My whole problem with the “Do we open? Do we not open?” debate is that there is no clear goal. My governor (Minnesota) is doing this hem and haw, basically stepping outside to see if it’s still raining, then stepping back in. It would be a lot easier to swallow this lockdown if there was some goal in mind to reach before reopening – do we have to get down to a certain number of infections per day? Deaths per day? Tests per day? A vaccine in our hands? But no one’s willing to set that objective in stone. I’m sick of having my kids’ sports postponed, not canceled, so…
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American Factory and Unions
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…
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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…
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How Robert Half Screwed Me Over
So now that I have a real job again (I’ve verified it–I’m sitting in the seat and everything) I feel comfortable enough explaining how I got into this position in the first place. Some background: in my last position, I was hired for Robert Half’s “Salaried Professional Services” program. Basically a contractor, but I was a salaried employee, so I got health insurance and didn’t have to worry about an hourly rate. It all started on a Friday. Robert Half called me to let me know they’d be looking for new opportunities for me since my current assignment was ending. That was news to me. In fact, I thought they…
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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,…
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Now I Know Why They Call Them Headhunters
Never sign up for more than one job site. At least don’t make your resume public. Because your cell phone will get racked by fucking outsourced recruiters who don’t give shit one about your needs as a job-seeker. They just throw everything at everything and pray. Love that shotgun technique. And none of them are from companies I applied for. I don’t even need to know what variation of “eInfoTechSysPartnersTalent” they’re from. I know where they’re from because they all have the same four features. They’re always Indian. Always. I have never gotten a call from a white man. The caller ID says they’re from some out-of-state city, usually coastal.…
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Job Woes
My blogging has been crap lately and I know it. Thankfully, it’s not because I haven’t been writing. I’ve been working on the first 13,000 words of Naga Story consistently, but I’m not having much good with productivity. Instead of churning 1,000 words a day, it’s more like 500-700. Not great. And it’s not like the outline isn’t there to help. I’m not sure what’s causing the slowdown. I’m not that depressed. I don’t think I’m that distracted. But it sure is disappointing. I’ve been writing and I’m liking what I’m writing. I just haven’t felt like writing in the blog. Nothing personal feels interesting. There’s been nothing pop culture-y…
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Don’t Ask Me to Lead, I May Not Follow
Revision progress: Pages complete: 33% Word count reduction: 9.8% While getting my kids their passports, I saw an article in the Star Tribune that said Minnesota IT companies are desperate for talent. It was the primary reason Amazon dropped Minneapolis as a candidate for its new headquarters (not that I’d want it to be here — mega-corps come with their own baggage). They want them local and experienced. The ones who can analyze and lead a team. And even singled out Java and DevOps skillsets. And as I was completing my yearly resume revision, I realized I had more leadership experience than I thought. My last two jobs, I could…
