7166137's blog: "What's on my mind"

I had made a lot of friends with the Virginia Employment Commission, Virginia Peninsula Work Link, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Wounded Warrior Project as well as Navy Fleet and Family Services, Virginia Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) and the Soldier For Life program. Countless HR people from many local companies have seen me as a fixture at job fairs and several Virginia Transition on the Go conferences, one of them had Virginia's governor make an appearance and speech. 

Next week there is a job fair at the Fort Eustis Club. I have to attend it but this time I will not have any copies of my resume. Instead I will carry in a handful of thank you cards to hand out to whomever is there that was part of my most unique path during this time. 

Two weeks ago my counselor at DARS called me with a job posting I might be very interested in and it was very close to home. We submitted an application using indeed.com and I got a confirmation email. Only nine minutes later, the company contacted me requesting I come in for an initial screening. I called and set it up after last week's Transition on the Go work shop. I was already dressed for an interview. Have you ever heard of a company contacting somebody that fast after applying for a job?

I had to hand write an application and take a logic quiz that was timed. I didn't complete it but must have scored well. I was called in for an in person interview Tuesday . That went well but they told me to expect contact after one or two weeks. Wednesday I was called with a verbal offer. Thursday I received the offer in writing. I told them I have a trip to Washington D.C. for a Soldier Ride including a tour of the White House. I will be available to start April 10th. They understand and anticipate my arrival.

I didn't mention this in December, but there was one job fair 3 miles from my house. There, more than half the staff and HR people from all local companies recognized me. I actually got five hugs from some of them. Some of them have been present at every event I have been to, from Richmond/Chesterfield to Virginia Beach, and so many locations much closer.

I had self described my occupation on LinkedIn as "Professional Pen Collector, and Unpaid Job Fair Consultant. I gave a lot of really good feedback for each one of them, especially the ones that didn't ask for it.All the presenters at Job Fairs and Conferences speak in HR Language. That's fine if you have that in your background, but while most are asking to de-militarize resumes and cover letters, much of what they say is way over the average job seeker. I learned how to translate this, and at least would share this with people at my table or close to me.

There are some truths about job searching I have come up with, and this will be only a few of them.

1. There is no such thing as a bad job fair to attend. Even if none of the companies are local, or seem to have something that might interest you. Walk up to any table that has no other job seeker, instead of getting in the longest line of what seems to be the most popular employer. You will work on your people/soft skills because you might talk about anything, and that will help make interviews go better. Case in point. The company wasn't local, they looked like heavy equipment operators and maintainers, and out of town. When they asked what I was looking for, I came up with, "I have a hard time deciding which I want to get back into, Ballroom Dance Instructor, or Circus Trapeze Artist." That job fair was too big and there was no assigned layout for companies, and since I can't move that fast, I only got to see about half of the companies.

2. There is no such thing as a bad job to interview for. I had one that by title didn't seem to be interesting to me, or something I would be very good at without a lot of training, BUT whomever submitted the job posting, included an IT Certification that I have, and very few people have. I knew after the first few questions that I wouldn't get hired, but I continued, because you never know if something I say about my skill set might remind one of the panel about one of their friends who might have something that would be good for me. In those cases, at the end, when they ask if I have any questions, I asked them if they might know another part of their company might be interested in what I am good at.

3. Job openings start with a supervisor or manager who has little or no HR experience. They give HR the requirements for the job, which then usually gets translated into a job posting that might not reflect the majority of what the supervisor or manager needs. When looking through job postings, be very open minded about what might look like only a little of what you're already good at. Why not apply, and at least try to get a phone interview. You can then use the above paragraph to add your skill set and ask them if somebody at the company might be needing someone like you.

4. The vast majority of presenters at Job Fairs are not decision makers, but they often are the first person or part of the team that will screen hundreds of resumes down to the handful that will get interviewed. Learn what they need to get your resume into that group, and get more interviews.

5. Get to know as many strangers as you can, and be yourself. Be interested in their stories, and be an interesting person at the same time. Often times, and this happened to me in February, was a company that interviewed me told me that the position I was being considered for needed more of somebody that could get along with the command, and not as much as a technology guru. I had met this manager a few years ago, so he knew my experience and expertise, which was way above what they needed. He also knew from how many in his office knew me that I was the type of person who would have been an ideal fit, and with only the security clearance in the way, I probably would have been given an offer on the spot. Nobody can make the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) do clearance work faster, but that has been one of the two biggest obstacles with my job searching in this area.

One of the presenters once commented that I might want to apply to work with Veterans and the Virginia Employment Commission, but despite being able to write this about job searching, and having a Veteran background, I still like fixing things.This job will be a lot of that. They provide data storage solutions for companies of any size nationwide and now branching overseas. Travel might be part of it, and I would be first to sign up for that. So it's not at the top of the list for what a Navy DS should do after retire, but without a clearance, it's a pretty good starting point.

EPILOG

The epilog is my favorite part of any movie, but that's not to be discussed at this time. After three weeks, I got my first full paycheck. Tuesday, the 17th day, soon after arriving, I was called into HR. I was let go, and the only thing I was given was, "We don't think you're a good fit." I asked what I could do with other companies in the future, they would tell me nothing.

I have since phone interviewed at three places, but none have called me in for an in-person interview. I have been to four job fairs in the past six weeks, and have one scheduled for July and one for August. No new companies. I'll just say hi to those I already know. I'll meet the replacement HR people at the others. Both will get me out of the house and talking face to face with people so that will be good.