[Rant]Funny thing about employment/jobs...

So LAST February I applied at this school district...
At the time, I was employed with ANOTHER school district (doing basically the same thing; albeit at a higher level; Systems Admin vs Tech Specialist I)
I got an interview, and didn't get hired...
FAST FORWARD a year EXACTLY...SAME POSITION open again....
NOW I've been unemployed since 6/1/2013, so I'M in a little different boat..
I applied for the positon and e-mailed the IT Department's Supervisor (Guy I interviewed with last year)
I just think it's funny...WHOEVER they hired obviously didn't work out...and if they would have hired ME, I'm SURE I would have (my track record is good...5 years at each job only leaving because budget cuts each time!)
And it's not just THIS position...throughout my career I've seen these school districts continaully do this! Not that I cared much, because I was always employed...but I always watched the job boards...
I have even interviewed at some...KNOWING I was the best candidate for the job, only to get a Dear-John letter and then have the position readvertised exactly a YEAR later...
Ohh well, hopefully I'll get CHOSEN this time!

I've got a few applications in...but they're all REALLY entry-level IT positions (and only pay $15 an hour; I was making $25 an hour at my previous position)
However, this PARTICULAR one (that'd I'd LIKE) pays $20 and is a bit above entry-level (where I'd like to think I am with 13 years experience, A+ Cert, and an AS from ITT Tech)

 

Wish you the best Tim

The other day the Golden Nugget AC had a job fair to fill 50 positions. People started lining up at 3am and eventually after 1300 or so were lined up they decided to close up shop due to the fact there was such a huge crowd.
10 years ago when I moved to this area I saw an ad for a job fair at Harrahs . I figured maybe I'd get a little pt gig to keep busy and make a few xrtra bucks.
I walked right in, filled out an app and was hired on the spot as a full time security guard. Trouble was it was full time on the graveyard shift for $12 an hour and I told them to forget it ,I only wanted PT.
I wonder how many people on that line would jump at that chance today.

 

Excluding the early years, I've not had to "apply" for many jobs, but I still get turned down almost weekly.

Out of grad school I actually applied for a position I saw in the classifieds. I no longer was going to be a history professor having quit mid-stream, and that's how I got into journalism. My next two career moves -- each a wholly different position than the previous, totally new fields -- I essentially was recruited. Still had to try out but each time someone affiliated with the Enterprise approached me. Now for the past 13 years I've been an independent contractor, and I get turned down for work all the time. All the time. I pitch, I query, I sell many ideas, more get ignored or no thanks-ed, and perhaps ironically a good bit of what I do is people again coming to me.

Different strokes but what I'm saying is just hang in there. Most of what goes on in the marketplace doesn't make sense, or at least we don't see the sense on the outside, when logic of course dictates, "Duh, you idiots shoulda just retained me."

My wife is on a far more reaching, arcing career path than me. Though we love where we are and she loves the job, she's too young to stay locked where she is for perpetuity, absent new challenges, responsibilities and of course pay. Advancement here would be awesome, but as in the years that got her, us, here, we still look, keep our eyes open, and as she succeeded and climbed she had far more answers of "no" than "yes," as do all high-end professionals … and all of us.

Good luck. Keep plugging. Don't cook your brain trying to figure out the nonsense of it all.

 

Without bringing politics into it, if I dont get a job before march is out, pardon the expression, were fucked.

 

I feel for you Tim!!! Best Wishes!!!! My 25 yo daughter, who is just about to graduate from Nevada/Reno has a part-time job at a Dr's office right now and she's been applying for other part-time positions for her off days. She's interviewed at 3 places and got the offer from each place... she said, "you know it's easier to get a job when you already have a job!" Now I don't mean to equate her situation to yours, but there's a lot of truth in her statement.

 

Well...I respectfully disagree...all the years I was employed, I tried to get BETTER jobs, nothing doing...I've only worked three places, and each time hada reason (first place, I "subbed" at first, so they got to know me; second place the boss was a female and had the hots for me; this last place was a mistake, then they got stuck with me, lol)
I've always been SURE that my former employer was keeping me from getting a new job (no, its not legal but it happens anyway) just trying to find a "voucher" to tell them to hire me..

 

I am in admin and i find the same thing.

I have even told a few employers the same thing.

I now have a management job so hopefully that will get me in the door shall i ever have to get another job.

Sometimes experience hinders you because they can pay people for less to do the same job. That is how i got laid off my last job, they found someone that did not have schooling (i have a certificate, but not a degree) who they could pay $3 an hour less to do the same job, but then they get someone who doesn't know what they are doing and are no better off.

