19 posts tagged “job hunting”

Had a screening  telephone interview  with a large OEM in Chicago a few months ago; of course it did not work out as I am still doing (or not doing) what I have been doing. From that interview, I have a hunch my name was passed on to a flaky recruiter there, who has farmed out me to other flaky recruiters/companies.  To wit:

A call came in, answered it as there was no telephone number displayed and first off a man, who doesn't identify himself or who he works for (one red flag) asks me;

a.) if I have ever had a salary over 100k - 'Yes'.

b.) How old am I (Ah, dude, haven't you heard of something called the EEOC?!) (Another red flag and a couple of rockets go off). 'Sorry but how is this question relevant?' I reply.

c.) does not answer my question but quickly asks if I would be willing to relocate. 'A possibility', I answer.

Then line quickly goes dead without a 'Good bye', 'Thank you for your time', etc.

Gotta be careful out there.

Note today, we are being asked to believe the recession is behind us.  Interesting as wife tells me that there's a new Wegmans store opening in the area soon and 500 people needed to be hired; 5,000 applied.

My younger brother, Pound Salt has told me that my resume, on which I have labored on over and over and over, is according to a work colleague of his and someone who supposedly is K street (shorthand for lobbying firms) connected, not going to land a job anywhere as it really does not say much.

 So Pound Salt took it upon himself to power it up a bit and I am in the process of adding my own edits and also where needed, reining in the 'enthusiasm'.

 But one of the first things I saw was in his re-write is I've messed up on my work history chronology, getting dates mixed up and inaccurate!  SHIT!   But I guess that's what another set of eyes are for.

In the past 2 weeks I've found three open positions, 2 of which are for European Auto manufacturers, with job descriptions right up my alley!  Wasted no time in applying to all. For one of the auto manufacturers, I could not apply on line as a technical glitch on their website prevented me from answering one of the 'must' questions and submitting my application.  Called and was told to send my stuff in by snail mail.

The other Euro OEM's ad was a couple of weeks ago and have heard nothing, which makes me a bit nervous. 

The last was a heads up from Auto Gal about a post at the Japanese embassy, again pretty much up my alley job description wise.  I looked at the announcement and saw the deadline was 7/27, but sent in my stuff anyway. 

Kinda feel that if none of these works out I may as well forget about re-entering the professional work force and start flipping burgers.

A while back, I spotted a posting for a position, foreign affairs specialist, at the FAA and applied. 

Yesterday as I went through the mail, there was an envelope from the FAA, with the address hand-written. Glanced and saw my first name, a capital B for the last name and the name of our street. Opened it looked at the main body of the letter which was a notification that the applicant has passed the initial screening.  Hmm, I thought, that's nice news.

Go down the pile of mail and see another envelope also hand-addressed from the FAA. Huh? Open it, to see this letter was a 'sorry, but you did not make the initial cut', letter.

Go back to the first letter and see it is addressed to a person whose first name is  the same as mine and whose family name starts with the same letter as mine, addressed to a non-existent house number on our street and zip code!!

Contacted the person in whose name the letter was sent to ask him to confirm which letter was really intended for me.  But this is incredible. Not only was there no cross-check to ensure the letters were addressed to who they were supposed to be addressed to, but the Postal Service delivered a letter to an address they should know does not exist!

From my experience in the private sector, the person(s) responsible for this sort of gross goof up would be eaten alive, and if the error was egregious enough, find themselves out on the street very quickly. But no, here we have protected federal employees. And I am supposed to sleep peacefully at night knowing there are crackerjack federal employees  like the ones who are responsible for this mess, looking after its citizens?

Son is, and so far, unsuccessfully, seeking employment. Not just for the summer but for his senior year.  Have made some suggestions, he's applied and heard nada.

I've had good experience as a customer with one semi-national coffee chain (which I prefer over the other, more well known national/international chain) and as there are 3 stores within decent commuting distance from home, had him apply.  Then asked him to follow up but he's not gotten calls back and in one case he was told by the store manager, his name wasn't even on the list of those who had applied.  He goes back on-line to reapply and the system tells him his application is in the works, 'so what do I do now, dad?'

So I call corporate, am eventually connected to a HR person, leave a message and surprise of surprises I am called back, explain my son's situation and am told son will be contacted the next day to sort things out.  Son was called and he was told then would make sure his application would be sent to the stores he's applied to.

