The Job Hunt Thread

[emma1420]

Drama -- congrats on your hubby finding another job so quickly.  I hope the background check, etc., goes smoothly.

Nancy -- sorry to hear about your layoff.  I hope you find something quickly.

I am back to keeping an eye out for a good opportunity.  It's becoming very apparent that I'm at the point where I have a couple of choices.  I either stay where I am in the same position for the rest of my working life, or I make some sort of move.  If I'm going to be stuck in one position for the rest of my working life, then I'd like an easier workload.  I'm a bit sick of going balls to the walls for my job if there is no long-term reward.  

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

We've never had any troubles with background checks or anything.  DH joked he might have to explain all that crack he took when he goes to take the drug test.

My comeback was if he was tweaking the house would be A LOT cleaner.

Background check should be done they did that yesterday.  Now we're waiting for them to set up the physical.

That can be kinda a PITA but not b/c DH won't pass but just b/c you have to deal with so many third party people.  I am glad I am back at UNMC for awhile so I don't have to do one again in the near future.

[myrrh]

OMG Drama I am so happy and relieved for you and your DH! And I hope you will share what's happening at the former employer as you can. 

[tcu2003]

Woo hoo, drama!! So happy for you guys!

[NancysSummerSip]

Got a job interview set up for Thursday, and an editor interested in my freelancing for his site! Yay!

[formerroomate99]

Congratulations, Drama.  

Did a phone interview last week and this morning.  Liked both places.  One place is really chill and a good opportunity.  The other is more intense and a spectacular opportunity.  A headhunter is trying to set up an interview at another place.  Hope something pans out before the next round of layoffs.  My current company has  a reupuation for firing people for silly reasons -- no severance, no unemployment,  I'm scared to death that they'll try and beat me to the punch.  

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Good luck former.   You'll know if they are trying to terminate you if all of a sudden you can do no right and they start documenting everything.   That's what happened to DH, the supervisor started blaming him for everything her favorite did wrong and tried to write him up for being "selfish".   The writing was on the wall when everyone else was getting $1-$3 raises after the buyout and she gave DH a $0.50 raise.

Boy when it rains it pours.  I just opened an email for DH from Coca-Cola, they are reviewing resumes and may be contacting him.  

I'm kinda jealous, I didn't recieve this much interest and I certainly wasn't being offered every job I applied for. 

[debthaven]

Drama congrats! I hope 2016 is your year and the unemployment and unhappy jobs will soon be a distant memory!

So this is a new one ... DH's landlord told them he's putting them out at the end of July when their current lease is up. After 20 years. 

In July, DH will be 60, his partner will be 62. Neither wants (or can afford) to retire. The third (silent) partner is younger. Per DH, there are two possibilities:
- A. keep the company intact and share the 3rd partner's available office space. But that space is relatively small, so they'd have to share it, i.e. each go in PT and work from home the rest of the time. They also have two employees who would need space, one PT, one FT. 
- B. dissolve the company and go their own ways

[tcu2003]

Debt, is there no option C to rent a new space?

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

DH got a call yesterday from Borden Dairy wanting him to interview.

I've been turning green with envy.   There must not be a lot of people who have his level of experience or want to do what he does b/c he's had employers banging down our door.

Take that former supervisor.  If he's was the problem b/c he was such a crappy "selfish" employee then why are other companies climbing over themselves to offer him jobs.

He was really depressed/angry the last few months at his company and getting fired was salt in the wound.  I hope all this attention has been a nice ego boost for him.

DH said he's going to take the phone interview with Coca-Cola.  It doesn't cost him anything and he is curious what they might offer.

[Wisconsin Beth]

I was wondering if any of the offers are better. Keep us posted on that please.

[debthaven]

Debt, is there no option C to rent a new space?

Probably not ... too expensive in that (now extremely fashionable) neighbourhood. And the third partner has available space, albeit a smaller space. 

ETA: DH does not want to rent a new office because he does not want to have to go into an office every day anymore. He reasons that he can work from home/use the other partner's office space part of the time, if the company stays intact. And if not, he can work from home/rent office space with friends if he goes out on his own (two friends rent office space, they have room for DH, and they would probably be thrilled at him sharing the rent).

