Recruit this!

Enjoyed spending time with my parents this weekend. I'm planning on visiting with them later this week. It's good to be able to do that right now, I think I was feeling isolated and depressed.

No serious job prospect on the horizon, but I have found a couple of things to apply to, so that is always good.

My cell phone rang today. I didn't feel like dropping everything to answer it [the phone usually rings when I'm about to get in the shower, in a checkout line, or when I'm in traffic] so I let voice mail pick it up. Turned out to be a recruiter for a job I had applied to over the weekend, a job which I was not aware involved a recruiting company. The job was one that I was not really qualified for, and finding out that it was actually placed by a recruiter was the final straw. I've done that before and have never been considered for any of those positions regardless of my qualifications. It's common knowledge that most of the time the jobs they post are non-existent and they are just trying to build a recruitment pool.


I decided not to return the call. I've been looking pretty hard for a job since last September [prior to that I had family issues that kept me from being able to be here to look for work.] Over that time, I've worked with three recruiters. Although I have had one interview as a result of working with a recruiter, over 90% of my results as far as interviewing, getting responses, etc., has been through my own effort, not that of a recruiter. And the one interview I had ended up being an absolute waste of time both for me and the person interviewing me, I was a terrible fit for the position and I don't know why they even suggested me for it other than they had to find someone for what was obvious a terrible position for whoever ended up taking the job. It had been turned down by two other people prior to me, and those two were much better equipped for it than I was. It was the position which I think I've mentioned in the past where the owner of the company basically wanted someone to buy him out in a few years. He was also wanting someone to conduct audits, which was something he was not qualified to do [he was not even a CPA, although he had another certification that was related to tax work.]

I do not think I am any better off for having dealt with recruiters, not at my experience level. I just don't feel like wasting my time on some no-name staffing company when I'm already signed up for three others and they have never really done much toward finding me a job. I'm also resentful that I wasted my time submitting my resume and writing another cover letter to what turned out to be another recruiter. So nope, I'm not calling the person back.

Hate to say it, but it's fun being the person who isn't returning calls for a change.

Well, looks like it's back to the drawing board.

Bad news: I didn't get the job at the small CPA firm.

Good news: He let me know a week after I interviewed, so now I don't have to worry about it.

It seems like we are in a late summer vacancy drought, so I guess it's time to start sending resumes out all over the place again. Will probably try some of the firms in the area, although I've noticed a lot of them have gotten smart and have quit putting e-mail contact info on their websites.

My wife's birthday was last Sunday. She has to travel around so much for her job that we ended up just relaxing at home. My parents are visiting our fair state, so we're travelling to meet with them this weekend. I haven't seen them in nearly a year. So at least that's something to look forward to.

Whenever I find out I didn't get a job I have mixed feelings. Of course I am disappointed, but then at the same time I am relieved that I don't have to worry about failing. But the longer this goes on, the worse things will get. I have about resigned myself to not really having a real job again. When unemployment runs out I will try to supplement our income through temp work, H&R Block, etc, and of course continue to apply for things, but I'm starting to prepare for the worst.

The doors of opportunity continue to slam shut

Looks like that's it as far as The Federal Agency Everyone Hates. Contacted the HR person today and was told that offers had been made last week. She didn't know if they were done yet, but given that there were probably maybe 4-5 openings at most, it's likely that they are finished. So that's it till next year. The next hiring will be announced this fall, interviews will take place probably late December into January, and offers will be made in February. Have to sit tight until then.

This was my third try at this, and I really thought I might have finally broken through, but guess not. Now I guess I have to hope that I end up working at that tiny CPA firm.

May end up doing H&R Block type stuff, I don't know. I don't know what the future holds. Whatever it is, I probably won't like it.

The sticking points.

So the job yesterday sounds like an okay opportunity. It would be a good way to get some much-needed diverse experience. It sounds like although it's a small firm, he has things laid out really well as far as giving instructions on how to do everything, and making himself available for questions.

