I have a meeting tomorrow with a competitor.....I was recommended to them by an acquaintance at a record label.
I wonder how many people leave jobs to go work for the competition? I must look that up later. In any case, I'm pretty excited (and nervous) about getting back in the game. Here is what has been occupying my mind since confirming the time for the meeting:
Appropriate costume - what's normal these days? I hear people no longer wear pantyhose, thank god, but can I go bare legged to a job interview? I have suits that were bought and never worn, but they'd be a bit dated now.....should I wear matchy matchy suit or sling a blazer over a pair of pants? I'm pretty sure that the office is as casual as our own, which means that most people are probably in sweatpants and torn concert tshirts. I know all the rules like "dress for the job you want", "better to be over than under dressed", etc....but still I'd like a more defined idea. Maybe I'll lurk outside their office for a while and watch people come and go. Most of them I should recognize from my online stalking I've done.
Online stalking - so it was the Pres's assistant that called me up and made arrangements with me. Since my search for Pres's name didn't yield very much, I thought I'd try her name. Never know what might come up. I felt a bit gross though, as I've now looked through her entire Flickr slideshow, read every post on her blog, and pretty well know her taste in food, music, pets, etc. The one fun thing that I found was a work-blog she created to chronicle a month of no shaving at the company. That's the blog that gave me a sense of the established dress code at the company (and the youth of the employees). The blog also showed me that the company likes to have a bit of fun and they look like they do things together, and probably are pretty supportive of this kind of online activity. That was pretty cool.
What questions to ask - thanks to Penelope Trunk, I have memorized the one question NOT to ask, as well as decent answers to all related questions.
How to appear enthusiastic without coming off as goofy - I find it hard to strike that balance. When I am enthusiastic, my voice speeds up, I tend to upspeak, and sometimes lose my train of thought. I'm going to have to do some deep breathing before I go in. There's a few schools of thought here on how to set your mind before going into an interview. Some say to think that you absolutely want the job, and do everything you can to ensure you get the job. Whether you accept the offer is a different story, but approach it as if you absolutely want to be hired. The other school of thought is to be slightly removed, and to be at the top of your game, but to appear slightly aloof, as if you have lots of other offers, and you better impress me before I'd consider working here. I most likely can't pull off aloof, so I'll stick with enthusiasm.
Anywhooo, it's almost 8am, and I'd better get a move on. I have to stop and pick up a copy of Best Answers To Interview Questions to stick under my pillow tonight.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Taking Charge
I'm finally getting around to taking charge of my career. It feels good (and scary) to make some moves that will switch things around.
For five years I've been so happy with my job. I work with wonderful clients, I've had almost complete autonomy in decision making and I've had a chance for great opportunities and for the most part, I've been completely satisfied.
The economy is a bastard though, isn't it? In the last two years we've had so many changes and throughout it all, I've tried to keep a very positive outlook and do everything I can to ignore the signals around me. That all changed in the last week of January when I was asked by the VP of Finance to "come downstairs with me, there is someone that I want you to meet". I was so surprised, I just assumed it was some new client (the VP had some connections to a new artist). The first thing I said was "let me put on some lipstick" - naturally, I thought I was meeting a potential client. What a sucker. I was taken down to HR and laid off. Thanks to my head in the sand refusal to accept all indicators, I was blindsided and walked out of there completely devasted. The rest of the story is typical and somewhat boring but there was an upside. The layoffs (I wasn't the only one) caused such a furor among the clients, as well as some of the higher ups in different divisions who also worked with same clients, that the company scrambled and a week later I was brought back. The jokingly referred to it as "your little vacation". Vacation in hell is what the reality was. At the time, I was on a work visa tied to my job, and my layoff meant that unless I could find another company to sponsor me, I'd have to leave New York. During my "vacation", I was somewhat mollified to hear from two separate clients that the only reason they stayed with our company was because of me - and if I was gone, they'd take their business elsewhere. One very important (but small in revenue) client actually went so far as to call my boss and terminate their agreement.
So a week later I'm back at work. A few other people were hired back as well, but not everyone. I counted my lucky stars and thought that if I could hold out until my application for permanent residence was accepted, I'd be golden.
For the next few months, it was business as normal as cooler heads prevailed and executives tried to put together a workable plan to *not* shut down our division, but to merge it with another division and trim the roster.
