My Job Hunt

Discussion in 'Employment & Jobs' started by tripwire45, Mar 28, 2007.

  1. tripwire45
    Honorary Member

    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    As you might imagine, full-time permanent jobs for technical writers don't just grow on trees. I contacted my agent and an editor I've been known for several years and asked for their advice. I got some interesting ideas but it'll take some time to implement them (or not to).

    Yesterday, I got desperate and applied for a 3 month contract job doing desktop rollouts. It's something of a step backwards but it pays better than unemployment insurance and it's easy work...practically mindless for the most part.

    Today, I saw that a temp agency had two openings for a tech writer job. Only a 1 to 2 month gig but it's more up my alley. I emailed the contact person my resume (CV) but got an "out-of-office" reply. I called the other contact person listed in the email and made an appointment for an interview for tomorrow at 10 a.m. I blasted her the short version of my resume for reference.

    I'm still working on "the book" but that'll be months and months in the making. I broke down and contacted an outfit that provides DVD and online training and agreed to do a course for them. My last venture into this venue was a royal pain, but I decided to keep a stiff upper lip and see if I can make it work better this time.

    I called the contact person at his request and he was out the door on his way to fix some sort of server issue. Since it was a Linux server, I actually started to give him advice about securing it better, which was a hoot. Looks like I'll be doing at least one project for that outfit.

    My agent might have some ideas about how I can use my website to promote myself better but she's going on spring break with her daughter next week so we'll revisit that subject when she gets back. There's the possibility of writing articles for various publications if I can make my "name" more well known to technical audiences.

    It's been about three or four weeks since I've been unemployed and I can feel myself fraying at the edges. Of course the missus wants me to shoot for a full-time, permanent gig which would be fine with me but of course, one has to pop up so I can apply for it.

    All of the people I have out there looking for work for me say the usual avenues to find work seem to have dried up. Ah well...feast or famine. I'm actually afraid I'll develop all of these different income streams based on temp and freelance work, then the job of my dreams will drop in my lap and I'll have too much work to do.

    Better than starving, I guess.

    I'll keep you posted.
     
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  2. onoski

    onoski Terabyte Poster

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    Hi Trip,

    Thanks for sharing your experience as I can imagine and know that the IT job world is not as forth coming as it used to three or some four years ago. But not to worry chin up and just do whats available for now to keep the bills.

    On the plus side the role your wanting to temp for is to do with computers so hey it can't be too bad:D Best wishes in your endeavors to secure employment long term etc.
     
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  3. wizard

    wizard Petabyte Poster

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    Sounds like you've been busy on the job hunting front though :)
     
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  4. Bluerinse
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    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    Thanks for the update James and as always, good luck to you and stay positive!
     
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  5. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    I saw a notice for a temp job (1 to 2 months) as a tech writer. I called the place and set up an interview for tomorrow at 10. Wish me luck.
     
    Certifications: A+ and Network+
  6. simongrahamuk
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    simongrahamuk Hmmmmmmm?

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    Good Luck James! :thumbleft
     
  7. Tyler D

    Tyler D Gigabyte Poster

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    Best of luck Trip :thumbleft
     
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  8. mondos

    mondos Kilobyte Poster

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    Good luck.
     
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  9. Bluerinse
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    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    Fingers crossed again :)
     
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  10. nXPLOSi

    nXPLOSi Terabyte Poster

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    I can only imagine how hard it is to tie a job down in technical writing, but im sure soon enough a company will see how skilled you are from your previous work and you'll be flying!

    Good luck with the interview, let us now how it goes. :D
     
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  11. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    Well...I got dressed in my "monkey suit" and reported to the recruiter's office on time. I had to fill out a short job application but nothing I haven't seen a thousand times before.

    Valerie, my interviewer showed up a few minutes after I finished. Turns out there they had very little information on the customer or the job. Apparently, the higher ups wanted the job advertised to see what kind of response they'd get, but the primary contact left town the day the job was posted and won't be back for almost a week.

    Poor Valerie was more nervous than I was. She kept apologizing which gave me the opportunity to be gracious. She was impressed with my background and experience and started talking about the possibility of other, longer-term jobs, primarily with HP.

    The current job is for some outfit out of California that's opening up an office in Boise. Sounds like they need some white papers written and that it has something to do with SQL Server but zip on the details.

