Changing Priorities

Know what happens when you get a job that requires a move?  Your priorities change and things like blogging fall to the bottom of the list.

So, here are more details on what is going on with my new job and move....

I got the original offer a week ago Friday.  There are a couple of details still to be worked out but I will be working for Kirkland's, Inc. (www.kirklands.com) based out of Nashville, TN.  I'm hoping for a finalized offer today.  Once I have that, we can set a start date.

I've scoured the internet for a rental property that will accept dogs and meets my other criteria (single level, fully fenced yard and safe neighborhood).  I've found exactly ONE property that I love and have submitted an application to the property management group.  I am waiting for them to say, "We'd love to have you and your Horde move into our newly remodeled 3 bedroom, 2 bath house that is just 2.22 miles from your new office."  Ok, I didn't tell them the dogs are known as The Horde - I think there might be some negative connotations with the name.

I have gone through a lot of boxes in my storage unit.  I've consolidated, repacked and donated things so I am basically down to the bare minimums of what I need to move.  My couch and 2 upholstered chairs will also be looking for new homes via GoodWill or Habitat for Humanity.  I think 15-16 years is long enough for me to get the value out of them.  That means I will be living on cheap patio furniture until I find and can afford new furniture that I like.  By the way, it's entirely possible that my new furniture may be patio furniture as well.  The thought of being able to hose off the upholstery when it gets dirty is darned tempting and, honestly, some of the 'patio' furniture that's out there right now is as nice as any indoor furniture.  Besides, isn't bring the outdoors in terribly in fashion?

So, for the moment we are in a bit of a holding pattern but I expect that when things break loose there will be lots of movement VERY fast....

By the Numbers

307 Days
91 Companies
4 In-Person Interviews
Innumerable on line applications and hours spent filling them out - repeatedly.

The only number that counts?  One.
One job offer.

Late Friday afternoon I finally got the call.  I received an offer from a company in Nashville, TN, that I am accepting.  There are, of course, details to be worked out but, I will once again be employed.

Many thanks to all of you who have expressed your support over the last several months.  While I didn't write a lot, the blog and your comments were part of what helped keep me marginally sane.

More details to come....  You just gotta know that moving The Horde to Nashville will be an adventure.....

Only Six Left

Well, after tomorrow that is.  Tomorrow, when I fly to Alabama for a job interview, I will only have six states out of fifty that I haven't visited.  The remaining six are; Alaska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi and Vermont.  When you move around a lot, you keep track of things like that.

I can also tell you all the states I've shown dogs in (conformation, agility and herding); Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Kansas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine and Connecticut.  Not too bad, I say.

I had two phone interviews last week, one last night, and received an email to set up a time for another phone interview in the next week.  Things are picking up....

It Never Fails....

A couple weeks ago I posted that I had decided to listen to the Universe, follow my heart and go back to school to become a vet tech.  I'm still working toward that but, in the quirky way that the Universe works, I have received several emails and phone calls recently from companies I applied to - and one I didn't apply to - asking to schedule interviews.  I'm entertaining these calls and requests for interviews because, honestly, the idea of being able to make some significant money is pretty darned attractive right now.  Becoming a vet tech is very noble but it probably wouldn't pay for the dog habit - at least not to the extent that I would like.  We'll just have to see what happens.

Follow Your Heart

"The best thing you can do in life is follow your heart.  Take risks.  Don't just take the safe and easy choices because you're afraid of what might happen.  Don't have any regrets and know that everything happens for a reason." - Unknown

Anyone who has known me for any length of time knows that I often say, "Everything happens for a reason."  The last seven and a half months have been difficult for me and a real wake up call.

When I left my job in April, I thought I would have another job in three months and that my life would continue on the path it had been on before.  The three months came and went and I still wasn't working.  I had phone interviews, lots and lots of phone interviews, but very few call backs.  I networked, I revised my resume, I applied for entry level jobs, I applied for jobs in parts of the country I had no interest in moving to and I kept telling myself that 'everything happens for a reason' and I just hadn't found the right job yet.

During the last seven and a half months I've also spent a lot of time with the dogs.  A lot of time.  I've watched Sammy struggle with aging, I've watched Ginny start to go deaf, I've watched Moira become increasingly confident and reliable in life and agility (although she can still be a bit of a nut job), I've watched Bogey grow into a boy-dog with many of his father's most beguiling traits and I've watched Georgia go through the teenage uglies and start to mature into a really lovely bitch with intelligence and personality to burn.  Part of spending all this time with the dogs has also included treating lots of minor injuries and ailments too - especially for Sam.  And this is where following my heart has come into the picture.

