Thursday, September 29, 2005

A Major-League Sinking Curveball

Wow. Here I am at dinner with the hiring manager for the St. Paul job, and I'm confident... take an agressive stance... crowding the plate a little... and he throws me one high and tight, and I almost land on my keyster. He doesn't think he can (politically) bring me in at a managerial level, because of the number of eminently promotable people on the staff and a culture of promoting from within. Oof!

Then he follows with the changeup. But he himself might not even be there in a year, as he has other opportunities he's being short-listed for, and will need someone to replace him! Oh! I didn't see that one coming, either.

At this point, I'm reeling and have no idea what's next. Then he throws the sinking curve. One of the people I was set to interview with the next morning, who I thought would report to me - may even be my new boss instead! I missed that one clean. Embarrassingly so.

So the next day I need to play this with all the interviewers as if I am coming in to be considered for a job just like the one I have now, not a position to run that whole department of people like me. What I wanted to do was go home right then. Go back to the dugout and sit out the rest of the game. Talk about discouraged. He had me baffled. Still the nicest guy you'd want to meet, but his thinking about this had changed significantly since our first discussion a month ago.

The next morning, a new plate appearance...

And I think I did really well, left a good impression, handled the unexpected turn of events just fine. At least that's my take on it. The position is still worth talking about, I haven't changed my view of that, but... it's now not any better than if I got one of the two remaining possibilities still lingering at my current company (neither of which are making any progress). So, if they do make progress, they will look roughly the same as this St. Paul position. Unless, of course, the compensation is different, which I don't know at this point.

I should hear something about next steps by Friday - and then nothing until 10/19, since the hiring manager is vacationing in Europe for two weeks (while I wait...). So I hope Friday brings good news.

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Here's The Windup... And The Pitch!

and he sends one into deep right field... back, back, back goes the fielder - on the warning track... it's gone! A home run... no doubt about that one, folks!

I'm feeling like I have to hit a home run ball in this upcoming interview. I have to impress, win over everyone, so that there is no doubt about me being the right guy for the job. I'm afraid, though, that if I press... swing for the fences... and don't connect - that I might swing so hard I screw myself right into the ground, and have to walk back to the dugout and wait for the next opportunity.

So, better to just make contact and put the ball in play, right? Let them try to get me out. But see, the thing is, it's not like that. They're not trying to put me out. As an interviewer, you really want the candidate to work out. You're favorably disposed to them in the first place, because you have a job you want to fill. You are really looking for reasons to like them, to see them in the job and performing well. That's what I have to remember, and not press too hard. Simply show up, try to handle cleanly everything that comes my way, and when I get the opportunity, tell them what I think I can do.

As of yesterday I know the lineup I'm facing. The night before, dinner with the hiring manager, the VP, my prospective boss. Nice guy - I'm hoping we will get along well informally over dinner and he will fill in the details on how things work and the people I'll meet with Wednesday. His boss, the COO, the next day - the big cheese! This is the guy who sets the tone for the whole place, which will give me a clue as to where their business is going and how fast.

Also, two people who would be prospective staff of mine. They currently report to the VP, and I would be stepping in between. That's a dicey situation, especially since I would be in a different office than the VP, and for some of the staff he will still be available to go to if he is on site and I am not. I'll bring that up at dinner the night before. Finally, two operations people who these staff members work with and support, so I'll get to see what they want from us and how we can be useful.

It's a good, thorough lineup of people, and should be an excellent read for them and for me on how I would fit in, and where the potential problems are to watch out for. I'm starting to feel ready for it! Doing my warmup swings now, having imaginary conversations with these people while driving around, etc... :)

Family business... Jonny was planning on coming home this weekend, but had no wheels, couldn't find a ride (may not have looked real hard, either), didn't "feel like" taking a bus... so, he didn't really want to come home that badly I think. I think what he wanted was for someone to come get him. But we had too much going on (see below). So, it's kind of like when the toddler drops the passifier in the middle of the night and cries for you to come get it. You'll be doing that until they're in middle school if you don't sometime close your ears to it and let them cry themselves back to sleep.

Jenny had an interview Thursday for a fulltime job with benefits at an art shipping company in the Loop. She'd be building crates??? Hm. But they also wanted someone with real knowledge of some of the artwork they will be handling, to be able to discuss it intelligently with customers, etc. Apparently it's a high-end firm with high-end clients, one she sent an inquiry to back in July, and they contacted her when they had an opening! She should hear by 10/3.

Cleaned out Dad's apartment Friday - he's in the nursing home for good now, not doing well. It was creepy - the whole business was. I had to bring home his blue suit... the one he'll be buried in. :( Why can't it be sudden and quick instead of long, slow stages of decline? But his heart is strong, even though his mind and body are not, so he hangs on. I hate to think that this will be my future, too - since I'm built like him and have the same strong heart.

Signed new wills on Thursday. The kids don't need guardians anymore. Created some trusts instead to ration out insurance proceeds via a trustee (their uncle). All this stuff makes one a little somber. Changes, partings, old responsibilities ending, new ones starting, preparations for farewells... I could use some fun, something both thrilling & fulfilling - something to make me forget about this difficult time of life I'm in, to be just a bit more carefree for a while.

