The Job Hunt Thread

[Phoenix84]

I'm glad you know folks who understand the system.  It can be confusing if you don't have someone to explain it to you.  My Dad has worked for the feds his entire adult life, so was able to help guide me.

[shanendoah]

Why is is that complaining always seems to work?

To be clear I do NOT have a job offer, but I had a job interview this morning where it seems to me the position is mine if I want it. The base pay is low, but there's a bonus/profit sharing portion that would bring the salary (based on last year's profits) up into the acceptable zone. The owner is looking to actively grow the practice, and the position I am up for would have an active part in that, so based on how well I did my job, I could drastically increase my earnings. I've got some questions in to the owner about how the 3% bonus works (is it profit sharing or on gross business done, how often is it paid, etc.) This is a position I think I would really enjoy in a field that I love, but will also break my heart occasionally.

In addition, I have a phone interview for a position with a health informatics company this afternoon. I applied for this position fairly late in the day on Friday and was contacted to set the interview on Saturday, so that's a good sign.

[The Captain]

 (keeping fingers crossed and sending good mojo your way)

[Nazgul Girl]

   Aha !   I'm so glad to see positive movement in your situation, Shanendoah.   I had  been hoping, and rooting for,  something was going to change for the better quick, quick, quick !

[shanendoah]

Thanks for the good wishes everyone.

I forgot to mention I had a phone interview on Friday. I felt like it went well, and afterwards, someone from the company, not the person I interviewed with, checked out my LinkedIn profile, so I think that's a good sign.

This afternoon's phone interview went well. It was more of a screening with the HR guy. He thinks I fit the profile for the position quite well and will be meeting with the hiring manager tomorrow. It sounds like he expects me to get brought in for an in person.

Have not heard back from the owner of the practice for the first job this morning, but it is a busy veterinary practice. There's a good chance he won't actually have time to get back to me until after he's done seeing patients this evening, so I'm not stressing about that.

[CarolinaKat]

I hope they both want you and you have to pick one!

[shanendoah]

So more information on the position from yesterday morning. I thought he was talking base pay plus bonus. Not, it appears he's talking pay simply being based on gross revenue. Apparently standard in the industry is the practice managers make 3% gross revenue. At current revenue for his practice, that would be about 1/3 of what I expect to make. So it would take tripling of their practice to get me to my standard.
He is willing to pay a base that is about 1/2 of what I expect to make. Which is definitely more than I make on UE.
The practice is very much poised to grow. He's changing the business model in a way that will turn current competitors into referrers, and fills a niche need in his location.

Taking it would be a risk, financially, but since a big part of my job would be working to grow the practice, I'd have direct influence on what I made. And I'd be working in veterinary medicine, meaning I'd love my job.

The question is, is this a risk I can commit myself to when I have some other prospects that will almost certainly pay quite a bit better and have much less risk associated with them.

I have more questions off to the vet.
I am doing my daily looking for positions. (Bummed that one of the ones I thought I had a good chance at based on previous interviewing with an organization has been cancelled.)
I will continue thinking and pondering.

[tskeeter]

Jun 2, 2014 14:38:14 GMT -5 shanendoah said:

In addition, I have a phone interview for a position with a health informatics company this afternoon. I applied for this position fairly late in the day on Friday and was contacted to set the interview on Saturday, so that's a good sign.

Someone working on Saturday is a good sign?

You might want to keep an eye out for possible work/life balance issues with that employer. 

[shanendoah]

tskeeter - good sign that I was contacted right away. But no, I don't freak out about working on a Saturday. Why? This is a major international company. For all I know his regular schedule has him working weekends (with days off midweek), due to working with offices overseas. It's also possible he sets his own schedule, or took time off during the week and was making it up on Saturday. Flexible schedules are really, really common up here. He didn't try to set the interview for a weekend or non-standard business hours, like some other places I've talked to, so I'm not going to stress.

The veterinarian I am talking with originally contacted me on a Sunday. But as his practice is a 7 day/week thing, I also did not find that worrying.

[taz157]

Good luck shane!

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Yay for new prospects!
I would be concerned about working for a percentage of gross revenue, but, heck I'm so nervous about having a steady paycheck I work for the government!

[mmhmm]

You're getting a lot of interest, Shane.  That's really great.  While it's never easy to make a choice when positions offered have different positives and negatives, it sure is nice to have a choice!  Best of luck to you.  I hope you find something that's perfect for you.

[shanendoah]

The hardest part is always in the waiting. I know the timelines for the positions I am waiting to hear more on, and do not actually expect to hear anything this week. But I still hate waiting.

[zibazinski]

Our vet clinic is open 7 days a week. Even the big kahuna does weekends and he started the whole thing. To me, that's a good sign.

