Blogus Ignoramus

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Location: San Leandro, California, United States

I've spent hours trying to write 'about me' so I just gave up and you'll have to figure this out for yourself. Thanks for stopping in anyway!

Thursday, July 31, 2008

The 2nd Interview

This is one of those situations where you walk away from in a daze. Think the first time you received oral sex without the proverbial blue balls. No, that's not true...in fact, I have 'blue brains'. I haven't checked if anyone's already invented this term, but (i'm on a roll and will continue running with it until the wheels fall off) it'll serve as a good metaphor.

Blue Brains is when you want some kind of relief, but have to wait for it. In my case, I'm aching for a career that actually interests me and here i've finally found that. Now, I have the agonizing wait to hear their decision. When will I have fucking sweet relief? Hopefully soon.

I'm retaining the feeling that regardless of their choice, this experience was still a 'Win' of some kind. Even if they decide I'm not what they're looking for, I know what kind of company I want to work for (in the future). But the whole point of this thread is to tell you how much I want to work for 'company a-z'.

Here's my logic...
  • The interview process was 5 hours - They take meticulous care with their choices in employees. Do you think it's a coincidence they have less than a 3% turn-over rate in employment?
  • Their emphasis on offering quality service and products.
  • Their growth potential is very high and seems to have lots of momentum.
  • Have I mentioned that they treat their employees very well?
  • There are a number of technologies, processes, and skills to be obtained from working at this company.
I can't express just how much I'm looking forward to hearing from someone representing 'company a-z', so I'll just wrap this up before I end up formulating an epic diatribe.

I really really really really want this job.

The end.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

It's about freaking time!!

Well, the day has finally come where the people I interviewed with (several weeks ago) called me back. All I can say is that I'm still very excited about this opportunity. When I spoke with the rep, I couldn't contain my enthusiasm and thanked her profusely for the callback. In retrospect, I hope I didn't sound desperate! Oh well, the interview is still on as of July 30th.

In the mean time...

Some unfortunate events have occurred recently. Rather than wait around for them to fire me (for my poor performance here in sales), I chose to end my employment with the company i've been with for the last 7 years. While I should be very worried that I'm currently unemployed, I feel good about this decision. The feeling of relief is overwelming, so I think this is a good reminder how much I disliked my Sales Position. Looking back...to say that I disliked it would be a severe understatement.

My last day was on July 15th and since then, I've been giving everyone under the sun my updated resume. By all rights, I should be very nervous about this situation, but I'm not. I'm looking forward to something else that I can dig my teeth into and call a career once again. Anyway, don't worry about me, I have the situation under control(mostly).

Tomorrow, I return from San Diego to once again renew my search for employment. Wish me luck!

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Interview part deux

Monday's morning interview went pretty well. I haven't heard back from them yet, but I think 'no news is good news'. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to type with crossed fingers.

I spoke with the IT Director/Manager from the UK. He was a nice chap and I believe I gave him a pretty good impression on what I'm looking for. I've done enough research to know what they're looking for in an employee.

One thing I was really concerned about was the fact that I have very little formal education. My resume does show that I have been to college, but bear in mind that this particular employer is very strict about hiring people with a Bachelor's Degree. The only thing I have that even comes close to that is that I'm a Bachelor 90% of my time when my kids are with their mother.

He didn't specifically ask me about my educational background (2 years of Junior College), but I led him to it by the end of the call. I felt it was necessary to let them know that, in spite of my limited education, I am capable of learning just as well as someone that spent 4-6 years in college. I'm no mind-reader, but i've been working on phones long enough to know when have satisfied someone's concerns. After I explained why I didn't continue with my education, I got the impression he was satiated with that answer.

Moving on, I anticipate a 2nd interview within the next few days. If I impress them enough to move onto the 3rd interview, they will be flying me out to London to further 'check me out'. That's enough to make me giddy with excitement and I've been doing nothing but trying to not think about the prospect of going to another country (on their dime).


Gawd, I am still absolutely floored that a company would spend money on someone they are only intending to hire. The Director confirmed my suspicions that they are 'nearly' sure about hiring the person they send to the UK.

I sure as hell hope they contact me soon...the anticipation is fucking consuming me moreso than this heatwave! To make matters worse here at my job, the Air Conditioning is not working. Yay.......~NOT!

Monday, July 07, 2008

Inner-views and Interviews

You'll be happy to know I just finished with a phone interview for a company that designs and implements Soft-switches. For those of you that don't know what a Soft-switch is, I'll do my best to explain it. Think of it as the person who used to sit in the Original telephone office connecting people to eachother, but in a much more modern facet. A picture probably explains this best now that I've probably over-communicated the concept:





Here you see the concept of what a Soft-switch does albeit much more primitive than we'll ever see again.




So yeah, interview today! I'm very excited about this opportunity because this opportunity has several good points (not listed in any particular order):
  1. They're on the edge of current technology. A company that designs hardware compatible with VOIP/Networking is pretty much at the lead of the proverbial pack thereby paving the way for rest to follow.
  2. This company treats their employees very well~Go figure, they're based in the UK.
  3. The pay looks to be about 10-20% higher than my current wages...even in sales. Sure the potential for making more is available in Sales, but I'd like to keep my soul a little longer.
  4. I would be working in the same geographic region.
  5. They would be willing to train me as well as offer to pay for my education - Again, based in the UK, hence their uber coolness.
  6. They might hire me! Might not either, but this has definitely lit the fire beneath me.
There's other points I will add later when I am at work. Right now, I have to scurry off to pretend to sell things for the next few hours. Hopefully my interview company will let me know how it went before the day is complete.

Fingers crossed!