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Jan 14, 2016 10:48:57 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

I was wondering if any of the offers are better. Keep us posted on that please.

The printing press assistant wasn't going to be.  BIL is still in the market and they were discussing press assistant salaries.

DH is curious about Coke so he will at least entertain them.

However he said it's likely he will stay with Omaha Steaks.  He was REALLY impressed with their plant when he toured and how serious they are about cleanliness.  He said it lived up to the ad claim of "cleanest plant in Omaha

[andi9899]

So I was almost ready to have a contract signed up for a job and a fabulous opportunity fell into my lap. I submitted my resume and I have a phone interview. Yippee!

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Details, you can't share something like that and not give details!

[andi9899]

Jan 11, 2016 16:37:36 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

No Omaha Steaks.   He gets a large discount off their products but even with a discount they aren't cheap, it's not something we plan on making a habit of.

No. But it's good stuff. I think I would make a little room in my budget for it if I were you.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I've been looking at their value packages and they have some good deals.

I also checked out their ground bison.  $4/lb (that's what it comes out to with Dh's discount) is what I was paying for it at the Farmer's Market. 

It's not something we will make a habit of but something I would like to take advantage of from time to time.    DH pointed out they got some good things for Christmas gifts.

I'd have to ask DH how much the discount is again so I can calculate out how much it is per pound compared to Sam's.

[andi9899]

Jan 14, 2016 15:32:56 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

So I was almost ready to have a contract signed up for a job and a fabulous opportunity fell into my lap. I submitted my resume and I have a phone interview. Yippee!

Underwriting for a large commercial brokerage that is very well respected. Decent pay and a very comprehensive benefits package. It's excess and surplus lines which I found very interesting when I did it in the past. Fingers crossed!

[andi9899]

Ha! I quoted myself instead of you. Sorry.

[andi9899]

So I did the phone interview and now have a face to face interview tomorrow. Turns out they had someone hired and she quit because it was overwhelming. I did this job for two years elsewhere and loved it! She also likes that I speak Spanish.

[debthaven]

Drama, DH and I both come from a print background. It's pretty much dead now, at his age, I don't see the point in pursuing that. 

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

DH agrees with you and ideally wanted a job continuing to do QA work.   However since we didn't know how long he'd be unemployed and the nice UE office kept us hanging for almost a month we decided to put printing on the table.  He knows how to run a press and run one well so that would have kept him employed while we continued to look for something else.

[Cookies Galore]

Jan 15, 2016 9:42:43 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

DH agrees with you and ideally wanted a job continuing to do QA work.   However since we didn't know how long he'd be unemployed and the nice UE office kept us hanging for almost a month we decided to put printing on the table.  He knows how to run a press and run one well so that would have kept him employed while we continued to look for something else.

My husband manages a textile print shop and he's been in the screen printing industry since he was 15 (Dad had a shop). Good thing your husband found a QA job quick! I mean, my hubs is good at his job and the owner pretty much built the business around him, but if you aren't in management or working for a big production shop then the pay is absolutely terrible.

[gracendignity]

Jan 13, 2016 9:40:14 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Good luck former.   You'll know if they are trying to terminate you if all of a sudden you can do no right and they start documenting everything.   That's what happened to DH, the supervisor started blaming him for everything her favorite did wrong and tried to write him up for being "selfish".   The writing was on the wall when everyone else was getting $1-$3 raises after the buyout and she gave DH a $0.50 raise.

Boy when it rains it pours.  I just opened an email for DH from Coca-Cola, they are reviewing resumes and may be contacting him.  

I'm kinda jealous, I didn't recieve this much interest and I certainly wasn't being offered every job I applied for. 

Drama, I've been following this thread from the sidelines, so let me offer my congratulations on DH getting so many job offers!  It has got to go a long way towards boosting his ego over the events of the past weeks.

He (and you) are quite capable of following the job opportunities that suit him (and your family) best, but I will say my son-in-law has worked for Coca-Cola for almost 10 years now.  Around here you almost have to know someone who will vouch for you before you can even get past filling out the application.   He has been happy with them overall.  Good benefits, decent pay.  He currently drives a truck delivering to stores, which suits him since he likes to be active.  He is currently in the process of moving up the food chain just a bit higher.  One thing I have learned, Coca-Cola is not just one humongous company--it is a several companies all operating under the umbrella of Coke.   A phone interview couldn't hurt, even if he decides Omaha Steaks is a better fit.