We're now through the better part of May, and no plan is in place yet. There has been a lot of talk, but so far, no decisions. What has been decided, but not said out loud, is that the New York office is still going to wind down. They are just not saying it - but all indicators is that we're completely expendable. Any new clients are being managed by the division that is in the head office. Any new work or development is being done by that same division. We're still managing the clients that we always have, but with few exceptions, they are in a static mode and are just finishing out their terms. On top of that, a number of my colleagues who are better at seeing the writing on the wall than I am have left for greener pastures, leaving more work for less people to handle. I am now the employee that has been there the longest, and I've only been there five years. As a senior employee, I've had some hand in dealing with our entire client roster, so as people are leaving, I'm assigned more clients. So now I'm thinking -hey, I'm still here, I've been totally loyal, I still have the most clients of everyone, I should ask for a promotion and a salary review. So after some research, I put my plan together and I approach my new boss. We have a number of conversations and in each, he expressed regret for what's happened (although he wasn't directly involved as as part of the shuffle was made my boss) and delight in the fact that I am coming to him with a solid plan and he seems impressed with my commitment. Promises are made to continue the conversation, and put a plan in place for me. That was back in April. Nothing has happened. Every time I try and nail down a meeting to keep the conversation going, I'm put off. This time, my radar is a bit more finely tuned so I'm not assuming anything. But still, he seems very sincere, and for the most part, I chalk it up to his work schedule.
What's today? May 20th? Yup. Enough time has passed. I proposed a change that I thought would satisfy me and the company, I quantified it, I presented it. I can't do any more. It's clear to me now that the company is not operating on my schedule, and while my boss may have every intent of following through with me on an expanded role, our priorities are different. My priority is to be in a job where I can work hard, do well, earn a decent wage and every once in while be recognized for my contribution. To that end, I've spent some time updating my resume and have started a job search.
I have a few leads that I'm following up on, so who knows what will happen. What has already happened though, is that I'm in charge now. It's about time.
For five years I've been so happy with my job. I work with wonderful clients, I've had almost complete autonomy in decision making and I've had a chance for great opportunities and for the most part, I've been completely satisfied.
The economy is a bastard though, isn't it? In the last two years we've had so many changes and throughout it all, I've tried to keep a very positive outlook and do everything I can to ignore the signals around me. That all changed in the last week of January when I was asked by the VP of Finance to "come downstairs with me, there is someone that I want you to meet". I was so surprised, I just assumed it was some new client (the VP had some connections to a new artist). The first thing I said was "let me put on some lipstick" - naturally, I thought I was meeting a potential client. What a sucker. I was taken down to HR and laid off. Thanks to my head in the sand refusal to accept all indicators, I was blindsided and walked out of there completely devasted. The rest of the story is typical and somewhat boring but there was an upside. The layoffs (I wasn't the only one) caused such a furor among the clients, as well as some of the higher ups in different divisions who also worked with same clients, that the company scrambled and a week later I was brought back. The jokingly referred to it as "your little vacation". Vacation in hell is what the reality was. At the time, I was on a work visa tied to my job, and my layoff meant that unless I could find another company to sponsor me, I'd have to leave New York. During my "vacation", I was somewhat mollified to hear from two separate clients that the only reason they stayed with our company was because of me - and if I was gone, they'd take their business elsewhere. One very important (but small in revenue) client actually went so far as to call my boss and terminate their agreement.
So a week later I'm back at work. A few other people were hired back as well, but not everyone. I counted my lucky stars and thought that if I could hold out until my application for permanent residence was accepted, I'd be golden.
For the next few months, it was business as normal as cooler heads prevailed and executives tried to put together a workable plan to *not* shut down our division, but to merge it with another division and trim the roster.
