The Job Hunt Thread

[MJ2.0]

Jan 26, 2016 12:01:21 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

Jan 26, 2016 11:47:49 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

someone, Slate maybe?, ran a piece debunking that whole pose thing recently.

Eh, my whole take away was better posture = good.  If you've ever had an amazing yoga class, you might understand. I once had a 2 or 3 hr one that left me completely refreshed and energized.   I've never had that experience since.  Unfortunately, most yoga teachers just aren't that good.

Lesley Fightmaster on You Tube. She is so wonderful it feels like she's only teaching you. Are you in SoCal? I think she teaches out there.

[Lizard Queen]

Jan 26, 2016 12:09:39 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

Jan 26, 2016 12:01:21 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

Eh, my whole take away was better posture = good.  If you've ever had an amazing yoga class, you might understand. I once had a 2 or 3 hr one that left me completely refreshed and energized.   I've never had that experience since.  Unfortunately, most yoga teachers just aren't that good.

Lesley Fightmaster on You Tube. She is so wonderful it feels like she's only teaching you. Are you in SoCal? I think she teaches out there.

No, I'm in the Midwest. I'll check out YouTube. Thanks!

[ArchietheDragon]

Jan 26, 2016 12:08:07 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Jan 26, 2016 11:50:22 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

IMHO the question is a way for them to ask about your accomplishments, without asking you "tell us about your accomplishments."


I think the answers should be something more like, "Of course he would remember me.  I was key to doing, this, this, this which directly affected the VP of merchandising. blah, blah, blah, I am great, blah, blah, blah."

They don't actually care if the you think the VP remembers you.   


They don't want to hear, "I am not sure.  I was just a no body who didn't do anything great which no one would have noticed anyway"

In an interview, take every opportunity and every question as a chance to tell all the great things you did and will do.   

(for next time, just in case)

The reason I did not go that way was I was concerned that there is a chance they will actually ask the guy if he knows me.

So cannot sell myself on how the guy would remember me when he might not. Hey X, we are trying to decide to hire this guy and he said he knows you. Any input?

While the decision ultimately is up to the DM and VP of operations, they might ask the guy for his input since he used to be a CEO before that.

But yeah I see your point! I just did not want to say how awesome I was only to be made a liar when the guy goes: no memory of him at all.

Heck I have met the chairman of my company more than 20 times, and every time he meets me it is like the first time he is meeting me all over again. So I was thinking of that when I answered....

*fingers crossed that did not jeopardize my chances*

don't lie.  But put you best foot forward.     That answer certainly would not jeopardize your chances.    

[TheHaitian]

Jan 26, 2016 10:59:54 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

I have an interview today and tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

Good luck!!!

[TheHaitian]

Jan 26, 2016 12:12:17 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Jan 26, 2016 12:08:07 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

The reason I did not go that way was I was concerned that there is a chance they will actually ask the guy if he knows me.

So cannot sell myself on how the guy would remember me when he might not. Hey X, we are trying to decide to hire this guy and he said he knows you. Any input?

While the decision ultimately is up to the DM and VP of operations, they might ask the guy for his input since he used to be a CEO before that.

But yeah I see your point! I just did not want to say how awesome I was only to be made a liar when the guy goes: no memory of him at all.

Heck I have met the chairman of my company more than 20 times, and every time he meets me it is like the first time he is meeting me all over again. So I was thinking of that when I answered....

*fingers crossed that did not jeopardize my chances*

don't lie.  But put you best foot forward.     That answer certainly would not jeopardize your chances.    

Thank you, we will find out next week!

[emma1420]

Jan 26, 2016 12:16:39 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Jan 26, 2016 12:12:17 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

don't lie.  But put you best foot forward.     That answer certainly would not jeopardize your chances.    

Thank you, we will find out next week!

When are you other interviews lined up for?   Will you know about the status of this job before you interview for the others?

[Abby Normal]

Jan 26, 2016 12:18:58 GMT -5 @tbird said:

Jan 26, 2016 12:01:06 GMT -5 Abby Normal said:

It would if you knew the owners and the industry.  

I guess what archie is alluding to is if the business is really profitable, then it would make sense that a purchase could be financed somehow OR the owners would do a contract sale. Like over 10 years they get 90% of net year 1. 80% year 2, etc. That would be a lot more to them than liquidating if the profit is there, plus better tax wise. If liquidating is a much better deal for them, that means it isn't all that profitable....

