Story from the job hunting trenches: My most recent unemployment/re-employment experience.

[ddeclue]

I was laid off on the 2nd of November and found my new job on the 16th of November and sealed the deal by the 20th of November with work starting on Monday the 23rd.

I was paid approximately 2 weeks severance up to the 15th of November.

I am an engineer with a Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering degree from Georgia Tech and about 17 years experience.

Both my previous and next job are not specifically aerospace engineering but both involve software engineering and hardware test engineering.

My old job had a 20 mile commute.

My new job will have a 110 mile commute.

My old job was 5 days a week and there was no money paid beyond 40 hours no matter how long you worked.

My new job is 4 x 10 with every Friday off and with overtime after 40 hours (1.5x) and double time on Sundays.

My hourly rate improved slightly with the new job but not significantly. With the 40 hour cap limit lifted though I can hopefully make more.

In my search I sent out approximately 500 emails or job applications either through job search websites or direct emails in approximately 2 weeks of searching. That's about 50 a day during the work week.

I had a total of 4 interviews including 2 with contract agencies and 2 with direct employers.

I spoke to approximately 20 recruiters on the phone during the 2 week period involved.

I had email exchanges with approximately 40 recruiters during the 2 week period involved.

My job actually came not through my own hunting but rather through a referral from a co-worker who couldn't take the job that I took.

My new job is slated to last only 2 to 4 weeks initially but there is hopefully follow on work based on the interview.

I'm taking it and keeping my eyes open for something closer to home but for now I'll ride it through the holidays if possible.

This time was much better than back between December and April when I was last unemployed. I attribute it mostly to luck but reworking my resume to be shorter and better formatted helped I think.

I still know lots of unemployed people and my choice if I couldn't get this job would have probably been relocation TO California where they are still hiring lots of hardware test engineers with my particular software skills.

[NV Whino]

1. Congratulations

I hope this opens many other doors for you.

[uppityperson]

2. Copngratulations and what an ordeal. Hoping it works out for you

[rocktivity]

3. You were very right to use the term "particular skills."

With so many good people out of work and so few good jobs to choose from, employers have the luxury of holding out for exactly the "particular skills" they want. And I'm not surprised about HOW you got the job--Monster and Career Builder have literally been spamming me with ads from the military, multi-level marketers, online education, and work-study programs.

After working part-time for over a year for less than ten dollars an hour, I just landed a two-year contract position. My resume had been sent to the company for two other positions, but I was just the slightest bit under-qualified. When the recruiter called me three weeks ago, he said, "This time, they're looking for YOU." That turned out to be an understatement.

At the interview, the very first question I was asked was not about my pharmaceutical background in general or my clinical trial assistance experience in particular, but about where I lived and how I'd get to work. The area is so parking-challenged that I wouldn't drive there if even if I could, and there's plenty of public transport. I hope I got the job because my background made for the best fit. But it's equally possible that I got picked over someone who would have commuted by car!

Congrats, and I hope the additional work comes through--you may end up having to relocate, but at least this way you'll have time to pick and choose over what's avialiable.


rocktivity

[Berry Cool]

6. As far as I'm concerned, no employer has the right to ask "how" you would get to work.

That is YOUR business. The employer should assume that if hired, you would do what it takes to get your butt to work. Period. Asking how you will get there should be as taboo as it would be to ask a woman her childbearing or child care plans.

It's nobody's business whether you get to your job by public transportation, car, biking or walking, or whether you will take up another parking space or not. They should assume you would not be applying if you did not plan on making the commitment to get there one way or another.

I don't drive, but I never tell a potential employer I don't drive. Why? Because I'm afraid that if I do, they'll assume I will not be able to get reliably to work. Which is nonsense--I've held four different jobs in my life, all of which I was able to get to via public transportation. I'm not dumb enough to go for a job if I know I can't get there if hired.

There were times when the weather was so bad at my jobs that other employees called in and said they couldn't make it because their cars wouldn't start or the driving was too bad, while I was one of the earliest/few employees who made it in. Yet if you say you don't have a car, some employers will assume your transportation isn't "reliable." They may also assume there's something childlike or immature about you. So I just don't tell them. After I'm hired is soon enough for them to find out.

Obviously, I don't go for jobs in which driving is a required part of the job. But what I have found is that a lot of times, people assume the only way to get someplace is by driving, and it's just not true. Anyway, I don't think it's an employer's business how you commute.

[On the Road]

4. Good Luck --

It's a tough market and you sound like you're doing the right things.

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. congrats.

[Nikia]

7. That's relatively quick

I am still employed, but I applied for a job posted on a job board at the end of October and will be having my second interview the first week of December. In the first interview, I was told that their goal was to hire someone by the end of the year.
I guess that my point is that if this job is just temporary that you shouldn't think that you definitely won't get hired at one of the other positions for which you applied earlier.

[lonestarnot]

8. Sounds like you're rolling with the shock and awe. Hang tough!

[Froward69]

9. Good luck, hang in there

As I am self employed I haven't received any "Income" for almost a year. the bills are paid but I haven't been able to do anything other than go to costco.
No movies
no dinner out (other than free tacos from Taco bell occasionally)
I even rely upon change I find to buy a coke to mix with a present bottle of Jack Daniels. (been nursing that bottle for six months now)