We're now through the better part of May, and no plan is in place yet. There has been a lot of talk, but so far, no decisions. What has been decided, but not said out loud, is that the New York office is still going to wind down. They are just not saying it - but all indicators is that we're completely expendable. Any new clients are being managed by the division that is in the head office. Any new work or development is being done by that same division. We're still managing the clients that we always have, but with few exceptions, they are in a static mode and are just finishing out their terms. On top of that, a number of my colleagues who are better at seeing the writing on the wall than I am have left for greener pastures, leaving more work for less people to handle. I am now the employee that has been there the longest, and I've only been there five years. As a senior employee, I've had some hand in dealing with our entire client roster, so as people are leaving, I'm assigned more clients. So now I'm thinking -hey, I'm still here, I've been totally loyal, I still have the most clients of everyone, I should ask for a promotion and a salary review. So after some research, I put my plan together and I approach my new boss. We have a number of conversations and in each, he expressed regret for what's happened (although he wasn't directly involved as as part of the shuffle was made my boss) and delight in the fact that I am coming to him with a solid plan and he seems impressed with my commitment. Promises are made to continue the conversation, and put a plan in place for me. That was back in April. Nothing has happened. Every time I try and nail down a meeting to keep the conversation going, I'm put off. This time, my radar is a bit more finely tuned so I'm not assuming anything. But still, he seems very sincere, and for the most part, I chalk it up to his work schedule.
What's today? May 20th? Yup. Enough time has passed. I proposed a change that I thought would satisfy me and the company, I quantified it, I presented it. I can't do any more. It's clear to me now that the company is not operating on my schedule, and while my boss may have every intent of following through with me on an expanded role, our priorities are different. My priority is to be in a job where I can work hard, do well, earn a decent wage and every once in while be recognized for my contribution. To that end, I've spent some time updating my resume and have started a job search.
I have a few leads that I'm following up on, so who knows what will happen. What has already happened though, is that I'm in charge now. It's about time.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Our New Kitchen
Well, this last week has been fun. Not. My husband's dad was taken to emergency last week, so J had to rush home to Edmonton. Coincidentally, the day before we closed on our new home. Bit of a mad panic arranging power of attorney so that I could sign everything necessary the next day.
Fast forward to almost a full week later, and I'm kind of physically and emotionally drained from the stress of getting into major debt, moving from a fifth floor walk up to a new state (ok so it's only across the river) and undertaking major renovations on my own. I have, however, had a few rays of light. One of them is this company called Basic Builders.
This is Peter Welles - and he's drawing me a new kitchen. Look at him with his old-timey tools! He's using a real pencil (which was tucked behind his ear) and graph paper. He did make a few concessions to modern living though - he had the most wicked laser pointer-er measuring thing.
My good friend Sarah had already been hard at work looking for pictures of kitchens that she thought would work, so I was able to at least provide Peter with some design direction - mainly that we have 'champagne taste on a PBR budget'. I'm sure that everyone says this.
Here's the dream kitchen:
Fast forward to almost a full week later, and I'm kind of physically and emotionally drained from the stress of getting into major debt, moving from a fifth floor walk up to a new state (ok so it's only across the river) and undertaking major renovations on my own. I have, however, had a few rays of light. One of them is this company called Basic Builders.
This is Peter Welles - and he's drawing me a new kitchen. Look at him with his old-timey tools! He's using a real pencil (which was tucked behind his ear) and graph paper. He did make a few concessions to modern living though - he had the most wicked laser pointer-er measuring thing.
My good friend Sarah had already been hard at work looking for pictures of kitchens that she thought would work, so I was able to at least provide Peter with some design direction - mainly that we have 'champagne taste on a PBR budget'. I'm sure that everyone says this.
Here's the dream kitchen:
We may just be 10 days away from getting to this point. Fingers crossed.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
My first session with a Career Coach
I had my first session with a career coach yesterday. It was ok. Just ok.
I'd been thinking about using a career coach for a while, and a friend had recommended checking with our company health plan to see if we had EAP (Employee Assistance Program) coverage for at least an initial consultation. At the time, we didn't, but by the time I actually got to really investigating the services of a coach, our health plan had changed, and voila - coverage.
So how was the session? A bit like a therapy session actually. I was shown into a small room that had a coach, a lamp, strategically placed boxes of tissue, and a chair. I guess I'm supposed to take the coach? I was SO tempted to sit in the chair and let the coach take the coach. It would have been fun to see her reaction.
My coach was a young woman, probably not even 30. Quite studious looking, and pretty, but pretty unkempt. I had fretted over my appearance for an hour in the morning, knowing that I'd be meeting someone that had the potential to be a business contact. I made sure that I was dressed professionally, had on a watch and stud earrings, had a ball point pen as well as a highlighter, had a notebook filled with notes I'd prepared, and that my breath was fresh. The young woman I met with had on a pair of pants with a fallen hem on one leg, was covered in cat hair, and had a limp, wet handshake. Not an auspicious start, but appearances and first impressions aside, we plowed ahead.