That is just it- liquidating ISN'T a better option for them.  Not by a longshot. They want out, and they want out now.  We get about a 10%-12% return on assets in a decent year.  The one interested buyer said "get it to 15% and we'll talk".  Only the owners kids don't want wait for the time it takes to happen  nor do they want to work at it to get it there. (actually, if you cut out the family wages and expenses, we are already there).  Owners father is tired of fighting with them, so they are choosing to liquidate the inventory and attempt to sell off the equipment and land later.  

So they are going to settle for about 23% (after closing expenses) of what they could get if they sold it as a going business. CEO and I told them 2 years ago to make it the best company we can to sell.  They purposefully (not kidding here) have made bad decisions so they can say " see, this is why we want out now" and despite their craziness, we have made money. Just not as much as we would have otherwise.  They've been doing this for a few years now, but it became more and more blatant once they admitted they wanted out. 

CEO has been going bat crap crazy dealing with them. CEO refers to them daily (to me) as the GSB's.  Gready selfish bastards.   Their decision makes absolutely no business sense.

[Abby Normal]

Though I have to say- telling the story here about their dumbassness is making me feel a bit better.  Maybe you guys will understand why i've describe it as toxic here, and feel sick everyday on my way in. There is no fixing stupid. 

[TheHaitian]

Jan 26, 2016 13:01:05 GMT -5 Abby Normal said:

Jan 26, 2016 12:18:58 GMT -5 @tbird said:

I guess what archie is alluding to is if the business is really profitable, then it would make sense that a purchase could be financed somehow OR the owners would do a contract sale. Like over 10 years they get 90% of net year 1. 80% year 2, etc. That would be a lot more to them than liquidating if the profit is there, plus better tax wise. If liquidating is a much better deal for them, that means it isn't all that profitable....

That is just it- liquidating ISN'T a better option for them.  Not by a longshot. They want out, and they want out now.  We get about a 10%-12% return on assets in a decent year.  The one interested buyer said "get it to 15% and we'll talk".  Only the owners kids don't want wait for the time it takes to happen  nor do they want to work at it to get it there. (actually, if you cut out the family wages and expenses, we are already there).  Owners father is tired of fighting with them, so they are choosing to liquidate the inventory and attempt to sell off the equipment and land later.  

So they are going to settle for about 23% (after closing expenses) of what they could get if they sold it as a going business. CEO and I told them 2 years ago to make it the best company we can to sell.  They purposefully (not kidding here) have made bad decisions so they can say " see, this is why we want out now" and despite their craziness, we have made money. Just not as much as we would have otherwise.  They've been doing this for a few years now, but it became more and more blatant once they admitted they wanted out. 

CEO has been going bat crap crazy dealing with them. CEO refers to them daily (to me) as the GSB's.  Gready selfish bastards.   Their decision makes absolutely no business sense.

It makes perfect sense actually to me; reason why many family companies do not survive past 3rd / 4th generation.

They want their MONEY NOW, lump sum so they can BLOW through it no matter the cost!

[ArchietheDragon]

Jan 26, 2016 13:07:01 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Jan 26, 2016 13:01:05 GMT -5 Abby Normal said:

That is just it- liquidating ISN'T a better option for them.  Not by a longshot. They want out, and they want out now.  We get about a 10%-12% return on assets in a decent year.  The one interested buyer said "get it to 15% and we'll talk".  Only the owners kids don't want wait for the time it takes to happen  nor do they want to work at it to get it there. (actually, if you cut out the family wages and expenses, we are already there).  Owners father is tired of fighting with them, so they are choosing to liquidate the inventory and attempt to sell off the equipment and land later.  

So they are going to settle for about 23% (after closing expenses) of what they could get if they sold it as a going business. CEO and I told them 2 years ago to make it the best company we can to sell.  They purposefully (not kidding here) have made bad decisions so they can say " see, this is why we want out now" and despite their craziness, we have made money. Just not as much as we would have otherwise.  They've been doing this for a few years now, but it became more and more blatant once they admitted they wanted out. 

CEO has been going bat crap crazy dealing with them. CEO refers to them daily (to me) as the GSB's.  Gready selfish bastards.   Their decision makes absolutely no business sense.

It makes perfect sense actually to me; reason why many companies do not survive pay 3rd / 4th generation.

They want their MONEY NOW, lump sum so they can BLOW through it no matter the cost!

Family businesses suck.  

