h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Yeah but to move to Medford? Already my children are rebelling about having to live in so many different places. (5 states so far in 16 years). In fact I promised my son that he could finish his high school at the place he is now (Sprague high here in Salem) He has one and a half more years there.

Everyone of us have lost friends and companions and these are the years for making strong friendships for the kids.

Of course my girls (who now live in Arizona) will have to give up the wonders of Winslow (a worse place I cannot think of). Just not an easy subject for discusion amongst our family. I've been out of work for so long that any improvement and a steady job has some benefits.

Well I haven't been offered the job yet, so this is all just speculation for now. I have interviewed with these same people before though and I think I have a better chance now for this position than I did for the other one.

We'll see what happens!

Well Mikey, I seem to have gotten a new opening with a company called Radisys in Hillsboro. I sent my resume for an opening about two months ago and they are now responding. Whoopee. I am amazed.

Will a company that takes two months to respond actually be a company that I can work for? In a heartbeat. I'm not even sure just what it is that they make yet but I can check that out easily enough. Wish me luck.

I'll keep at this until I die trying or I finally get a job.

Sadly, I'm still getting responses to resumes I sent out in the autumn of 2003.... Was offered another position just last week.

Big companies and agencies often keep your resume on file, even if they're not going to contact you about the specific position you applied for. Then, when they have a new opening, they often look first at the resumes they already have on file to see if anyone fits.

How far of a drive would that be?

It depends on which building they will have me work in. It is a similar drive to Intel, without the "intimidation" of it being Intel.

The opening I responded to was only about two months ago with no explanation in between. In a sense I'm glad they kept the resumes from that time. There are three positions open at this time and I have just done the "prescreens" for two of them.

There is now three companies that are considering applications for me.
Something has to happen soon... like I haven't said that before.

adieu

Well the deadline for the lottery job came and went. I called and they said the final day for filing has been extended til 12/13. Which being interperted they didn't have enough qualified people for the interview and they are hoping for someone else to rescue them... my application was not the outstanding example I thought it was and they really want someone who has yet to call on them. So much for my career in at the lottery commission.

It seems obvious to me that if they saw me as qualified they would go ahead and intervew those that were on the list (interview me at least) and leave the date open like they've done so many times before. At the least it will take more than a month for anyone to be brought into the job due to the clearance (extensive personal history research) required.

I tried calling the Radisys contact and appearantly she is not well and is out of the office for two days at least.

This is sounding like so much of what has already taken place in other companies. Rats!

Argh!

Sheesh, that sucks. I was holding out hope that maybe you'd get an extra nice Christmas present from the job fairy....

The job fairy???????
It has left the building...

Actually latter today (after my last email), I received something from them indicating that Radisys has a "major customer" at the plant and just couldn't spend time on such mundane tasks such as hiring me (Oh Well.)

In a sense, I would work for Radisys before the lottery commission since I have an aversion for government work, and it would take me away from Salem. They can hire me sooner also since the lottery commission would need to do a background search that could take a long time. (you know about security dont you?)

The lottery job would be a more secure job though (that is the biggest benefit of working for the government).

I haven't heard from Tektronix yet. They are closer to me than Radisys and a big company also one that I have looked to since my early times here in Oregon. But if they dont respond there is nothing I can do about it.

Job fairy bah humbug no such thing

Any news?

No news is good new?

Actually the Medford position is still open and the interviews will start after Christmas. I'm still in the runinng for that one. Just earlier today I interviewed at Rockwell again for a short term position in inspection (six months) I'm not sure that would be a wise choice though given the options that are out there. They are starting a new fangled inventory control system and their chief inspector is going off tp be trained in the process. So they need a fill in that can start right away and be up to speed fast. I'm hardly sure they will choose me but I will be hard pressed to make a decision.

I just must hang in there a little longer.

Well humming mouse, another year has started and still nothing yet. I have no interviews on my scope, but only hypotheticals. Potentials that could be a job.

The Oregon Lottery commission has officially denied me again. Oh well.

But I have not forgotten where my hope lies.

adieu

Did you ever hear from Tektronix?

Are you eligible for any of the worker retraining programs out there? That's what a lot of people who were laid off from Boeing up here have done. It definitely isn't a quick process, though.

Still holding on to hope, though!

The worker retrainning at Boeing, I thought about years ago and noting happened. Since I actually worked at Rockwell which has since been bought by Boeing I'm not sure that it would apply.