In the end, even though it was all classic therapy moves ("what I hear you saying is....", "it sounds like what you need is ....", etc.), there was still some value to the meeting. Just repeating my own words back to me served to crystallize some of the thoughts that I had. Also, presenting my 'case' to a complete stranger made me realize that I'm actually pretty prepared for a serious job search. I have a good understanding of what I need in terms of job satisfaction, I'm taking all the right steps in my research and I'm hiring professionals to do what I can't do well (a resume that acts as a marketing tool).
Now if I can convince Britney Spears to hire me and pay me $150,000 a year to be her big sister, I'm all set
I'd been thinking about using a career coach for a while, and a friend had recommended checking with our company health plan to see if we had EAP (Employee Assistance Program) coverage for at least an initial consultation. At the time, we didn't, but by the time I actually got to really investigating the services of a coach, our health plan had changed, and voila - coverage.
So how was the session? A bit like a therapy session actually. I was shown into a small room that had a coach, a lamp, strategically placed boxes of tissue, and a chair. I guess I'm supposed to take the coach? I was SO tempted to sit in the chair and let the coach take the coach. It would have been fun to see her reaction.
My coach was a young woman, probably not even 30. Quite studious looking, and pretty, but pretty unkempt. I had fretted over my appearance for an hour in the morning, knowing that I'd be meeting someone that had the potential to be a business contact. I made sure that I was dressed professionally, had on a watch and stud earrings, had a ball point pen as well as a highlighter, had a notebook filled with notes I'd prepared, and that my breath was fresh. The young woman I met with had on a pair of pants with a fallen hem on one leg, was covered in cat hair, and had a limp, wet handshake. Not an auspicious start, but appearances and first impressions aside, we plowed ahead.
In the end, even though it was all classic therapy moves ("what I hear you saying is....", "it sounds like what you need is ....", etc.), there was still some value to the meeting. Just repeating my own words back to me served to crystallize some of the thoughts that I had. Also, presenting my 'case' to a complete stranger made me realize that I'm actually pretty prepared for a serious job search. I have a good understanding of what I need in terms of job satisfaction, I'm taking all the right steps in my research and I'm hiring professionals to do what I can't do well (a resume that acts as a marketing tool).
Now if I can convince Britney Spears to hire me and pay me $150,000 a year to be her big sister, I'm all set
Friday, March 20, 2009
Vernal Equinox
Today is the last day of winter, the Vernal Equinox. To celebrate this, it snowed. Thankfully, it didn't last very long, or even stick to the ground. Still it was an annoyance though, I'd already had an outfit all planned out that included somewhat inappropriate sling back shoes. Instead, I had to pull out the trusty Australians:
holy moly, they really need to be taken care of....I've had these boots for 11 years and they should last me another few at least. Jay bought these for me when we lived in Toronto. It was my birthday, and while I'm sure he'd rather have bought me a pair of red patent leather stilleto's, he knew my affinity for butch footware.
Today, in celebration of the last day of winter, I'm thinking ahead. I'm going to plan next years winter landscape for our new home. There's a big backyard and I figure that I can leave out some very specific items to create a snowscape. I wonder if a rusty old lawnmower will make a lovely shape. I think it will.
holy moly, they really need to be taken care of....I've had these boots for 11 years and they should last me another few at least. Jay bought these for me when we lived in Toronto. It was my birthday, and while I'm sure he'd rather have bought me a pair of red patent leather stilleto's, he knew my affinity for butch footware.
Today, in celebration of the last day of winter, I'm thinking ahead. I'm going to plan next years winter landscape for our new home. There's a big backyard and I figure that I can leave out some very specific items to create a snowscape. I wonder if a rusty old lawnmower will make a lovely shape. I think it will.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
House assesment for financing
I had some crazy good news yesterday about the house situation yesterday. I'm still pinching myself.