For years, friends who aren't 'dog people' have watched me with the dogs and asked why I don't do "something with them professionally."  I've always responded with, "I'd love to but there's no money in it."  Well, guess what?  After over seven months of not really making any money, I'm ready to do something professionally with dogs - and cats, and guinea pigs and, whatever.

I am in the process of applying to the veterinary technology program at a local community college.  My application is due at the end of January but I won't know until April if I've been accepted (they only take 40 students each year.)  School will start in August.  After two years, I will be able to sit for the state boards and, hopefully, become a licensed vet tech.  From there, I'd like to become certified in canine physical rehabilitation so I can work with dogs recovering from orthopedic surgery, or plagued by arthritis and , of course, the canine athletes I love so much.  I still need to find a job in the meantime but I can focus on finding something local and it doesn't have to be a 'career' position.

UHM (who got and accepted a job offer last week) has been incredibly supportive of this plan - even though I know it scares her a bit.  If I'm being completely honest, it scares me too but I think I have to follow my heart on this one and remember that everything does happen for a reason.

An Auto-Generated Email? Really?

Finally heard back from the company that flew me in for an interview over a month ago.  Today I received an auto-generated, anonymous email from a "Staffing Representative" indicating that while "many aspects of your background are impressive" there were other candidates whose qualifications were more in line with their current needs.  Oh, and I got this barely an hour after I sent an email asking for an update to the HR flunky who had arranged my whole trip, and, by the way, where is my check to reimburse my expenses for the trip?

I'm ok with not getting the job but, I really think if you actually bring someone into the offices to interview they deserve the courtesy of a phone call and an opportunity to solicit feedback if they didn't get the job.  See what the electronic age has done to us?

So, the hunt continues.

No News is Good News

I'm finding it difficult to find things to blog about these days.  I seem to be posting more and more 'sound bites' on FB than coming up with meaningful topics to blog about.

Yes, we had an earthquake last Tuesday.  I was at James Madison's Montpelier volunteering when it hit.  That put me less than 30 miles from the epicenter.  I volunteer in the Dupont Gallery in the visitors center.  The damage in the visitors center/gift shop was minimal.  The gift shop had a lot of cleaning up to do as breakables well, they broke.  In the Dupont Gallery, lots of pictures were catty-wampus and the chandeliers swung quite a bit.  I think that is probably the strongest earthquake I've experienced and while there have been some pretty good aftershocks, I've only felt one of those.  By the way, the damage to Montpelier itself was limited to some cracked plaster and chimneys, nothing structural.

At the end of last week, everyone on the East coast braced for Hurricane Irene.  The track the storm took left us with some fairly strong winds and just a little rain - we didn't lose power.  Our friends to the east, in Richmond and on the Virginia coast, saw a lot more damage and rain.  Fortunately, as far as we know, everyone is ok but the clean up will take a while.

Thursday of this week I'll be boarding a plane for a flight south.  I have a real, face-to-face job interview with a large company on Friday.  I don't want to say who yet but, think good thoughts.  It seems like a wonderful opportunity for me in a lot of ways; career advancement, location and, oh yeah, I'd be employed again.  When I know something, you all will.

And, last but not least, agility classes are scheduled to resume on September 7!  I am so excited.  Moira does so much better when she has a chance to get out of the house and visit with her agility friends.

My next post will be something special so be sure to check back......

Oh the Agony...

Job hunting is brutal - I probably don't need to tell most of you that.  It's almost a flashback to those painful days in elementary school PE when the games required picking teams.  You wait anxiously to see if you will be 'picked.'

In today's job market it's especially painful because virtually everything is done electronically so you really have no idea if the "application" you filled out is actually being viewed by a human or merely checked by some computer program for the appropriate key words.  One of the job sites even has this wonderful/horrible tool that allows you to see how many candidates have applied for that job through their site and gives you some pretty amazing demographics regarding education, years of experience, required salary, etc.  It's positively frightening.

Last week I ended up having 3 phone interviews for 2 possible jobs.  One of them we are in the midst of trying to schedule a 4th phone interview.  The other I got a very polite email today indicating they are looking at other candidates but, thanks for my interest and oh, here's a special discount code to use the next time you shop our website.

The on line applications can be brutal too.  Most companies give you the option of down loading your resume but then they also ask you to fill out a work history section.  Ugh!  I hate repetitive work.  One of the jobs I am in the running for does a couple of different on line tests.  One is the Predictive Index test.  This is where you are given a list of 75 words and then asked to identify those that you think others would use to describe you.  Then you are give a second list of the same 75 words and asked to indicate the ones you believe best describe you!  The second test was 125 mixed questions encompassing reading comprehension, math, and logic/ethics.  Each question is timed but there is no time limit.  What does that mean?  Do they look at how long it took me to complete the number sequence questions vs. the word definitions and decide if I can do math or not?  The logic/ethics questions were all doubled up too; first, what is the "best" answer, second, what is the "worst" answer.