Two major cons: It's public accounting. I'm willing to give this a chance, but ultimately this is not what I see myself doing. Too much of the work in public accounting is about selling and networking.

That brings me to the second con. I am going to be expected to join things and network in an attempt to bring in business. That's new to me, a place where they expect a new hire to "make rain." I think it's something that would be a gradual transition, but over time that might be a real problem. I don't want to join things or "network."

It is funny, I don't care one way or the other if I get this, if I do I will take it if I have nothing else going on [don't really know what's going to happen with the Federal Agency Everybody Hates--some people have been hired but I don't know if they are finished in my area or not, some places are very far behind and haven't called anyone yet.] I will take the job under that circumstance, but will probably do it with an assumption that it's not going to be more than 1-2 years, and I will probably continue to try to get hired by the feds. Pay and benefits are much more, and long term there's just more opportunity.

Of course, the odds are good that I could end up not getting any offer at all, in which case it's back to the drawing board.

Quote from the Job Interview of the Year.

"We got rid of some clients because they were assholes. And life's too short to deal with assholes."

Got a call at 9 this morning for an interview at a CPA firm I'd applied to a couple of weeks ago. Talked with the guy this afternoon for about an hour and a half. Much better than the previous interviews. I think after the misery of the governmental job interrogation...er, interview process this seemed much easier. It's easier to just talk with someone, ask and answer questions, etc., instead of an oral examination.

As usual, we shall see. Lots of competition, but sounds like having my license is a definite plus. It's a tiny firm, but they've been around a while. Pretty much seems to be the polar opposite of the Big Firm. Who knows...some things I can tell may end up being sticking points, but I can probably manage to hang on a couple of years if I can do good work.

The Power of Literature.

...I recently finished AFFLICTION by Russell Banks and it made me irrationally angry at my father-in-law to the point where I was tempted to hit him over the head with a board. Well, not really, but I did feel more negative than usual toward him for a couple of days, which is really saying something.

Closing the Passage

Surprisingly, this isn't another post about my employment woes.

I have a massive backlog of books to be read. I overdo it at the thrift store and the library book sale. I have no real place to put a lot of my books. I'm similar to those compulsive hoarders, except I actually do read the books and the ones I have bought I often do pass on once I've finished them or given up on them. Anyway, it is an ongoing battle which I am losing.

One of the books that I'd waited on for some time is THE PASSAGE, by Justin Cronin. It is an end-of-the-world type novel, epic length. Similar to Stephen King's THE STAND [which is the yardstick by which all apocalyptic novels/stories/films are measured.]
I am around 500 pages into it, and figure I will be coming into the novel's endgame soon.

...assuming I don't give up on it. THE PASSAGE seems to be doing something that a lot of newer books do, basically the events of the first few hundred pages seem to have become background, and now it seems like the book is mired in the less-than-interesting personal issues of a colony of survivors. Although the thing that caused the apocalyptic event is still very much at large, it seems to be mostly backstage.
There's an impending crisis for the colony, and that too seems to have been placed on the back burner. Instead we have a lot of political and personal conflict. I'm hoping it picks up, it's due later this week and I have a lot of other stuff I'd rather read at this point. Usually when I get this far in a book, I am determined to finish it, but there is always a first time, I guess. And lord knows, I failed the various character lessons of childhood and am more or less a quitter by nature.

Amusing.

I thought I would mess around with Google to see how easy it is to find this blog, and of course learned it is pretty difficult. You basically have to already know this blog well and put in exact phrases that I've used. There are a ton of other blogs and other things called De Minimis, since it's a common term.

Anonymous in a crowd, I like that.

Went to a friend's son's birthday party today, that was fun to see him all excited about everything. I can't help it, I still get excited by my own birthday. I've had a few of them that I spent alone in recent years, but even then I would try to do something special or fun for myself. Still, it's fun to see a kid's enthusiasm and excitement.