We've been trying to close on our new Union City house for the last week, and the assesment has been holding things up a bit. Gone are the days when banks gave away mortgage money like mardi gras beads - now they are not only doing an assesment, they do a physical inspection. It just so happens that there aren't very many single family homes in UC (mostly multi family and condos), and there hasn't been a lot of home sales recently. So, that means that there isn't much to compare our property. In fact, there were only FOUR, as in 4, like quatro, over the last 12 month period. Isn't that insane? Four single family homes sold in this city in the last twelve months. That sounds too ridiculous, maybe it's four homes in same size/neighborhood? In any case, their is not a lot to compare to.
So the assesment happens, and I get a call from the real estate agent informing me that the value of the house was assesed at $260k. Uh, that's weird - we fiercely negotiated down from a starting point of $339k. In fact, our first offer on the property was $269k, and we recognized that it was a total low-ball offer. So low-ball that the sellers made a point of asking their agent to relay to us how insulted they were at our offer. So after weeks of back and forth, settling on a price of $305k, knowing it was more than we wanted to spend but we loved the house, the agents call about the assesment spun me into a panic. Does this mean the bank will only lend us funds based on a maxiumum of $260k and we have to find bridge financing for the extra $45k? That was my first reaction, and I instantly thought - we're done, we're not buying that house, we can't find another $45k. I was lamenting my aggressiveness in having already ordered 5 lilac bushes for delivery in April. BUT NO! The assesment means that we get the house for $260k instead of $305k. I don't know all the details yet but I think the sellers options were 1) take the assesed value and be done with it 2) take the property off the market and wait for economy to come out of the shitter.
I have to admit that I feel a certain vindication now for our initial "insult" low-ball offer. I'm also really happy to save some downpayment money. We're going to put in the swank new kitchen that we thought we'd have to put on hold. That will be a story for tomorrow.
We've been trying to close on our new Union City house for the last week, and the assesment has been holding things up a bit. Gone are the days when banks gave away mortgage money like mardi gras beads - now they are not only doing an assesment, they do a physical inspection. It just so happens that there aren't very many single family homes in UC (mostly multi family and condos), and there hasn't been a lot of home sales recently. So, that means that there isn't much to compare our property. In fact, there were only FOUR, as in 4, like quatro, over the last 12 month period. Isn't that insane? Four single family homes sold in this city in the last twelve months. That sounds too ridiculous, maybe it's four homes in same size/neighborhood? In any case, their is not a lot to compare to.
So the assesment happens, and I get a call from the real estate agent informing me that the value of the house was assesed at $260k. Uh, that's weird - we fiercely negotiated down from a starting point of $339k. In fact, our first offer on the property was $269k, and we recognized that it was a total low-ball offer. So low-ball that the sellers made a point of asking their agent to relay to us how insulted they were at our offer. So after weeks of back and forth, settling on a price of $305k, knowing it was more than we wanted to spend but we loved the house, the agents call about the assesment spun me into a panic. Does this mean the bank will only lend us funds based on a maxiumum of $260k and we have to find bridge financing for the extra $45k? That was my first reaction, and I instantly thought - we're done, we're not buying that house, we can't find another $45k. I was lamenting my aggressiveness in having already ordered 5 lilac bushes for delivery in April. BUT NO! The assesment means that we get the house for $260k instead of $305k. I don't know all the details yet but I think the sellers options were 1) take the assesed value and be done with it 2) take the property off the market and wait for economy to come out of the shitter.
I have to admit that I feel a certain vindication now for our initial "insult" low-ball offer. I'm also really happy to save some downpayment money. We're going to put in the swank new kitchen that we thought we'd have to put on hold. That will be a story for tomorrow.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
House Buying
Is it totally insane that we're about to close on a house exactly two months after being laid off? I think it is - but since I am the *most* risk averse person I know, I'm taking weird pleasure in this gigantic leap of faith.
The beautiful apartment we've had for two years (picture on home page) is slowly being emptied and boxed up and getting ready for a ride across the river to Union City, NJ.
Where's Union City? Fair question - I know from googling it that it's home to Prote'Ge', who made it three rounds on G to Gents.
I also know that it was formally called "West Hoboken" until sometime in the '50's when it became it's own city. I also know that they mayor is named Brian Stack, and I'm going to stalk him. I've written before about my plans to stalk Moby, right? I'm done with him, and I'm now moving on to city officials. Brian and I will be good friends soon, and when we start exchanging chili recipes, I'll be bragging about it here.
Here's the front door of our new place - exciting, right?
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