So before I started my new job, I watched American Factory on Netflix, just to get myself in the mindset for the working world (i.e. becoming a corporate drone again, as opposed to a stay-at-home slob*). It was more objective than most documentaries I see. (I kinda got soured on them because I’ve seen so many that have a point they want to reach, then manipulate what you see to prove that point.) But this one shows the good and the bad of an American glass factory bought and run by a Chinese CEO. They call him the “chairman” and he comes in and asks for a $35,000 garage door…
-
-
Job References Rant
One thing I didn’t talk about in my rant about job-searching was references. These are the stupidest, most antiquated, most useless pieces of the process and they should be eliminated. Point number one: Most companies don’t even serve as a reference anymore. They have policies that say all they can do is confirm the terms of employment and job title. That’s information you can get from the government. This is especially prevalent in the big companies, where liability rules all. They don’t want to get sued because some employee had beef with another. Point number two: everyone moves on. I have one reference from every place I’ve been employed. I’m…
-
Job Searching Is a Battle Lost Before It’s Begun
If you even try putting your resume onto any job site, whether it’s Indeed or GlassDoor or LinkedIn, the first thing that happens is you’re immediately assaulted by Indian headhunters of every accent, location, and poor phone connection. One day I got seventeen calls between 8:00 and 8:30 on a Friday. (For more complaining about this, see my previous blog post). Once you’re searching for jobs, it’s not as simple as clicking a filter and saying “full-time” or “this, this, and this location”. First of all, they don’t screen these job postings. So you could be looking for full-time, but four out of five are for contract, contract-to-hire, temp placement,…
-
Out of Work and No Place to Go
So it’s been about two weeks since I lost my job. Well, I didn’t lose it, my contract ended. The problem is, this is December, the worst time for job-searching, and I’m only getting paychecks until this Friday. The company I’m working for had me under a Salaried Professional System, but they can’t find a job for me and they haven’t been trying hard. So it’s been up to me to search for a job, with only two weeks notice before I lose my current one. And it’s not looking likely I’ll find one before the end of the year, but we’ll see. My point is I haven’t done any…