Fantastic!  Both of us could have easily been blown off, but these guys followed up.  Son may not end up getting a job with them, but at least he's going to get a fair shake now.

Its finally gotten through his teenage head that if he wants more adult play toys, like a car, he's going to need a job, even if its only part-time.

 He's not had much luck yet. He's applied to a couple of places, Blockbuster and Caribou Coffee and perhaps he'll get a nibble.   He applied to the store where his mother works, but they turned him down. He asked me about Dick's Sporting Goods, i.e., 'Dad, is Dicks' a good place to work?'

 Good question.  Told him that when viewing things broadly, yes there are companies which are thought of as good employers, like his mother's employer, large international automobile manufacturer #1, and others.  But, I told him, what really makes the difference is one's direct supervisor.  One could be working for angels, but if your supervisor is a shit, just an empty suit, or outright hostile, your job will not be fun.  So its not really  a question of whether Dick's is good/bad, but pretty much a crap shoot as to who will supervise him and hold well/poorly the person does it.

Needed to travel downtown to pick up a Japan Rail Pass for the wife. Cost $290 but its a week of 乗り放題  and if the 新幹線  is used during this time, the thing pretty much pays for itself.

On the way I stopped at the local mail sorting center to send off a packet/job application to a University on The Eastern shore. Its government relations, but I learned I may also be aiming a bit high.  Oh well, one of my favorite sayings is, "The worst they can say is 'No'.' 

While waiting to mail my packet I saw a guy with a very oddly shaped/wrapped package, which was a hockey stick addressed to of all places...........................................

                                                                                Canada!  Like they don't have enough hockey sticks of their own?

Then on the Metro into town, sat next to a guy dressed up in the standard suit 'n tie and black shoes, head bent intently staring into his Crackberry as if searching for the meaning of life.  Were it not for,... it could have been me.  Wish the mind was more agile, it'd be interesting to wrap a story around events like these.

Just to show how careful-how much salt one needs to take with customized job posting from Internet job boards.

Based on my resume, which includes staff management, corporate advocacy, negotiating, consensus-building, language skills, working in diverse corporate organizations, problem analysis/ solving reporting,  this was among the posted offered to me

What's scary is that the computer parsing of my info says this is a fair match!

Buffer/Polisher
Beretta USA Corp.  -  Accokeek, MD
(Average number of applicants)    (Fair Match)
Posted:  4/30/2009

Got this 'gem' in the e-mail.  Have redacted some information to protect the guilty and added italics for emphasis.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dear _______

• Have an interest in being your own boss and possess an entrepreneurial spirit?
• Enjoy working with a team, which has a proven success method for generating income even during difficult times?
• Like taking on new endeavors and have a passion for change?
• Have access to some capital to invest in your own future?

If you answered yes to these questions, we should talk. I came across a business opportunity; a white collar, business-to-business franchise with low overhead. Start-up capital is required, but it is in the $75,000 range. There are currently over 1,000 offices in 26 countries. This is not MLM. If you have been in management working for someone else, this may be the perfect time to leverage those business skills, take charge of your own professional destiny and invest in yourself.

Based upon your background and experience this opportunity should be of interest to you.

If this is of interest to you and you want to find out more about this opportunity, e-mail me at  Please include your contact information with a telephone number when replying.

You owe it to yourself to determine if this type of change is the right opportunity for you. Let's spend 15 or 20 minutes speaking about this potentially very rewarding and interesting opportunity and see if it makes sense for you.

Kind Regards, 

Executive Recruiter

P.S. I reached out to you specifically because I feel you may be qualified, but professionals know professionals. So if you know of anyone that may be qualified and open to making a move forward in their career, please feel free to forward this email to them

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

There may be a sucker born every minute, but I'm not one of them..

Got an e-mail from an organization I submitted by resume to; thought it was a "thanks but....,' note, but no.  Seems I tickled their fancy a bit and attached was a document with 4 questions they would like me to expound on. 

Wife sniffed at this, but I explained to her this is a good thing for it means you under serious consideration.    So I have gotten off my butt intellectually, but am on it physically, to write out a draft response, finalize it this afternoon, and send it back for them to look at.