If you manage to snare an interview, be prepared for lots of different interview styles.  Myself, I tend to be a conversational interviewer.  I have a good idea of what I want to know about you and I try to have a conversation that gives me that information.  In my opinion, those are the most natural and comfortable interviews for everyone involved but they do require some skill.  Then there are the predictive interviewers; "Give me an example of a time when....."  Please, I BEG of the human resources professionals out there, DO NOT let your hiring managers use this style.  Phone interviews are hard enough as it is but an hour of "Give me an example of a time when" questions will put even the most patient and desperate job seeker over the edge.

When it seems like you might be close to the coveted 'face to face' interview, you start sweating the wardrobe question.  The vast majority of companies today have embraced a business casual wardrobe.  My last 3 employers followed that rule and, consequently, I have very few dressy business clothes.  So now you find yourself spending money to buy clothes for an interview.  Clothes that are dressy enough for an interview but not so dressy you 1) look totally out of place when you arrive at the office and 2) might have a chance of wearing again.  Oh, and what if you are flying in for the interview and someone wants to take you to dinner the night before or breakfast the morning after?  Then you need 2 outfits to wear.  The old saw about dressing for the position above the one you are interviewing for apparently still holds true too.  I am now the proud owner of a black suit (skirt & jacket), a blouse to go underneath the suit, a pair of tan trousers and a multi-colored more casual style jacket.  Fortunately, all of them can easily be worn someplace other than a job interview.  I think I would have had a coronary if that weren't the case.

As much as I am enjoying my 'summer vacation' this year, I am also looking forward to going back to work.  I'm not sure how much longer I can stand the stress of job hunting.

Awards, Interviews and An Observation

First, a big thanks to my friend Karen of many blogs including Shaggy Dog Stories, Dog Show Newbie and Blog Dog to name a few.  She nominated my little ol' blog for a Versatile Blogger Award.  I would happily put the award/badge in this post but I am a total blogging idiot and can't seem to figure out how to make that happen :(  So I'll leave it at a flattered, thanks!  You and the Beardies are some of my favorite folks.  I know there are some rules associated with receiving the award but I pride myself on being a rule-breaker so I'm going to ignore those :)

Good news on the the job-hunting front.  I have two phone interviews this week.  One is this afternoon w/the hiring manager for the position I applied for.  If I do well, it might result in an invitation to visit the company offices.  The second is a screening/first interview with an HR person to see if I can put together an intelligent sentence or if someone else wrote my resume :)  The two positions are similar -  planning managers - but the two companies are very different.  One is primarily brick & mortar and the other is exclusively web. One is in the midwest and the other is in the mountain west.  Right now I'm feeling like one is a better fit for my skill set but the other might be a better fit for my personality.  We'll just have to see.

And now for the observation.  In dogs we talk a lot about operant conditioning - where a dog offers a behavior and it is reinforced with a reward.  There is also classical conditioning - where something occurs and that causes the dog to react in a particular way.  The most famous example of classical conditioning is Pavlov's dogs - I really hope I don't need to explain what that is.  Anyway, we've had some classical conditioning going on here that I hadn't noticed until yesterday and it's pretty damned funny.

I've mentioned before that Sam now wears a wacker packer, weenie wrap, belly band - whatever you want to call it - most of the time.  He's not having problems with incontinence, he just seems to have forgotten that marking in the house is NOT allowed and with new carpet in the living room, I'm not taking any chances.  Sam's man-thong is secured with Velcro, which makes a distinctive ripping noise when it is pulled apart.  Again, I really hope I don't need to explain this....

Yesterday, UHM was getting ready to go outside to do some yard work.  She was putting on her work gloves, which have Velcro fasteners at the wrists.  As she opened the fasteners, Moira went crazy.  She ran to the back door, barked and carried on like her world was ending.  Moira going crazy and barking is nothing new but I was puzzled why she acted like that when no one had made a move toward the back door.  And then the light bulb came on over my head.... The sound of Velcro.  Since Sam doesn't wear his weenie wrap outside, the sound of Velcro being ripped apart precedes every trip the dogs make outside.  When UHM put on her gloves, Moira assumed everyone was going out.

That story is really only sorta funny but it does serve to illustrate that we train our dogs every day in lots of little unintended ways.  Think about that the next time you can't figure out why your dog is doing something......