And congrats that he now understands the importance of a well-funded EF.  Score one for your team!

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Jan 15, 2016 10:02:34 GMT -5 Cookies Galore said:

Jan 15, 2016 9:42:43 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

DH agrees with you and ideally wanted a job continuing to do QA work.   However since we didn't know how long he'd be unemployed and the nice UE office kept us hanging for almost a month we decided to put printing on the table.  He knows how to run a press and run one well so that would have kept him employed while we continued to look for something else.

My husband manages a textile print shop and he's been in the screen printing industry since he was 15 (Dad had a shop). Good thing your husband found a QA job quick! I mean, my hubs is good at his job and the owner pretty much built the business around him, but if you aren't in management or working for a big production shop then the pay is absolutely terrible.

Would have still been better than unemployment!    Especially after the state rejected his claim.

The guy handling his claim was full of doody.  He though DH would get approved since DH has no previous record of misconduct and the handbook states there were more options than termination.  I guess who ever rubber stamps it decided since he got fired that was it, period.

I am REALLY glad DH didn't have to do anything more than log his work contacts.  According to Nebraska you are required now to also do all the counseling sessions as well as soon as you apply.  BUT it can take up to four weeks before they actually approve you.

I told DH that this is the kind of shit that makes you snap.   We aren't in danger of being foreclosed on or evicted.  We don't have car payments.   We could have limped along on my salary, the only major hurdle we faced was child care.

I can't imagine how someone who is teetering on the edge would feel after going thru all that crap only to get rejected.  

DH starts his job on Monday.  I don't know if Coke will call him or not, we'll see.  It doesn't hurt to talk to them on the phone if they do call.


I am glad it is Friday.   It's been one of those weeks where no matter what I do everything turns to garbage.   Made stupid rookie mistakes and that pissed me off.    I am going to take a breather here and then go grind up some tissue.   I can't screw that up.

[Cookies Galore]

Put the kids to bed early tonight and have some wine.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Put the kids to bed early tonight


Maybe if I feed them the wine that will happen.

This is turning into a bigger project than I thought it would be.  It does not help that Japan did provide the numbers they got with the ELISA kit, nor did they do any other type of characterization for these stupid animals.  So I've been flying blind.  

Then next week I hopefully will have mice to humanize which takes a large chunk of time.

Busy busy.

Which is a first world problem, especially after I complained about how slow/crappy Boys Town was.

I'll just keep slogging thru it.  So far I haven't had anything thrown at me that I haven't dealt with before.   Still not as bad as when I screwed up the PPI project last year.  If I could make it thru that and not have a nervous breakdown/get fired I can figure this stuff out.

ETA: I guess I did good with the ELISA.  My PI was delighted in my standard curve and I created a "beautiful spreadsheet".

We don't know which line they gave us, so with the range given I am within the ballpark.    The postdocs gave me some suggestions on how to try to improve the ELISA.

I have to say it's REALLY nice to no longer be working alone!  I wasn't sure how I was going to adjust/feel but it's been great to have people IN the lab I can ask for help.   It sure beats doing it all solo then getting yelled at after the fact :: looking at you former PI in the COP::

[TheHaitian]

So our worst fear "me losing my job" might come true. Not sure yet and still missing lots of details.

But I was proactive, reached out to the headhunter that was thinking of me for Harris Teeters , filled out a couple of applications and we will see.

Checked MA unemployment and it comes down to ~$675 or so for 30 weeks. So that is about 7 months to figure out my/our next move and find another job by then.

I might call BJ's on Monday and see if their last offer still stands... Who knows? A paycut is better than no income!

Wife is freaking out and instead of being supportive we got an a big argument over it. Even if I don't get fired tomorrow I need to get the hell out of this company!

[WholeLottaNothin]

Haitian - I feel like I missed something . I didn't realize the situation with your job was so precarious. What's going on?

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Jan 15, 2016 16:09:44 GMT -5 WholeLottaNothin said:

Haitian - I feel like I missed something . I didn't realize the situation with your job was so precarious. What's going on?