[TheHaitian]

Jan 26, 2016 12:33:18 GMT -5 emma1420 said:

Jan 26, 2016 12:16:39 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Thank you, we will find out next week!

When are you other interviews lined up for?   Will you know about the status of this job before you interview for the others?

The only other interview I have scheduled is on 2/10 and if they indeed let me know by next week, I should know before then if I have this job or not.

I probably would give them 2/15 as a start date if offered the job because I still want to go to the 2/10 interview.

[zibazinski]

Jan 26, 2016 11:25:56 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Jan 26, 2016 11:22:16 GMT -5 Abby Normal said:

If I had won powerball jackpot, I totally would have bought the company.  But I don't have 50 million just lying around, and even with CEO I don't think anyone is going to loan us that. We did look at an employee owned option, but still couldn't make it work.  

That sucks.   As with many family owned businesses, the value is with the owner, not necessarily the business.  Most owners overvalue the worth of their business and most buyers realize that once the previous owners are out of the picture the business turns to shit. 

Amen !

[Deleted]

Jan 26, 2016 12:08:07 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Jan 26, 2016 11:50:22 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

IMHO the question is a way for them to ask about your accomplishments, without asking you "tell us about your accomplishments."


I think the answers should be something more like, "Of course he would remember me.  I was key to doing, this, this, this which directly affected the VP of merchandising. blah, blah, blah, I am great, blah, blah, blah."

They don't actually care if the you think the VP remembers you.   


They don't want to hear, "I am not sure.  I was just a no body who didn't do anything great which no one would have noticed anyway"

In an interview, take every opportunity and every question as a chance to tell all the great things you did and will do.   

(for next time, just in case)

The reason I did not go that way was I was concerned that there is a chance they will actually ask the guy if he knows me.

So cannot sell myself on how the guy would remember me when he might not. Hey X, we are trying to decide to hire this guy and he said he knows you. Any input?

While the decision ultimately is up to the DM and VP of operations, they might ask the guy for his input since he used to be a CEO before that.

But yeah I see your point! I just did not want to say how awesome I was only to be made a liar when the guy goes: no memory of him at all.

Heck I have met the chairman of my company more than 20 times, and every time he meets me it is like the first time he is meeting me all over again. So I was thinking of that when I answered....

*fingers crossed that did not jeopardize my chances*

You basically said the guy should remember you because you reported directly to him. With Archie's answer you are saying he should remember you for how great you were. As long as you are telling the truth they can use that to prompt the guy if he doesn't remember you right off. If he doesn't you're not on the hook for his bad memory.

[mojothehelpermonkey]

Jan 26, 2016 13:08:53 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Jan 26, 2016 13:07:01 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

It makes perfect sense actually to me; reason why many companies do not survive pay 3rd / 4th generation.

They want their MONEY NOW, lump sum so they can BLOW through it no matter the cost!

Family businesses suck.  

The owner of the company that I last worked lost a lot of employees when she let her husband and sister have too much power. They are still in business a year later, but I have seen my old job posted several times. Nobody wants to work there.

[financialpeace]

Hi everyone. I mostly lurk, but was hoping for some advice. So I recently took a different job (as a favor to my boss, not because I wanted it and she knew that), and now the responsibilities are changing and I'm going to hate it. It's pretty much my worst nightmare (lots of outbound phone calls to borrowers, and I am more suited to back office work). What do I do? She kind of tricked me into this and is expecting it all to just blow over. But it's not. If I made more money, it would be worth it, but I don't make a lot. I literally net $0 on the days my kids go to daycare (3 days a week). I don't want to work for so little if I hate my job. I'm not sure if going back to my old job is an option. It wouldn't look that great because everyone would assume I'm bad at the new job (not true). Any advice?

[emma1420]

Jan 26, 2016 15:52:54 GMT -5 financialpeace said:

Hi everyone. I mostly lurk, but was hoping for some advice. So I recently took a different job (as a favor to my boss, not because I wanted it and she knew that), and now the responsibilities are changing and I'm going to hate it. It's pretty much my worst nightmare (lots of outbound phone calls to borrowers, and I am more suited to back office work). What do I do? She kind of tricked me into this and is expecting it all to just blow over. But it's not. If I made more money, it would be worth it, but I don't make a lot. I literally net $0 on the days my kids go to daycare (3 days a week). I don't want to work for so little if I hate my job. I'm not sure if going back to my old job is an option. It wouldn't look that great because everyone would assume I'm bad at the new job (not true). Any advice?

