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Well, it seems that the California company I work for is having money issues and has decided to completely refocus away from the consumer market. Guess which department I work for? My department is now toast, and I am once again looking for work. SIGH! I suspect it will take some time, so I may be up for more writing here.
In any case, if anyone know of people looking, or hears of technical management leads, let me know.
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I’m sorry to hear that. The IT field is certainly volatile.
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here are the regular leads we follow in california. there are certainly lots of jobs in this area. most go begging and a few have bonus sign-ons with larger salaries and even moving coverage.
http://www.federaljobsearch.com/California.asp
you already know this, but almost all job openings are online, and there are only a very few places worth using. you will never need to pay a fee or give sensitive personal information to legitimate job search sites, but there are plenty of other sites that will seek to milk you of info and/or cash without giving you any jobs leads other than the several i already posted above.
as for a resume’ those are necessary too, but mostly (or only) in electronic form. skip the fancy paper resume packet. monster makes you use their form, while others (for some jobs) allow you to post your own text or pdf files to their search sites.
actually, what is required now for the better jobs is a cv – curriculum vitae which will list exhaustive job tasks as well as skills and/or transcripts of education and training (these do not have to be ‘sealed’ transcripts from your universities – yet). obviously, the more complete and professional your cv, the better your chances of catching the eye of employers. this part of the
job search is the most important, and usually the least used by job seekers.
buzz words on your resume, while vital to be included, are also sometimes a detriment to finding that just-right job. what employers look for now are fresh, original approaches to work that shows creativity and self- reliance from a take-charge person.
some employers also look for continuing education in your profile and also some movement into management if you have long experience in a field.
things can happen quickly in this new online job search. my last job came minutes after i posted my first cv, and the next day i was working, but in a new town. sometimes you have to be willing to move/commute, and say so in your profile.
hope any of this helps, but likely i have given you way too much info, as usual – all the best,
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Good luck. I left my company in June after 17 years…we were acquired by another company and I just hated the new company. Was tough getting back into the job market again after all that time. On Monday I begin a new job with a new company…better pay, better benefits…..so I’m sure there is something out there for you, perhaps something better. Check the job boards and your contacts….and be aggressive.
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as far as job security and retirement, my dad’s generation both expected and got retirement pay after decades on the job. my generation saw the destruction of that, when companies routinely offed long term employees to keep from having to pay their retirement. my generation also saw the massive early death of retirees, less than a year into their retirements.
we no longer expect to work for a company our whole life. in fact, most employees spend less than five years in any one position. there is also the expectation of being out of work for as long as a year in most careers.
schooling is also expected of us – long term schooling, but not full time. anyone who works today should understand that to keep being competitive, you have to stay in school or training to keep up.
about half of us also change careers at some point in our work life. the other half are expected to move into management or a higher tech position as part of their career path. those that don’t usually find that younger (cheaper) people will take their place.
our generation is far more mobile too. more than half of the people in most companies commute weekends home, and live more than 200 miles from their weekly jobs. also most employees spend more than 60 hours a week on their jobs. management is expected to do more than this.
obviously burn out is a key reason most people switch jobs. a great number of them also become their own bosses and work outside of the corporate structure. this is a great way to get rich or go broke.
as for retirement, a lot of people now have their own retirement accounts. many invest their own accounts as well. a great number of people place their nest egg in their land, homes or property, but that is increasingly risky and is not the profit maker people hoped it would be.
otherwise you have to be in the service industry, a union or a teaching position to expect any real retirement income.
as you can see, it is tough out there.
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I don’t think it’s any tougher now that it was…just different…. Wishing you much success with finding a new job.
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Back in 2000 I left a job in St. Louis, at the time my world came to an end, as it had been a painful process to get the visa and the manager had been my worst nightmare. While my world came to an end, I also felt relieve – a chapter closed. No sense to look back. In the end leaving was the best thing I ever done in my work life. After just two weeks that I needed to leave the US (US immigration isn’t nice to us foreigners when we quit the job that secured our visa) and relocating to Spain. I started to look for new job. A friend told me about a small Italian company looking for someone with my skills.
I risked flying to Madrid at my own expense to go for a job interview – it impressed that company. So much so that they ended up paying the expense I had incurred. I was told a day later that they’d like to hire me. Was it worth it? Absolutely, the job was better paid, a million times nicer boss, and I am slowly, but surely working my way up the latter.
So for me it was a wakeup call that helped me realize my potential. Truly, I hope that this is just one of these wakeup calls for you that will help you find another employer, who sees the potential that is in you and brings you happiness in a new challenging environment. Best of luck
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In my case, I have yet to figure out what my Guardian Angel has in store for me next. Things like this always work out! They will.
