The Tuesday Morning O.M.G.I.G.T.F.A.J. Meeting

Another Tuesday and time for the "Oh My God I Got To Find A Job" meeting. These meetings are an assembliage of other Corporate Rejects. The purpose is to encourage your fellow losers to find a job and not jump off a building (looks bad for the company that dumped them). What they turn into is weekly gripe sessions. Let's just lay it out there - these meetings are down right depressing. What is more depressing is knowing that there are local, regional, state and national chapters of the OMGIGTFAJ!

Employer: What have you been doing during the last year and a half after you were downsized?
Interviewee: I was treasurer for the state chapter of the OMGIGTFAJ.

Sounds so professional! Anyway I'm going to be late for my local chapter meeting of the OMGIGTFAJ.

An Interview Slut

Yup boys and girls, that's what I am, an interview slut. I do two or three interviews a week. (this is an improvement over sending thousands of resumes off into the ether never to be heard from again). I'm still waiting for that employment phone call. How's the interview process going? Well it goes like this. I get all spiffed up, print up a few more resumes and brush up on my interviewing technique. Then I stride into the interview, full of confidence! We sit, we talk, they tell me about theirs and I tell them about mine. We tell a few jokes and promises are made to call. Then the days go by.

I call them to see what happened. They tell me they loved me. Then they tell me they filled the position from within (secretly they knew all along they would fill the position from within, this interview process was just pimping out the poor unemployed gut to give the interviewers some experience).

Man, these people should all rot in hell.

It's a low day today

So far this week I have had two interviews for jobs. Sounds good doesn't it? Well it's not. The first was for the lovely company West. West is a business to business sales office. They have lots of clients that they manage sales for. If you are familiar with this blog you will recognize the name because West in on my list of all time loser companies. This last interview marks my 7th with the company. So that makes me a loser for going to all these interviews. So here's what happened. I go for yet another interview and it goes swimmingly, they love me! The two interviewers try to offer me a job on the spot - but because this is coming from a staffing agency, I instruct them to contact the agency. I call the agency and tell them how the interview went and then I sit. You got it, they hire from within yet again. Here I sit with egg all over my face.

The second interview? Yes that was with a school district for a full time position. I arrive at the interview all decked out and ready for action. The job has been downsized to 2 hours 4 days a week and no benefits. But since I have a teaching license would I be willing to sub? Oh yuck! Egg on my face again.

I'm beginning to think there is something wrong with me. That there is a black list out there somewhere and I'm on it.

Day 238 Still Searching

This is a letter to all those workers who are about to join the unemployed.

Fellow Sufferers:

When they let you go they will tell you how sorry they are, it's not personal, it's a business decision and that you will land on your feet with an even better job and a brighter future than the one you are leaving. Don't believe them! The truth is this: You are now entering the Twilight Zone. You are neither alive or dead and you are invisible to the world around you. Your first step is to become un-invisible. The experts will tell you to write you resume and you should probably gather some notes on what you have been doing but you are not ready to write a valid resume at this time. You are in shock and you are mad and you feel worthless. You need to DO something positive. So volunteer for something right after you apply for unemployment. It won't find you a job but you will become visible and you will feel better about yourself. This is important because you are in for a long haul as far as the job search goes. Good Luck

No for those employer's who post ads for jobs they don't intend to fill. I'm going to name a few so my fellow job hunters can avoid you.

All Lift
Plexus
West
School Specialty Supply
JJ Keller
Banta

If you know of other companies that belong on this list, please feel free to add them to this blog.

I don't say this without cause. All Lift has been looking to fill the same position for 6 months. They have gone through all the staffing agencies, spend thousands on print ads, interviewed many and made no decisions.

Plexus has contacted and interviewed many of my fellow unemployed. They interview many times, dangle carrots and then make offers that are insulting. They have then, in some cases, rescinded the offer.

West has the worst record. They post positions, interview from outside and hire from within. In many cases the interview is a waste of time because they already know who will fill the position. I personally have interviewed for them 5 times. Each time the position was filled from within and in one case I interviewed for the same position twice, their internal candidate couldn't do the job!

School Specialty Supply is the same as All Lift. The same positions are posted for months at a time and never filled.

JJ Keller is a revolving door. They advertise, hire, and fire all in a span of months. They do not retain employees and are always advertising for more.

Banta is a cross between Plexus and JJ Keller.

Here's a tip. When you are searching for a job, check all the job postings for each company you are interested in. If they have lots of openings and they have been open for a long time, this company is not serious about hiring. Attractive as it may look, don't waste your time, skip them and move on to more committed employers. But keep them as potential employer's as far as the Unemployment Office is concerned. Send them a resume every now and again just for fun but don't invest any real time with them.

The Worst Day Ever - Day 244

Today it is very hard to be optimistic. With almost full employment, how can I still be so unacceptable? I don't have any clue.

Staffing Services

Ah the staffing services. After my adventure with the Job Services office I trotted down to the Staffing Agency. I know, I'm not a secretary but they have other jobs there. A lovely bunch of motivated HR people - unlike Job Service, they only get paid when I do. They took all my measurements: Typing - 50 wpm or better with 0 mistakes; Software mastery of - Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access; Thinking ability - solving complex problems and moral issues in the workplace; IT certifications; Resume evaluation - mine was stellar after having been worked on for 7 months.

After all this and assessing that I was at the top of the candidate heap as far as skills are concerned. They offered me a position with a fortune 500 company answering phones in customer service. The job is for one week and one day and pays $20 a week more than unemployment that is 40% of my old salary. I am now a working poor. But I am working - for a few more days.

The job? Well it's just what you think, after a day of training I started on the phones. Frustrated people call up with machines that don't work, billing problems, or just angry with their sales rep who calls but never shows up. I'm in a room with 300 other customer service reps who are all taking the same kind of call. Part of this department was recently outsourced to the Philippians so I also get calls from angry customers that jobs have been outsourced. It's a long day but most of the people on the phones are happy to hear a sympathetic voice on the phone who speaks English. Friday was my last day. They did wonder if I would stay on but I had to turn them down, the drive was 30 miles one way and the pay just wasn't ever going to be good enough. Back to searching.