Monday, September 19, 2005

Wait, Wait, Wait...

This is grueling...

I wish the 2nd interview was today! As of tomorrow, another whole week to wait. If I was busy, maybe it wouldn't seem so long. But I feel like I'm doing nothing productive at all about the job search. I just sit and wait...

Arghhh! It's like having study hall for the last period of school, just watching the clock hands crawl...

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Delays and Closed Doors

The trip back to New England for a 2nd interview is off for the 19th. Postponed until the 28th due to travel conflicts with the interviewers. That means a full month after the first interviews! And, still no expense reimbursement from them for my airfare, hotel, car rental.

Heard back from the recruiter today about a second interview in Schaumburg - no such luck. They felt I was lacking experience in one particular area - happens to be the area that they want managed. Um... you have a point there, fellas... And they are right. But I didn't think, with the strong support staff in place, that they needed a technical expert. Guess they want one now. :(

Emailed my buddy in Columbus for a status report about the Des Moines trip, since I haven't heard anything back on that. He got back to me and said that they have nothing to offer me in my salary range - only at about 1/2 what I currently make! So - we cross off Des Moines & Columbus... :(

Did hear about the other internal possibility (other than Atlanta) in the Chicago loop. It has 4 direct reports, but is still a pay grade lower than I am now, same as Altanta. Probably not workable with the increased cost of living there, but the hiring manager does want to talk to me when he's in Chicago later this month. OK, we'll talk.

Especially since the only options I have left now are the one in St. Paul and these two unlikely internal opportunities. The field is narrowing, and I'm both glad of more clarity, but frightened of the rapid diminishing of possibilities. I have to get pretty serious about this St. Paul job now - real serious. Hmmm - wonder what suit I should wear for the 2nd interview?

Monday, September 12, 2005

Why Am I Not Past This?

Found myself in tears this morning at the breakfast table. Honestly, I thought this part was behind me. I had been doing well, I thought. Couldn't give a decent reason why, either. Simply couldn't say. I want it to be behind me, and then I don't. So worry about me prevails at home.

:(

I'm concerned about no followup from Schaumburg yet. Will have to call the recruiter this morning and find out what's up. The internal opportunities are frustrating, too. Talked to the hiring manager for the internal Altanta job Friday - they are still taking external candidates from recruiters! This certainly means they don't like the candidate pool they have so far, me included. Bah, humbug! I really am going to write this one off mentally.

Jenny seems happy in the new job. Several of her co-workers are new to Chicago and have similar interests, so she goes out to coffee with them now and then. There may be a concert opportunity for me to attend with her 9/20 in Chicago - would be nice to arrange a followup visit in Schaumburg that day, too.

Jonny is a real man about campus... spent the weekend in Des Moines at Jessie's house. Who's Jessie, we ask? Well, we don't ask, because we don't talk to him directly, but through a roommate interpreter... :) Oh, just some girl... mmm, hmm. At least there were nearly a dozen kids at her house for the weekend. Guess there's no homework to speak of... should I have really expected anything different? He's still the same kid.

Friday, September 09, 2005

Real Estate

The market here remains hot, so the local daily fishwrap says...

So I think to myself: Sell! Sell! Get the equity out while you can!

But... who the heck wants to move anyway? I don't. Emotionally, I'm still stalling. :(

And until I know where we're going - what's the rush?

This real estate bubble thing is too much like the darn stock market, sensitive to both fundamentals (like interest rates... Why can't loans be free? Whatever happened to the biblical concept of usury?) and investor perception (ooh, this is a hot neighborhood! Let me in!).

And, just like when I had money in the stock market and watched it constantly - it drives me nuts. That's why I got out of stocks - I couldn't handle the daily flopping around they did. Now I want to get out of real estate for the same reason.

When I was in Schaumburg, I picked up the little real estate books at the supermarket, and found the market kind of all over the map as to price. Currently, since I haven't been to St. Paul for an interview yet, the internet is the only way to look around. We've been getting some listings from a realtor in St. Paul, focusing on:

-- neighborhoods, like Highland Park (?), Macalester/Groveland, etc which are close in, and no more than a 20 minute commute to downtown

-- 3/2 ranches between 1800-2000 s.f., or other styles as long as the master and one other bedroom are on the main floor (deteriorating knees dictate certain things...)

But the prices... ugh. Not as reasonable as we might have thought. Let's hope the bubble bursts in St. Paul and Schaumburg before we buy, but waits to burst here until after we sell. :)

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Narrowing The Field

Well, here we go. Got word from the recruiter that a 2nd interview is now scheduled with the New England company for the 19th. Still in their New England office, but the job is definitely OK to be in St. Paul. Yay! They also promised a trip to St. Paul to look around, if this next discussion appears to be leading to an offer.

The Schaumburg company is discussing my candidacy tomorrow. Hopefully I get some word back on that by Friday.