No I haven't heard from Tektronix, nothing at all. I think they have withdrawn the openings though.

The worker retraining thing here isn't just for Boeing people -- it's just that Boeing people took advantage of it in droves. There was a Boeing thing that supplemented the program I'm thinking of, but the main one is run by the state, though -- I think anyone who's been out of work for awhile after being laid off can be eligible, especially if they're in a field where the supply/demand balance has been changing. Most of what I know is about the Washington State one, but I'm pretty sure Oregon has one, too. The biggest programs here are through community colleges, but they have other options as well. I think older workers are given special consideration for some of these programs as well.

Here in Oregon a person must be qualified for unemployment compensation to make the list for these retrainnings (I'm well past that time frame).

We have a comunity college here in Salem(the other end of town of course). I've been told that pharmacy techs are in demand but I hesitate at making such a switch.

Pharmacy tech jobs are definitely in demand everywhere; any town you needed to live in, there would probably be a job. They are also often at places that offer excellent benefits.

The biggest downsides are that pharmacy techs don't make a whole lot at the entry level, and that there often isn't any room for advancement. I've heard that both of these problems are somewhat better for those working for a hospital or for some place like Kaiser than for a regular drugstore.

A very computer-based job for which demand is going to keep going up is Health Information Specialists. That generally pays a bit better than pharmacy techs, but may not be the most interesting job going -- a lot of insurance billing and coding, etc.

And the training is a whole year, but the demand for nurses isn't going to be dropping any time soon -- and this is definitely a field that can pay quite well, have excellent benefits, and good opportunities for moving up.

It might be worth finding out if you'd be eligible for a good financial aid deal at the community college - if so, you could always start training towards something else while also continuing to hunt for jobs in your current area -- it could be like a backup plan.

Hang in there!

Hanging seems to be my specialty I wonder if I can get paid for it?

How's it going? Given any more thought to doing a training course or somesuch?

Sorry Mickey I haven't had much traffic on this site recently so I kinda spaced a little.

I do keep getting new openings to apply and I regularly send out resumes to anything that seems close to what I think I can do. The latest are three openings at Xerox and the continueing openings at Tektronix. (one of these is as a 'lead' technician)

It has been more than a week though so I am beginning to think neither of them will call or mail me a rejection letter. The company here in Salem called Garmin that makes GPS equipment for the general aviation industry has been working on my application now for a month without a single peep.

Mostly though I am taking care of my mother who recently has a knee replacement surgery and is in recovery. so my days are filled with ennui but for a good purpose.

I contacted my senator (Ron Wyden) and framed the question as ant-senior bias so that maybe he can run interference for me. He has a commitee in the senate that deals with senior issues. I'm sure that he has taken much campaign money from all the companies that I have contacted so far and maybe with a recommendation from him it will help. Really I dont care of I do get a job as a 'diversity' person or even if it gets known that what I did to get the job.

Keep in touch and let me know how things are with you?

[email protected]

Well Mickey I've gone to another level.

I sent off letters to my congress person and senator seeking help. If there is any part of my failure to find employment that is caused by my being older I am hoping that they can intervine and make a difference.

I can only imagine what would happen in an HR department if they get a letter from a US senator asking them specially to hire someone they have chosen not to hire. God knows all of the companies I have applied to have federal contracts and if they find that Ron Wyden will especially appreciate it if they hire me (or they could endanger their federal contracts). What is your thinking on this tactic???? Will it actually create more hate and discontent or clear the way for my employment?

The 'arrow' is off the bow already, though, so if the politicians do respond it will probably take awhile. Even so as we speak, Rockwell-
Collins is still looking for another technician through several agencies all of which I am listed. They will probably see my name another three or four times.

Two weeks ago they filed a separate listing on the monster board and when I responded they indicated they were unwilling to re-interview me. Like most companies though, they were unwilling to explain why I was not accepted for fear of litigation I guess.

We'll see wont we

My thought is that if a place decides to hire you via this, how the people there would react would probably depend on a few thing --

If it was a place where they hadn't so much decided against you as decided for someone else, this might well be seen as a positive in your favor -- you're someone who's willing to go those extra steps, really network to your advantage, etc.

If it was a place where they had specifically decided that there was something about you as an applicant that they didn't like or feel comfortable with, then the feeling that a reversal of that decision has been forced on them by their supervisors might lead to some hostility. I think most people would be able to get past that once getting to know you, though.

But in the end, having a job working with people who think you kissed someone's to get the job is better than not having a job, right?