[shanendoah]

Just a quick update:

I closed the loop on the veterinary practice manager job today and said no. I really wanted to be able to say yes, but at needing to triple the practice's current revenue just to get back to what I'm making, it's not a risk we could take right now. If we hadn't started the process to adopt again, we could have made it through the summer on that salary and then have C get a job once school starts again, but I really, really want one of us to be home (or at least not working full time) when we bring a second kid into the house.

I heard back from the place I phone interviewed with 2 Fridays ago. They have decided to move forward with other candidates.

The third one I have on the burner is still on the burner. I interviewed with them two Mondays ago. The hiring manager is on vacation until early next week, so I won't hear back about in person interviews on that until then.

A headhunter type firm (specializing in middle management and mid-career placement) reached out to me and I have a meeting with their local representative on Monday.


Also, my staff from my university job reached out and asked me to come have lunch with them. They are all jumping ship. None of the original three are with the department anymore, and the other person I brought in is looking to leave. I feel bad for them because it was supposed to be a great opportunity, not a cluster. It does make me glad I am not still there, as I am afraid they might have been willing to stick around in a position that wasn't working for them because of our relationship. (Of course, I might also have been busy encouraging them to get out.)

[shanendoah]

Still haven't heard from the job that was on the burner. I am going to guess that they are not moving me forward at this point.

Met with the headhunter folks. Their site gives me a new job search tool, but since I didn't want to buy what their representative was selling (financial advising), I'm guessing they won't be sending me too many jobs. Maybe I'll be wrong. I did attend their webinar, and used that as an impetus to redesign my resume. I am liking the new look of the resume better and it is easier to customize, so I'll call that a win. However, some of their other advice would creep me out as a hiring manager, make me feel like a candidate was stalking me, so I won't follow that.

Had a good first interview with a small defense contractor yesterday. Connected fairly well with the current operations manager (the person I would be replacing), so I have high hopes for being brought back for a second interview.

Also got a call on another position I had applied for yesterday. It was a quick phone screening. The guy is supposed to get back to me with an interview time, but I have not heard back from him, either phone or email, so not counting that just yet.

[justme]

Care to expand on the redesigns you did for your resume? I'm interested in hearing about them.

[shanendoah]

justme - I added color, changed the headings from being centered to left aligned. Switched fonts. Changed my mission statement/summary to have a bullet-ed list, which I use to call out specific skills a job posting is calling for. I combined my education/additional education sections and my professional certifications/additional certifications sections. I also decided to make it take the full two pages (instead of 1.5) and added a list of the computer programs I am familiar with to the end.
I have also saved a few different versions with different highlights for each position based on the type of position I am applying for (analyst lead/manager vs operations vs continuous improvement vs administrator etc)
A lot of what I did was really cosmetic. The meat of the resume is all the same, but I like the look of it a lot better, and I do seem to be getting a good response to it.

[CarolinaKat]

COLOR!?!?!?!?!?!

[shanendoah]

CarolinaKat - it's the latest trend in resumes. Having looked at a number of resumes, I actually find having some color on the resume is visually very appealing. It also lets you have obvious section breaks with less "white space" meaning you have more room on the paper for the important things you do, instead of blank lines to break up the sections.

If you want to see how it looks, let me know and I'll message you a copy. I don't mind sharing my resume with people here, just not willing to do it in a public post.

[shanendoah]

Today marks exactly 6 months being unemployed. My last job lasted 6 months & 10 days.
This is getting to me.

I did have a good phone interview today, but at this point, I don't know that I can trust my instincts about these things.

[emma1420]

Jul 10, 2014 20:29:08 GMT -5 shanendoah said:

Today marks exactly 6 months being unemployed. My last job lasted 6 months & 10 days.
This is getting to me.

I did have a good phone interview today, but at this point, I don't know that I can trust my instincts about these things.

I think it's difficult to determine if you connect with an interviewer because you are the right fit for the position or because you click personally with the interviewer.  I am hoping you find a position soon.

[moneymaven]

Hang in there Shane. You've handled this with grace and poise and I really respect you for that (among other things). I'm sending positive thoughts to you!

[shanendoah]

emma1420 - that was what happened with the small defense contractor- connected with the interviewer, but apparently not about the job.

moneymaven - Thank you

[raeoflyte]

Good luck Shane! I hope the right job pops up soon.

Sent from my ADR6410LVW using proboards

[shanendoah]

Things always seem to come in groups.

Expect to hear from the phone interview I had last week tomorrow or Thursday.
A position I applied for yesterday with a large organization contacted me for a phone interview. That is Thursday.

Another company I applied for a position with yesterday (a small local consulting firm) let me know right away that that position was too low level for me. I indicated I was still interested in the company and asked for an informational interview. I was told to get back in touch in August. Today, the same person contacted me saying she was likely going to have a position at my level coming up in the next few weeks, so we have our "informational interview" set for Monday next week.

[zibazinski]

[taz157]

Jul 15, 2014 20:18:27 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

Yeah that!

[Jaguar]

Go get em' tiger.

[suesinfl]

Wonderful news!