRL, and then making an offer or not Mon/Tues?"
The answer to that was... "not really, but let's try something else instead."
In actuality, I did a bit of interviewing over the holiday. Okay, I was supposed to. We set up a time (during the day Friday) to chat on Sunday, but the vagaries of chance prevented us from talking till early Monday morning morning, at which point things sounded good. We talked salary and start date, and then set up a conference call to have a quickie interview with two others in the department.
(This last was more stressful than it sounds. I should have expected it, I suppose, but after talking to HR and then to the hiring manager twice, "chat with two team members" sounded like a formality. I was devastatingly unprepared to actually answer real questions. Sure, I knew my answers; it just took me a while to get into the proper interview groove. As opposed to the "shopping for a particular eyelash curler" groove that I'd existed in for the last twenty minutes, having stepped out of Ulta to chat with Seattle in my air conditioned car.)
The Conclusion = Stir crazy last night, but bowled an 86 while Not Thinking About It
After a tense few hours of wondering whether the guys I'd talked with that afternoon hated and nixed me, I went bowling with locals and took my mind off it. Sorta. I may have called my parents and made them check my email a couple of times. (Worry: Did the guys decide, "ZOMG! She's so flakey!"? <-- Nope; the opposite happened! Apparently, I actually mentioned some terms of online Marketing art and proved I knew what they meant; this won them over. It was a total accident. I wasn't "concept dropping", just telling a story.)
In the end, as of last night at 10 pm, I had a solid offer from Seattle. Today, the details got ironed out, and I faxed my info up for standard background checks.
Whew. It's so relaxing to know that I'm:
A - employed
B - decided about things
C - doing something interesting with a cool company
D - moving closer about a zillion of my friends (and staying nearish to a beach!)
Moving? What?
Of course, now I'm figuring out how to move. First problem: I don't have a place yet. Second problem: Everybody on the internet hates every interstate moving company. (Though, no one seems to have bothered with hating NorthStar Moving who only do interstate out of CA. I just discovered this and am calling tomorrow for a quote.)
Things working out + optimism = way happy
ETA: Yay! The moving company that no one hates just gave me an acceptable, sensible quote over the phone. I'm almost undoubtedly going to go with them. Now I just need an apartment to which I can ship my things.
After 1.5 years of unemployment (that is: "freelance and contract work"), two disparate companies have spent two weeks or so putting me through their hiring processes.
As of this afternoon, I've picked the one that I like better, informed the other of my choice, and started on the moving process to Seattle. (Luckily, I've already got a housemate-on-the-ground up there.)
Three weeks ago - AKA Company I
The company that I'd previously been "cautiously pessimistic" about a month or so ago (the one out in Sylmar with the "Quality Training Specialist" job that was really technical editing of documents) called me out of the blue. They'd hired someone else for the tech editing but wanted to add another "Quality Training Specialist" who would do "training facilitation and instructional design."
For those not in the know (like me!), this means they wanted someone to train and to write training plans for Quality Assurance on the manufacturing production floor for bionic devices. Possibly geared towards an audience that spoke more Spanish than English. Not really what I think my career is heading for, but could be cool and definitely better than unemployment.
Since I had no other prospects, love the product's uses, and enjoyed the people I'd met, I talked with them a bit about the job and training (hah, both kinds) and so forth. The hiring manager said she'd have HR make me an offer.
This was followed by 3 weeks of silence from this company, except on the days that I followed up and called HR to ask whether they'd formalized my offer yet and to ask HR for advice about moving locations. (L.B. and Sylmar are, oh, 70 miles including 30 on the 405 through Los Angeles. Amusingly, HR once tried to convince me that I could start as soon as I got my offer, without moving, because I didn't live that far.)
One week ago - AKA Company II - AKA "What I did with my Independence Day Vacation"
While I waited on Sylmar (and I'd pretty much given up by that last week), a company that some friends work for in Seattle began to talk with me. On of the aforementioned friends had learned about a neat position and passed on my resume.
Just as things started to really heat up with Seattle, Sylmar finally got their act together. Sylmar signed, scanned, and emailed their formal offer to me last Thursday (right before the 4 day weekend) so that I could start apartment hunting.
[Aside: Apartment hunting commenced. I found this supercute bungalow in Pasadena -- about 30 minutes from Sylmar against traffic, and 40 minutes from where my band rehearses. I filled out lease paperwork, and then put down a hold deposit because I had no clue what would happen next.]
I didn't expect Seattle to be at the point in their interview processes where they could do anything, but I felt hopeful. Besides, they definitely wouldn't do what I needed if I didn't ask. So, I emailed the Mktg guy (didn't have his number yet!) and said, "hey. No clue what your schedule is, but mine is now really tight because I've got this other offer on the table. Any chance of interviewing via phone today, having me fly out Sun/Mon to meet you IRL, and then making an offer or not Mon/Tues?"
The answer to that was... "not really, but let's try something else instead."
In actuality, I did a bit of interviewing over the holiday. Okay, I was supposed to. We set up a time (during the day Friday) to chat on Sunday, but the vagaries of chance prevented us from talking till early Monday morning morning, at which point things sounded good. We talked salary and start date, and then set up a conference call to have a quickie interview with two others in the department.
(This last was more stressful than it sounds. I should have expected it, I suppose, but after talking to HR and then to the hiring manager twice, "chat with two team members" sounded like a formality. I was devastatingly unprepared to actually answer real questions. Sure, I knew my answers; it just took me a while to get into the proper interview groove. As opposed to the "shopping for a particular eyelash curler" groove that I'd existed in for the last twenty minutes, having stepped out of Ulta to chat with Seattle in my air conditioned car.)
The Conclusion = Stir crazy last night, but bowled an 86 while Not Thinking About It
After a tense few hours of wondering whether the guys I'd talked with that afternoon hated and nixed me, I went bowling with locals and took my mind off it. Sorta. I may have called my parents and made them check my email a couple of times. (Worry: Did the guys decide, "ZOMG! She's so flakey!"? <-- Nope; the opposite happened! Apparently, I actually mentioned some terms of online Marketing art and proved I knew what they meant; this won them over. It was a total accident. I wasn't "concept dropping", just telling a story.)
In the end, as of last night at 10 pm, I had a solid offer from Seattle. Today, the details got ironed out, and I faxed my info up for standard background checks.
Whew. It's so relaxing to know that I'm:
A - employed
B - decided about things
C - doing something interesting with a cool company
D - moving closer about a zillion of my friends (and staying nearish to a beach!)
Moving? What?
Of course, now I'm figuring out how to move. First problem: I don't have a place yet. Second problem: Everybody on the internet hates every interstate moving company. (Though, no one seems to have bothered with hating NorthStar Moving who only do interstate out of CA. I just discovered this and am calling tomorrow for a quote.)
Things working out + optimism = way happy
ETA: Yay! The moving company that no one hates just gave me an acceptable, sensible quote over the phone. I'm almost undoubtedly going to go with them. Now I just need an apartment to which I can ship my things.