The company an hour West of here... is off the table. The parent company disapproved the job, so that's not an option anymore. :(

The remaining internal discussion about Atlanta is stalled, but I may hear something on that by the end of the week as well. Just moving very slowly. Nothing personal. Umm hmm. If you say so...

The office closure date is slipping into November, but I may be able to get an early release date, and still preserve the severance. Yet - I don't want to hurry the process. I'm not anxious to move, for many, many reasons. :) I'd kind of like to be working here at least through all of October, and then not move until after the Holidays.

Now, add to this that my Dad is going to have to go into a nursing home, maybe yet this week. Thankfully, my older brother is handling the details, even though he lives out of state. So I'll have to go see Dad sometime, when the details are complete, and help clean out his apartment of at least the family momentos. Ugh. Lousy timing... but, why not? Let's get all the trauma out of the way all at once, pack it all into a few months, and get it done. Just - can I get through it in one piece?

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

May I Have Seconds, Please?

So, all but one of the first interviews are done (the last remaining one being the company an hour West of here, still waiting for signoff from their parent to create the job) and the followup thank you's are sent. Now, I wait to see who is interested enough to set up a second interview.

Hopefully I find all that out this week or next, then have the second interviews by the end of the month, so that if offers are forthcoming, they will hit before my employment here runs out sometime in October. I'm still hoping that an 11/1 start date is OK, but... it seems to be slipping.

Talked to the recruiter this morning, and the New England company wants me back out there for another interview! Yay! They like me! Maybe...

This is for the St. Paul based job, and they said that if there was a third interview, it would be in St. Paul. So I gave them a bunch of potential travel dates, out through the 19th of September, and will see how fast they want to move things. *Yawn*, it's so slooooow...

No kids home for Labor Day weekend. :( Jenny's working (and liking it very much :), and Jonny's... playing. Many interesting new friends to hang with. Oh, well, I still ran and still played basketball, even without Jonny home. A little exercise does seem to get my mind clearer.

Now, c'mon, phone... ring! Tell me that you love me, companies...

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Better! (and worse..)

Maybe it was the suit... :)

A far better day yesterday. Better company, better fit for me, better people to work for, better advancement opportunity, better location, and... better traffic on the way there and back this time. There were two possible positions, with one head and shoulders above the other, as is the manager, I think. The head of the whole department is also a really great lady, fun, positive, and... very family oriented. It comes through in the attitude of the entire department. You work hard while you're there, and then leave when you're supposed to. Good, good...

The immediate area for housing around Schaumburg (pronounced shahmberg, not shauoomburrg) :) is expensive, but according to the realty mags at the supermarket there do seem to be less expensive neighborhoods nearby, too. Not everything is upscale. It appears that the position is senior enough to keep me whole financially, and the relo program should make a transition easy.

The office is about 1/4 mile from Woodfield Mall. I had some time to kill afterwards and went into Marshall Field's. Entered in the men's department and wandered past the fragrance counter. Got a couple of sample cards I liked and then wandered around taking a survey of women shoppers... roughly 6... they unanimously voted for Angel's "B Men". Happy birthday to me... maybe. I want to get a little sample bottle first and try it in person. Um, not the survey part, that's not what I mean. ;)

Had a chance to have dinner with Jonny at school in Elgin. He says, "Dad if you move here it would be way too weird. First Jenny in Chicago, now you guys..." I agree - too weird. About a half hour from each kid. That might be too close. Two hours is better, I think. Anyway, he's doing well, knows half the school already. Everywhere we walked it was "Jonny! Hey!" "It's Jonny!". "Yo, Jon!", etc.

And notes from girls on the grease board on his dorm door. Hmm... this is supposed to be a Christian college... some of the stuff they wrote makes you wonder. Sounds like they're pretty typical college girls to me, with very typical, um... you know... urges. Watch your step, boy!

Ate in the cafeteria, Jonny, me, and a table full of girls. Very friendly girls. Even very friendly when Jonny was off talking to another table... hmm. Maybe it was the leftovers from the fragrance counter. ;) Makes me nervous. Flattered, but nervous. I think I should give up on this idea of being a college professor someday...

So, a fun day all around, and a good night's sleep, too. Much better attitude today. Which is good, because I got some bad news, too. The severance benefit I thought was going to be 35 weeks of salary is only going to be 11. :( They are not going to count the 12 years of service I had with a subsidiary company because I got severance from them when my job there ended 6 years ago. So in their minds I would be getting paid for that experience twice. Bah! There goes the means of paying for college...

And, still no hard date yet on when my last day is here, although it's sounding more like end of October than middle. So much the better, I think. There's too many people I love around here to be in a sweat to leave town. And, still no word on the last remaining internal job opportunity. Slow, slow, slow. I can use the longer timeframe for that reason, too.

Oh, more news on the interviews in New England. They had narrowed it down to 2 jobs for which I was being considered, one of which would be out there and one which could be in St. Paul. Turns out that the one in New England would not pay enough to keep me whole. So, we are down to the St. Paul location anyway, which is the job I liked better anyhow. And St. Paul seems to pose no problem for them, so hopefully there will be a second interview set up soon there.
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