Finished another David Lodge book. I find myself getting into "middle-aged men in crisis" novels these days. DEAF SENTENCE was one [although the protagonist was more senior citizen than middle aged]; I've read another called NICE WORK, and today I finished THERAPY. All three are about successful professional men whose worlds are turned upside down, and how they deal with it. Many times, the characters are hung up on the past, which is something I can relate to.

Also reading LONDON FIELDS by Martin Amis, an author that I've always tried to get into but couldn't, but I guess now I'm either old enough or patient enough to get into it.

A surprise to no one....

...I got the "We wish you success in your professional career" letter again from last week's interview. Knew it was coming. I peeled the address label off so I could recycle the envelope and found someone else's address underneath. Apparently they are re-using envelopes at the county. If they can't afford basic office supplies, they probably would have laid me off sooner or later I guess.

Incidentally, I never got the rejection letter from the other interview I had with them a month ago. Maybe this letter was used for both interviews, another way to cut costs.

I'm hoping the people there quit calling me for interviews, it is obvious I don't have the type of background and experience they are looking for, and it is no fun to go through their awful style of interviewing over and over again for no reason. It's too bad because I think I probably have a lot of the qualities they are looking for, but I guess experience is more important.

Funny.

The blogger software has an automated thing that suggests words or phrases that you've typed before as a shortcut. I typed in waiting and of course a ton of suggestions showed up. Just shows how many times I've been in this position.

No call yet. A week from now I'll either have a tentative job offer [pending some administrative stuff] or will be in the same position I am now, grasping at straws, trying to figure out what to do.

My "application status" was updated yesterday. It remains the same, it just means that someone in their office looked at my file again. The IRS wannabe message board I hang out on has had a lot of people who had this happen a few times end up getting called with an offer. But time is running out. And I'm really thinking this may be my last shot at a job here.

At least the unemployment checks should keep coming for another several months. There's talk of creating a new unemployment tier, but I can't see them doing it. Besides, more tiers are not the solution. I agree with supporting people while they look for work, and wish they could have a situation where people could continue to receive benefits so long as their region had a high unemployment rate, but until people and companies start buying things again, nothing is going to change.

The road ahead....or behind.

So there is a brief hope now that I might get a call from the Federal Agency that Everyone Hates. It has to do with my online status on the government jobs website, which changed on Friday. I won't go into all the details, but the status change is something that has happened to those who have gotten tentative offers from them. However, it is Monday and the time frame for phone calls has passed for the day [they're on the East Coast and knock off around 4:30 or so.] Nothing to do but wait.
If I haven't heard anything in about a week and a half, that's it for them until probably next year. They do a fall hire, but it's usually more limited as to location and I don't believe the place I live has ever been included.

No contact regarding my interview last week, but of course, I wasn't expecting to hear anything. I have also never heard about the interview I had about a month ago, I assume that train has long left the station.

The unemployment extension passed and for once time is on my side in that I should be able to move through the next two tiers of extended benefits before I have to worry about them renewing any kind of unemployment benefits, which I believe will last me until early next year.

I have to face the very real possibility that I may never find work here. I may have to relocate and basically put my marriage on hiatus for a few years in order to work.
I'm hoping like hell that doesn't happen and that something comes up over the next few months, but if nothing has changed by the end of this year I may need to start making preparations to move. My parents live in a state with a slightly better economy than here [although not nearly as much business activity.] Wages are a lot lower so I will probably need to live with them in order to make ends meet while I gain experience.

We will see what happens.

I registered inactive for my CPA. I need to finish the continuing ed, but the material makes my eyes glaze over. I know I need to finish it sometime this month, though, it is not good to have "De Minimis, CPA (Inactive)" on your resume.

My birthday was last weekend. My thirties are close to being over. I have not accomplished much at all. But I've already talked about that enough already.