At what point do you declare yourself insane for doing the exact same thing over and over again without results? Where does persistence turn into complete and utter lack of a sane thought? This is how I feel tonight, basically like I'm walking in a circle in life and I'm not changing anything but expecting things to change.
Here's some stats for you folks, who like statistics. I may have missed a few, but the overall list starts in Sept which is as far back as I decided to go.
Sept: 20 jobs applied. 5 phone interviews. 3 inperson. 1 job.
(Worked for a day before let go due to background problems)
Oct: 16 jobs applied. 3 phone interviews. 1 inperson. 0 job.
Nov: 24 jobs applied. 6 phone interviews. 1 inperson. 0 job.
Dec: 4 jobs applied. No phone or inperson interviews scheduled.
-Every job I have applied for: I have experience (or more) that matches the experience of the job.
-Every job I have found via personal connections OR through indeed.com in general.
-Phone interviews were all very hit/miss. Some go extremely well and result with an in-person interview. Some are atrocious and it's just my inability to get past the bad interviewing tactics.
-Every inperson interview I have attended, I have received compliments on both my resume and my skillset.
-I have been told everything from "You'll be bored in this position", to "You have the experience we want, but we can't hire you due to x,y,z" to "You should hear from us within a week or two".
-I use indeed.com because of it's ability to filter out clearance and polygraph jobs. I am most certain my past late-teenager life will prevent me from getting these positions and I don't like to entertain those recruiters.
I will rant, and only briefly about why this is a huge problem other than the obvious reasons. I am a high energy high performer at everything I do. I thrive on knowledge, I thrive on making things work and making business run smoothly. You know why I thrive at it? Because I enjoy solving problems!
This is a problem that I'm having an issue with. Why is it, someone who is complimented on his resume, is personable, runs into so many connections who have "potential leads" is it December, and he is still jobless? What am I doing wrong? What am I doing right? What should I change? The worse part of job search is the lack of feedback. Places just don't care enough to provide you with feedback. They don't give any fucks about your timeframe, the fact you aren't meeting bills. They have more important things to worry about. So here's how my life has been living on repeat for the last week.
I find a job opportunity either via someone I know, or via indeed.com.
Via person:
-I send my resume, with a nice note in an email regarding my interest and wanting to know more about the role.
(Usually receive replies within business 1-3 days)
-I receive email usually with job description and then after my initial reply, usually someone from HR sets up a phone call.
(Phone interview is setup usually 2-5 business days away)
-I speak with someone in HR who tells me about the company, and about the role- no real technical information or answers to my technical questions. But can answer for me questions about the company, the background policy, and other benefits questions
-HR passes me along to the hiring manager, usually for a tech interview.
(Tech interview takes 2-4 business days to setup, usually)
-Tech interview has usually been landing me an inperson interview. There have been three instances when tech screenings have not went well. (I will touch on that later)
-Depending on company, they want to meet for an in-person interview with multiple people, several hours.
(In-person takes between 1-3 business days, at most 2 weeks)
-Interview goes well. At the end of every interview I ask for feedback about the interview, my resume, or any general feedback people can give me. I always receive positive feedback regarding my level of experience or my resume. Sometimes too high of a praise (you'll be bored here!)
-I follow-up within 1-2 days of interview thanking interviewer for their time and tell them about my excitement for the role.
-I wait. Days/weeks/months go by. I am not exaggerating. Oracle took an entire month to tell me they went with someone else, even with me harassing the HR lady every single week, multiple times. Another company took an entire month before they wanted to "offer me" a job. That was the job that lasted one day.
-Sometimes I receive a formal denial, most times they just never contact me again. Some even give me automated responses.
Total time involved between apply/deny: 8-15 business days after applying before I hear back - and anywhere from one week to two months to get denied.
15 business days = 3 weeks
Via Indeed:
-I see a job and look at requirements. Apply using indeed resume unless they have corporate email listed then I place the title of the role in the subject line and then email my resume directly.
