Praise the lord and pass the martini…

Workouts: 1, Jobs Applied for: 1, AC: 0, New Contacts: 0 – This whole new contacts thing is not going to happen.  I just can’t meet 20 new people every week.  It’s ridiculous, I don’t think I even want to meet 20 new people every week, I just don’t think I like people that much.  Ok must start liking people more for next week.

This week has been a shockingly good week.  I had a real interview with a company I have a chance of working for, my friend Sally had 2 great interviews for real jobs that actually exist and another friend of mine from business school landed a job in an investment bank in Boston.

Maybe I was wrong (again, don’t tell my boyfriend, still going with I’ve never been wrong) maybe the market is picking up.  Maybe the trick is to keep at it and good things will eventually happen.

As I sit here, checking my blog stats to see how many people have read today (a new fun way to measure my self worth) instead of applying to jobs, I realize how much volatility goes into this blog.  Some days are great, some days suck and the fact that a day is great is almost no indicator of how the next day will go.  So for those of you that follow this blog (ie my sister, mother and boyfriend because I force them to) I realize that I look kind of nuts with all of these highs and lows.  Note to self: look less nuts, might lead to more jobs.

Last week I decided that the unemployed weekend starts on Thursday at happy hour.  Well after last Thursday’s disaster of an evening I have promptly moved that back to Friday where it belongs.  I don’t know if it was god’s or my mother’s voice in my head telling me to drink less, but whichever one it was I wish they would have talked softer.  I got the message loud and clear.  So in turn I have a marathon weekend of parties, dinners, brunches, all the reasons I moved to NY in the first place.

The weekends tend to be a tough to balance for me.  I want to go out and see my friends.  First because I miss them and don’t nearly see them enough now that they are all horribly overworked.  And second, because you never know what “networking” opportunity will lead to finding a job.  All experts say that you are much more likely to find a job through your network of contacts, so keeping that network strong just makes good common sense.  But all of these parties, brunches, and dinners do not come cheap.  Especially in this city…

Dear Amex,

Thanks again for that 0% APR credit card.  You really have been a life saver, I know you would prefer it if I paid off more than my minimum and I will, just not right now.  So thank you for the dinners and drinks.  I’ve parsed my spending down to necessities and I know it sounds crazy (unless you’ve lived in NY in which case you understand) but sometimes $15 martinis are a necessity.  It’s just how things are done here.  Don’t hate the player, hate the game.

All my love,

AIB

So in case I’m too hungover tomorrow morning to post, I want to wish you all a great weekend.

And today’s shout out goes out to all of my employed friends who are horribly overworked and underpaid.  If this week is any indicator of things to come, there could be more hands coming to help.  And congrats on your promotion.  If getting laid off is the new keeping your job, and keeping your job is the new getting promoted, well you deserve a huge congrats.  Drinks on you tonight!

P.S.  The wordpress spellcheck doesn’t recognize the word blog, there’s some good irony in that one..

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Please, take your time, I’ll be here, on the couch, awaiting your call

Workouts: 0, Jobs Applied for: 3, AC: 0, New Contacts: 1

Yesterday I interviewed for the job that I’m so unbelievably qualified for, it’s rather shocking.  After a very pleasant interview with no trick questions where we spent an hour laughing, joking, and walking through my resume, I think it became clear to both of us, that I’m really qualified for the job.  So I start to do my own little happy dance, because while there of course is the possibility that I won’t be selected, this is the closest I’ve been to being the right fit for a job in a long time.

The final question of the interview comes, What is the time line for the hiring process for this position?  And I’m shocked to hear that they don’t expect to be giving out an offer until mid April.  What?????  They are doing first round interviews for another week, fine.  Then second round interviews will start the end of March.  Then they will make final decisions and extend an offer mid April.  So if I’m granted second rounds, and that turns into an offer I still won’t be able to start working until the end of April.

Now I understand there is a lot of great talent out there these days and you want to be thorough with your interview process, but come on.  This position is only reporting to one person and he is the one conducting the first round interviews.  I can’t imagine what the second round would be like, we already discussed my entire resume.

The frustrating part is this seems to be a trend.  I did a phone interview 3 weeks ago and was told I would hear back within a week or two.  I assumed that I didn’t get the position but decided to follow up with the HR person anyway, because these days I’m all about pressing the issue and forcing the rejection.  You want to reject me?  Awesome.  But I’m going to make you tell me, not just silently go into the abyss.

So I email the HR woman and she informs me that they will be contacting people for second round interviews in the next 2-3 weeks.  That’s 6 weeks to decide on a 30 minute phone interview.  Unless they interviewed half of NY, which I guess is possible given the job market here, it shouldn’t be that hard of a decision.  From the moment I hung up the phone I knew the interview wasn’t my best stuff.  So I figured a rejection was inevitable, I just figured it would come quicker so I can put that lead to rest and move on.

Just because the job market is wonderful for employers where they have their pick of hundreds of really qualified bright workers, doesn’t mean common decency needs to disappear.  If you are not interested in someone, tell them!  I interviewed with a company a couple of months ago that legitimately never got back to me.  I went into their offices, through the contact of a friend of mine, spent 3 hours talking to two of their senior people, and never heard from them again.  I heard from my friend a few weeks later that they liked me but realized they wanted to go in a different direction with the job.  And truthfully, I agree.  I would have been great in a different role, but for that specific role, I was not their girl.  But be decent people and tell me!

It should go without saying, but if I take time out of my day to prep and interview for your company, the least you can do is take 5 minutes to call me back and tell me you decided to go with someone else.  And people, let’s hurry this process along.  These over priced nyc apartments are not going to start paying their own rent, now are they?

I do have to say though, it’s nice to have a real lead in the pipeline.  Even if it takes them 7 lifetimes to realize I am the candidate of their dreams and they should have swooped me up the minute they first spoke to me.

And as a side note:  I would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful people at the NY State Department of Labor.  I deal with a lot of incompetent bureaucracy in my daily life and the agents they have working the unemployment claim are always pleasant, helpful, and conscientious.  They always sympathize with those who are actively looking for work, and do their best to get each claimant the maximum benefits possible.   In a world of useless bureaucracy that makes you want to punch someone in the face, it is a nice surprise.

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