    Valerie isn't even supposed to send over any resumes to the client until the end of next week. She's going to try and find out more and get back to me in a week or so.

    This was more of a screening than an interview. If she sends my resume over to the client and they like me, they'll schedule a more in-depth interview. Then the fun begins. :wink:
     
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  12. mondos

    mondos Kilobyte Poster

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    Fingers crossed for you my friend, good luck.
     
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  13. Leehaa

    Leehaa Gigabyte Poster

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    Good Luck!
     

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  14. Bluerinse
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    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    It sounds promising James, lets hope something good comes from it 8)
     
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  15. onoski

    onoski Terabyte Poster

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    I wish you well with all the outcomes and interviews.
     
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  16. Boycie
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    Boycie Senior Beer Tester

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    Fingers crossed for you Trip :thumbleft

    Si
     
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  17. AJ

    AJ 01000001 01100100 01101101 01101001 01101110 Administrator

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    Rooting for you Trip, good luck :thumbleft
     
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  18. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    This is just hysterical. I have my CV on Dice and CareerBuilder but not on Monster (I don't like that every other page that loads is some dodgy advert). I saw a Technical Writer job available but had to apply through Monster. I updated my CV on Monster, applied for the job (yesterday) and moved on.

    A little while ago, I got an email from a medical company in Wisconsin (about 2000 miles away). The recruiter didn't bother to include his/her name or contact information but said they saw my resume on Monster and thought I'd be a good fit for a SAN adminsitrator opening they have.

    Fortunately, it did include a valid URL for the company's job opening page and they have several positions open including a Technical Writer job. Problem is, all the jobs require that the candidate relocate to Wisconsin.

    I replied to the email politely but with just a touch of sarcasm regarding their not including a person's name, completely misunderstanding my resume and not bothering to tell me up front that I'd have to relocate. I assume that job will die a sudden death.

    Just a few minutes ago, I got a phone call from a recruiter in Michigan who needs a tech in Boise to install 3 PCs at a plumbing shop. He saw my resume on Monster and despite all of the technical writer quals, he zeroed in on my A+ cert. It's a three hour job but it's better than nothing (by the way, this sort of work is *great* if you are trying to build your experience section of your CV).

    These jobs are heavily scripted and I've done a million of them before so I could do it in my sleep. It's been awhile since I got my hands dirty on the hardware side of things so it'll probably be fun.

    At least it'll get me out of the house. :tongue
     
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  19. wizard

    wizard Petabyte Poster

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    Nice one trip :D
     
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  20. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    I got a call earlier today from a company called Lionbridge offering me a phone interview for Friday at 11 a.m. I interviewed with them last year for a similar position but didn't get hired. It's possible that the additional skill sets I picked up at Micron might swing the difference. Anyway, we'll find out in a few days.

    I also got a call from a local recruiter wanting to hire me for a major hardware rollout of anywhere from 500 to 3000 PCs over a 3 to 7 month time frame. It would be a Monday through Friday job during normal business hours. He wanted someone who could start Friday but would be willing to bring me on next week if that was too short a notice. The pay as awful and unless I was starving, not worth my time. Also, the split second a better job came along, I'd have been out the door like a shot...which would not have been fair to him.

    I was polite about it but declined the offer (it's amazing what jobs you can be offered with no interview, just because you have an A+ after your name). I did tell him (since he had my resume in his hands) that if he came up with a position that was more in my current line with more "substantial" pay, I'd be interested.

    BTW, the recruiter that wants me to install those 3 PCs has a second job in the area installing 5 more. Looks like I can get all the hardware rollout work I can handle but Technical Writing jobs are more rare.

    Oh, I've got to tell you this part. In the past 24 hours, I've gotten emails from two recruiters wanting me for "contract to hire" positions as a SharePoint specialist. Problem is they'd both require relocation...the first to Connecticut and the second to Saudi Arabia. I turned down the Saudi job out of hand but told the Connecticut people that I'd be interested in the "contract" portion of the job. Of course, the money would have to be significant for me to travel all the way across the US for 8 weeks or more. I haven't heard back from them so it may be a wash.

    Now if someone were doing a major SharePoint 2007 project here in "River City", I'd be set. :biggrin
     
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