Right Effort

Here's the fun update: the engineering firm wasn't interested. The patent law firm won't be hiring me either (they seem sad about it, at least). So, my best prospects are gone now. I really have nothing lined up. I've still been pretty diligently applying to jobs everyday, though it's tough when you never hear anything back from anyone.

To increase my chances, my wife and I recently decided that I can look for jobs outside of Chicago. We don't like spending large amounts of time apart, and when I started looking for a job I would've said that things would have to be desperate before I started looking outside of Chicago, but...well, here we are. I'm looking all over the country. I've even applied to a few jobs in other countries. I've also started an application to the Peace Corps. I'm glad that at least there are plenty of job opportunities in the USA. What's holding me back, I think, is that everyone wants experience - even the companies who say they want entry-level employees.

I think everyone has big changes they want to make in their lives; maybe you are fortunate enough to have made one. The desire to make the change will nag you constantly, but you will put it out of your mind because you know that it will take effort and dedication. But, somehow, people can go from being nagged to deciding to change. Maybe I'm missing something simple, but I don't see an easy explanation for how this transformation starts. I'm learning that job-searching is like this, too; I can say "I want a job" and put in some applications, and this would be like saying "I want to lose weight" and dieting for a week without making long-term changes. It's important to be sure you are saying "I will find a job", instead.

What now? Here's what I have so far:
1) Learn CAD - lots of jobs want CAD users
2) Get a small-time job, like Uncle Dan's or something
3) Start making the full-time job search more personal. Call the HR people for follow-ups. This apparently makes you stand out and look like you have initiative. It's hard to do because it involves focusing and putting effort into something that may prove entirely fruitless. At the very least, though, it will show me that people actually are looking at my resume.
4) Prepare for career fairs, both at undergraduate and graduate colleges. Honestly, it will be hard to go back to my graduate college's career fair because some of the companies I talked to in the fall will be there. It's a little like walking into a room full of single girls I used to date and who broke up with me: I'm still interested, they're still looking, and I'm not sure whether it will be too awkward to try again.

I'm mostly healthy again

After I got the flu, my wife got it, so I spent 4 or 5 days taking care of her. We are both better now, so I've been living like a real unemployed person for about a week now. My days consist of checking the morning email from Monster for any worthwhile job opportunities, sending my information to temp agencies, applying to miscellaneous jobs that I find or that my wife finds, doing household errands, and sometimes going to Northwestern to work from there (to get me out of the house).

The engineering firm that I interviewed with told me that I'd know within a month of the second interview whether or not the wanted to hire me. Not surprisingly, the one-month anniversary came and went without incident, so I called the president (it's a small company, so he does the hiring) yesterday and left a message nicely asking about my status. I haven't heard back yet.

This waiting can be frustrating. I think I avoid thinking about it a lot. That is to say, I try to push the anxiety to the back of my mind, since there's nothing I can really do about it. But, I'm sure you know, when you've called the president and are waiting for him to call back, you can end up with a lot of thoughts like "What's taking so long? Is he trying to figure out the best way to word their decision to not hire me?".

Monday, I got a call from a headhunter who found my resume on Monster. He had a manufacturing engineering job that he thought I'd be a good fit for. Tuesday, he called to tell me that the company wasn't interested, as they wanted someone with manufacturing experience. Easy come, easy go.

I've also found that doing a sabbatical like I was considering is tricky business. Every time I think about trying to find temporary work like that, I feel a strong urge not to, since I might get permanent employment soon. It's like these companies could call me at any moment!

Small setback in small job search

You might be wondering how my job search on Monday went. It didn't. Sunday night, I was feeling sort of queasy and weak. Turned into a horrible flu. I'm getting better, but I'm definitely in no shape to be walking around Evanston, talking to other people. So, like me, you'll have to wait for news on how the job search goes.