-I get an automated email usually from the company and from indeed if I apply directly through them.
(Email is right away from automation)
-Usually, a recruiter will reach out to me about a role. Most of indeed seems to be the same dozen or so recruiting firms. Some times it's a direct company hiring, but that's infrequent.
(Usually hear from recruiter within 1-5 business days)
-Recruiter sometimes wants to interview me, so he'll setup a meeting via skype/phone/in-person. [I've stopped doing recruiting in-person interviews, because they require gas, parking, and usually are meaningless]
(usually between 2-5 business days away).
-Recruiter then discusses internally with their middle management, to see if they want to submit my resume. They decide to submit my resume to the company.
(Confirmation they submitted me - after 1-3 business days)
-Recruiter reaches back out to have me schedule a phone interview for screening, with HR
-Phone interview happens with HR or management
(For time sakes - we'll say anywhere from 1-5 business days have passed)
-Management / HR meeting, and maybe a phone screening with technical team
(Organizing this meeting takes 1-5 business days)
-In-person interview is setup with various people from company and I
(Organizing this meeting also takes 1-5 business days)
-Company says they will contact me via recruiter. I usually hear back:
(1-5 business days)
-Opening gets filled with other candidate, and I get very minimal feedback from the recruiter. Often I won't even hear back from the recruiter.
Some of the feedback is: they went with someone else. We're not sure. They said you didnt have xyz experience, even though they didn't tell us that was a requirement. They went with someone more qualified. The just picked someone else. The job role became unavailable - they went into a hiring freeze.
Total time involved between apply/deny: 7-28 business days.
28 business days = 6 weeks.
Outcome? Yep-still jobless.
I've done this song and dance through easily three dozen interviews in the past 6 months. (I started looking before I was laid off). I've attended many hours of interviews. Always dressed nice and presentable. I've worked really hard at presenting my background, my expertise, and overall my friendliness.
So at what point do you throw the towel in the fight? At what point do you stop walking forward and stop to check directions, search for landmarks, look for the sun? I'm not sure what I can do at this point. I can't exactly jump out of this life I am in. I can't live the way it's moving right now. I figure I'm about 2 weeks from hard decisions and starting to pack/sell everything I own. As of today I have one interview from last week that went well, and 3-5 jobs I've applied for that have decent promise of knowing someone who works there. Referrals are the best ways to find a position. Problem is trying to a relationship or understanding with someone via a 30 minute technical interview is a joke. I often times get cut off trying to ask some simple questions about the expectations of the job and the responsibilities. People don't make enough time for interviews. Companies don't give a shit about your time. They don't give a shit about your life. They want you to work till you die, or get burnt out and quit, and then they want to find someone else to work in your place, because I am certain that the number of applicants that are received per job listing is in the hundreds if not thousands per week.
So why would a place hire me? Well, basically the last 7 years of my life has been putting myself through college with a 4.0gpa, getting my life together with a career, and building that career as rapidly as possible. I thrive on knowledge, understanding, solving problems, and the continuing stride towards fulfillment in work and life alike. I want to work for someone who has meaningful work and I want to be challenged. Of course right now I just want to pay bills and not live out of a shoebox.
Why don't I go into business for myself? Quite simply put. I don't have any funds to sustain that. I don't have clients to fulfill that ability. More importantly, the medical insurance that I require would cost me too much money. The schedule would be flexible but I would need to get out there and do stuff and would not be able to bring in the same kind of money I was. I'd still be in a tight spot.
So what do I change? I am not sure. Am I just on a boat, in a stream of bad luck with a broken paddle in the rain as it starts to hail and my backpack gets thrown off the side of the boat, while a crocodile tries to eat me?
Life: why you do this! I am trying to make my life meaningful. If I have to start over at rock bottom I am going to lose my mind!
Am I insane? Einsteins version of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Am I far off here?