I don't think there is anything with asking if you change transfer back to your old office, just be prepared for the answer to be no, and have a game plan for what you plan to do next.  The job duties significantly after you were hired, and now the position is no longer a good fit.  I think that is a good enough reason to request a transfer, especially if you have a good reputation and tenures in other departments.  

[Abby Normal]

No one would assume you were bad at your new job.  Many people have left for greener pastures to find out they are not.  Contact your old boss and say that the new job isn't working out like you had hoped, and you were wondering if they would consider hiring you back.  nothing to lose.

But if they aren't/can't/ won't   start looking for a new job.  A miserable job is bad enough.  A miserable job for miserable pay is... miserable. 

[financialpeace]

I'm sorry, I wasn't very clear. My old position and my new one are all under the same boss. Technically, the new job is a promotion, but it's really a completely different job. So I would be going from a level 2 back to a level 1. But we need another 2 and the position has been open for almost a year with no luck, so I don't think she's going to be very open to me moving back to my old position and then being down 2 people again in the role I'm currently in.

[Abby Normal]

That is a bit different.  Can you talk with her and say " This new direction of this position isn't what I agreed to when I took the promotion and I'm not sure I'll be happy".  At least see if she'll cough up some extra funds. But it sounds like you need to start looking.

[raeoflyte]

Support staff are likely to understand that you didn't like outbound calls to clients.  I don't think you'll find many people (who matter) who assume you couldn't hack it as a level 2 once they realize the outbound calls. 

That is assuming they let you move back of course, but if the offer is no I'd start looking.  Volume is picking up in our neck of the woods and I think by the end of 1st quarter the industry will have settled into the new regulations and be hopping.  

[TheHaitian]

The company in VA have relocation benefits but does not help you with the sale of your home which to me is a small downside.

I wonder if we should see an agent to see how much we could list the house for. The house 3 house downs is listed for 360k and they've had seen a lot of activities.

[zibazinski]

Hold onto the house for now.

[geenamercile]

Carl- Would you consider renting the house?  

[Deleted]

Jan 26, 2016 19:09:47 GMT -5 geenamercile said:

Carl- Would you consider renting the house?  

If you do have to move, Carl, I would sell the house assuming you could get enough to pay it off and pay the realtor's fee.  You probably won't make money, but you could break even.  Sort-of expensive houses are hard to rent . . . at least in our area.  People want to rent luxury homes because they are only in the area for a year or so or middle class but affordable homes in good school districts.  The more expensive homes in good school districts are not as popular.

If you broke even after whatever upgrades you guys did,  you would have lived there rent-free with a tax deduction for however long you have been there.  That is hard to beat.    It isn't all about "profit." 

Just my 2 cents . . . as always.  

[muttleynfelix]

I've been at my job for a little over 10 months now. It has had its ups and downs (including the PM who hired me getting demoted). Our regional manager who took over as PM on the project is going to have fade out of the project over the next 2 months (he's really been doing a little of that the last 2 months). He told me today that I have done a good job elevating myself to being some the client likes and trusts. While the original PM is going to stay on as a technical resource, I'm going to take over a lot of the duties of the PM! I'm still learning a lot, but I've been in the fire the last 2 months and have proven I can handle it even if I have struggled in some areas. I was brought in at an engineer level and my hope is that when promotions occur in March that I am promoted to senior engineer. Keep your fingers crossed. This is what I wanted. I told DH that I would not be happy if he original PM was brought back into the lead roll because his style doesn't jive with the client. It seems like my regional manager agrees and the original PM is on board with it.

[moon/Laura]

shanendoah - sorry, it looks like I started this thread now. I was trying to move some posts per request but ended up moving the entire thread instead. Now that i've moved it back, it makes me look like the thread starter. 

[taz157]

Jan 26, 2016 20:28:06 GMT -5 moon/Laura said:

shanendoah - sorry, it looks like I started this thread now. I was trying to move some posts per request but ended up moving the entire thread instead. Now that i've moved it back, it makes me look like the thread starter. 

Which would explain why the "New" button was wonky when I pressed it. It took me to the 1st page instead the new posts I hadn't read yet.

[TheHaitian]

Jan 26, 2016 19:09:47 GMT -5 geenamercile said:

Carl- Would you consider renting the house?  

We cannot afford it!

[NastyWoman]

calling mods!!! Who unpinned the job hunt thread? Please fix. Thank you

[moon/Laura]

did you see my post a few lines up?