 

That is for your particular situation and here in schools it would be the same. For most other fields though i do find that to be true. Many people who beat me out when i was looking for work had other jobs that then would need to be filled, most places didn't care that they were already taking someone employed over someone who was not. In my town having that certificate went against me because i expect (and am) paid more than someone who only has high school.

 

I agree with this last sentiment. But of course everyone's experience and case is unique.

Current employment offers certain tangible upticks: Confidence for one. Also the pressure of not having income is gone; less stress, more confidence, more selectivity is possible. All else equal, employers like a proven record and it's always easier not to have to explain gaps.

I've never had a job path or a career path, per se. I've gone from the "fun" jobs of youth to the academy full-time, then journalism/reporting/editing, politics, upper-tier business/corporate and now this gig. What I always tried to do was advance, make more money, learn, try something new, gain responsibility. And it worked right up to becoming a writer. Second youth!! Maybe with how my work life has gone, going between really disparate industries and positions, it's far different than moving in a more logical, linear, same-path fashion???? But whatever we are doing or not doing in the marketplace, continued personal growth, challenge and betterment never hurts.

Tim, I don't know you beyond what you say here, which is a fair amount. Obviously if you are nearing a critical juncture, it's time -- and if you've already done so props to you -- to curtail the gambling and costs associated with it and the time away.

Again, good luck!!

 

Good luck Tim!

 

Thats how it was at my last job...they ran the position at a higher than normal rate (to get someone SMART), then they were bitter towards me the entire 5 years, because the guy I replaced (same age; young) was getting $10 an hour less than me.
Soon as I left, they cut my positions pay back down (from $25 to $15), but the saw they had to hire a SECOND guy...so they really didn't save any money...just the politics of California education system...

Lol, this is my Rant thread remember

And Ken, I quit gambling two months ago, when the money stopped flowing in...

 

And if anyone was following this thread:
https://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103067

I got the Dear-John letter last week...figure it was all lights green until they called my recent employer, who bad mouthed me (can't prove it, but from how everything was going, its obvious)

 

Tim, it seem like you have some good qualifications, are you only looking at public sector employment or are you looking at both public and private sectors? If you are focused on one sector you may want to branch out.

My recommendation for IT folks is to get your foot in the door via a temp agency. Often part-time temp work leads to FT opportunities but you have to get your foot in the door and prove yourself. Good luck.

 

Public,only because I have 13 years in the PERS retirement system...but if it comes down to it,I've got friends in the private sector in silicon valley, so wife and I may have to relocate

 

Sorry, brah, my bad, shoulda figured when the job went to shit you reigned it in.

As I said, plug on and mostly keep your attitude up because that's the first thing that will walk in, ahead of you, on any interview. And if you need to park your CalPERS -- hell, will it even be there later but that's another matter -- for a foray into the private side, it won't go away, and if you can cross back over and add time to vest, etc., you're been paid and learned some new tricks in the interim.

 

My life with jobs is one of the strangest odysseys possible. I've probably had 15 jobs. Then I saw somewhere I was qualified for a Federal position because I was a Vietnam veteran.

I started at rock bottom, but 30 years later, I got to retire. I had such an extraordinary career, reads almost like fiction. How could I ever know that a 19 year old's decision to volunteer for a combat assignment would end up so richly rewarding. The whole thing has been nothing short of a miracle.

I do miss my job and I miss so badly my work friends. But it was time for me to go. They say no one has to tell you, you will know. How true that is!

Good luck in your quest.

 

So sorry you didn't get the other job. It seemed like things were heading in the right direction. I really hope you get this one.

 

Right?
I think I'm getting cock-blocked.

 

I got a call from a headhunter recently about this very senior position for a firm in Chicago. They hired someone for it less than a year ago and the guy was based in NY and didn't want to leave so they let him open up a new office here and hire an entirely new staff.

Almost immediately they started having problems both professionally and personally, the guy in NY basically didn't give two shits about communicating with the partners in Chicago, was taking too much risk, etc. and they decided it wasn't working. They still have to make good on some guaranteed comp he had and they have to figure out what to do with the several staff in NY he hired. The whole ordeal cost them millions just because they made the wrong hire.

 

I was interviewing for a position and it came down to me and one other candidate. They chose the other (cheaper) candidate. One year later they called me and said they other person didn't work out and offered the position to me. By then I had found another job and just asked them for a really high salary. Never heard from them again but based on the job boards they seem to have a high turn over rate so probably good that it worked out the way it did.