Local Interviews!

The recruiter procured for me interviews at both of the companies nearby. Good!

But they are not until next week. Bad!

No, not bad. :) They are Monday and Tuesday. And the New England company hasn't yet collected feedback from all the necessary parties, so they haven't generated an offer yet for me to react to. But I'm still confident they will.

The timing might just work out so that I have the interviews nearby before I have to get back to the N. E. company. That would be nice. We like options!

And, a friend from church just sent me a lead to a local company I had tried to get inside, but couldn't. His brother-in-law works there. :) So I'm sending him my resume', and at least it will have gotten me in there, so that I can talk to them. Otherwise, I'd always wonder...

So, a good day! Things are looking up right now.

Timing Is Everything

Well! Now there are two jobs cooking in that small city an hour or so to our West.

The recruiter called today with news that one of them to which she had just given my resume (see last post) wants me in for a preliminary, informal, informational discussion. Yeah, yeah. It's an interview! :) But, not until the week of 12/5. :(

Then a company there we had contacted a few months ago just had an opening surface. Not a challenging or exciting job, but... still in the vicinity. Top pay is about 10% less than what I was making, and we could survive that. Housing's a little cheaper there. They want me in next week for half a day's worth of real interviews.

So, if I get an offer from the New England company, it may come right as I'm having these other interviews. I wonder if I'll be forced to respond to one before I know enough about the others... It's like that old joke where the reporter is interviewing a famous comedian and asks him:

"What's the key to successful comedy? What is it that really makes a joke work? You know, the most important..." "Timing!" "...thing about... Oh... ha! Yeah, I get it - timing! hahahahaha"

Funny.

Well? Now what?

OK, a successful day in New England, I think. Good interviews all the way around, on both jobs.

I now understand what they are - it was kinda fuzzy before this. One of them is high profile, challenging, a good fit, all the stuff I'd want. Relocation is a must - to New England again. They wanted to hire me on the spot, I think, but followed protocol and I'll hear about it through my recruiter.

The other job is very much like what I've been doing the last 4 1/2 years. A field support job - a lateral move. I could walk right in and be productive, help them a lot. It's less senior, less money I'm sure. How much less, I don't know, but likely not enough to afford the change in cost of living to move to New England, which is where they want it. But, I brought up the idea of supporting the field location from here. The main regional office is in a Southwestern Chicago 'burb. There are subsidiary offices in other cities not too far away. They were skeptical, but I will tell the recruiter that I would prefer that job if it can keep us in the Midwest. We'll see how they react.

In the meantime, while I wait for reactions (which will probably take until after Thanksgiving, as in 11/28), a new job an hour & a half West of here is opening up, and the recruiter put my resume in for that. I hope to get over there within the next 10 days to interview...

The reinsurance company in Chicago... looks like they're being sold. So that one is dead. Better left alone. Still waiting to hear back from new jobs possibilities in Atlanta and North Carolina. But, probably little activity during the holiday week.

Wait, wait, wait.

Getting Anxious...

I fly to New England Thursday night for grueling group interview #3...

Someone asked me if I was getting excited about it. :) hahahahaha...

The first time I went I was curious. The second time excited. This time I'm determined. I'm going to answer everyone's questions to their satisfaction or phooey on them. If they don't like me, I'll go be a wine salesman... really!

Convergence?

Feedback from the Friday interview is that the Chicago company wants to consider me at a higher level than the job I interviewed for. It will be a week or so before they figure out what that is.

The most recent entry into the job sweepstakes :) (from Atlanta) likes my resume' but will need a week or so before they can start interviewing. They have to deal with the incumbent hiring manager and move her into another role first.

So, it looks like with my trip to New England on the 18th, that perhaps by then I will know more on these other two opportunities and maybe have all of them come to a head at once. Wouldn't that be nice? Of course, that happened once before, and the result was that everyone said no... except one who said "uh, just a minute... let me think about this some more." And they're still thinking...

At dinner we discussed: do you think that we are supposed to be doing something else completely? Or that there is something that we're just waiting for to happen that will make everything clear? Yeah, it feels that way sometimes. What is it, anyway? What are we waiting on? It's like when you are sailing along on the freeway and you hit an inexplicable traffic jam. You wonder... what's up ahead that's stalling everything? And you don't know, until you get there.

Can we draaaaag this out any longer?

Finally! A date for my third (and final?) interview trip to New England.

11/18 - another two weeks to wait! :(

There's good things about waiting, of course. I get to stay longer with people I love. :) I get two more weeks to explore the other jobs that continue to percolate, and who knows what they'll turn into? The closer we get to the end of the year, the easier it will be for Deb to stay here during tax season and finish up that last quarter of work she needs for vesting her Social Security benefit. And, I get the honor of receiving more unemployment compensation payments...

But, then... the house still has to sell in late winter/early spring (not the best time), and we continue to eat up the severance benefit, not to mention continue to have to pay COBRA. I would sure rather be working as soon as possible.

At this point, though, I can't imagine getting an offer from anyone before Thanksgiving. We're going to be thankful regardless, though. I will not start getting angry or resentful at God. If there's blame to be shouldered here, I'll do that.

It's Never Simple

Just got off the phone from the interview with the company in Chicago. Here's what I emailed the recruiter about it:

***************

She talked non stop... yak yak yak... :) She seemed to have no sense of the clock at all. Nice person, but unorganized and prone to tangents - at least on the phone. She admitted to two faults - disorganization and being nit-picky. She volunteered this as having been told so recently by others. :) She said to expect long hours and no time off at all from Thanksgiving through 1/15 each year!

Telecommuting did not sound like an option at all for this specific position, although it is widely used for roles where there's little need for customer interaction. Here, there's lots of deals being done, and a team environment, which really requires a person to be in their Chicago office.

She said I was overqualified for this job and that I really should have hers instead! She will talk to her direct boss, and the head of operations for her division (her dotted line boss) and see if there is someplace they could use me that would take better advantage of my background and experience.

It sounded like she is still interested, but wants to find a better fit for me than this job, which she thinks I'd get bored with quickly.

*****************

So there you have it.

But what is it that you have?

Um... a lead on another person to talk to about a potential job not yet identified. Yep. More of the same. And, still no date to fly to New England for what I hope is the final interview there. This is turning into a nice, long vacation I have here! I'd better enjoy it while I can! :)

Think positive! Please!

Unemployment Compensation

I'm official now. I'm one of the jobless on the government dole...

Filed my first weekly claim for unemployment compensation. Oh boy! :) Finally I get a chunk of my income taxes back from this highly important and worthwhile government program which I hope they never discontinue as long as I'm working. Once I retire they can get rid of it.

I have to make two job contacts a week to continue to validate this claim. Two a week... yeah I guess I do that. Or rather, my recruiter does. And, she's still producing leads... another 3 Atlanta-based jobs, and...

Have a phone interview set up for Friday with the Chicago-based reinsurer that has the telecommuting option. The New England company is still trying to get me set up to come in one last time, but can't get the executives together yet. Who knows how long that will take?

In the meantime, foreclosure on my house is a scant 3 months away...

Oh, and did I mention I turned 50 on Monday?

Are we having fun yet?

:)