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The corporate process of scanning resumes has changed. A scannable resume, like any other resume, is designed to help you get a job. Many companies use this type of resume to search “keywords†and “keyword phrases†when seeking qualified candidates for employment. The coloring in your paper resume/parchment paper may complicate the scanning process, so stick with the basic stuff. A rapid-scan resume format is essential because recruiters rarely read resumes, but instead seek key words from their database that your resume now resides in, which means that if your resume has that particular word or phrase, the data base will kick out your resume to them for review.
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Sorry to hear this. I have indeed “been there and done that”. My place of biz is looking for smart people. I’ve been there ten years now, and like it just fine. Of course, -It would mean a move to the east coast. Killer housing costs. A lot of young, well educated people are leaving because of it. -Cold, snowy (usually) winters that go on into May. You’ve heard of the Santa Anna winds? We have the “Montreal Express”, and it is not a reference to a hockey team. Although we did have a very mild winter four years ago. -Corrupt, morally bankrupt politicians, but I guess every place has them. -Traffic that now rivals anything in L.A. And you should see what happens when you toss in a few inches of snow. It’s not a pretty sight.
I agree with what you’re saying. NH drivers do indeed know how to drive on snow. MA drivers do not. Observe the rather large number of SUV’s that always wind up on their sides or roofs, after it has snowed a mere five inches. The first measurable snowfall is always the worst. NH also knows about proper snow removal. MA public works departments use a unique snow plow design: It gouges up large chunks of the pavement, and leaves behind the snow. Truly a feat of engineering, designed to keep body shops and tire/wheel/alignment shops happy.
Heck, NH is someplace I would want to retire to. All the things you mention, plus it seems to be a nicely governed, well-managed state. ( I still mourn the loss of “The Old Man” though. He will never be forgotten.)
Our friend is a California guy, and I’m just trying to let him know a few things, should he think about coming east. That aside, I do tend to look at the world “through a glass, darkly”, something I readily admit.
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“Clean, cold fresh air, the smell of the pine trees, the beauty of frozen rivers and the glory of Springtime…..Summer and the forests, lakes abound with Bass & trout, mountains if you want to seek solitude. The coast of Maine can be breathtaking”
You’re absolutely right. I’ve spent a lot of time in New England and Maine. Some family ties. Spent the summer of 1970 helping friends build log cabins near Claremont, NH. We pulled logs through the woods with draft horses and an International Scout. You’re making me miss all the green. 
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..and as the summer draws to a close, the GREEN is everywhere!! The orchards are open, Macs and delicious apples are being picked by young children brought out to the fields in horse drawn carts…..you can smell the apple cider and the chimney smoke on the now cool nights…the Monarchs are just spreading their wings in the fields, and county fairs are in full bloom… It’s great to be alive in New England….
I have some cousins in Massachusetts who have a vacation home in South Bristol, Maine, right on the water. What a lovely spot, and how amazing that back in the early 60s, it was still possible, on a schoolteacher’s salary, to be able to have a second home (mind you, my cousin built the house almost entirely by himself, with the assistance of other relatives and his children–he did the same with his primary residence in Lakeville, MA).
The view from their back porch is truly a million dollar view, gazing out over the Damariscotta River. What a lovely part of the world.
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it is ironic that the entitlement generation (us baby boomers) have almost none of the benefits our parents had (those who fought the second world war). think about it. our parents could buy a home on a salary of less than $4-7000 a year. homes cost well under $25000 and cars were well under $1400. gas was a dime. milk and bread were a nickel, as were the movies. for $.25 you could buy a macdonalds burger, fries and a shake. college was free to all, and if it was a university, your education cost you well under $10000, or free with the GI bill.
of course most of the roads in the united states were unpaved, and there were no freeways. penicillin was new, but there were no radical surgeries, no heart surgery and no chemotherapy.
but then there was almost no cancer to speak of, nor was there any real pollution. our clothes fabrics and furniture did not come with chemical fire retardants, nor noxious and possibly hazardous additives. except for los angeles our air and water were not polluted either.
on the other hand, your college education was then was equivalent to our kids learn in high school today. and our university education has subjects and knowledge that was unheard of then.
entertainers were ladies and gentlemen then, and entertainment was real and original, as was the art, music and literature (my opinion – i will not comment on what passes for art and entertainment or music today).
today our life is different, but it remains to be seen if it is better than the life of our father’s generation (except for macs and ipods).
i know back east is nice at certain times of the year. those of us on the opposite coast would claim that our year-round summer and abundance of greenery is better, but don’t forget, californai is lala land, where the only place that has more nuts and kooks is way south of ya’ll down in florida. (grin)
i much prefer the high desert, which is populated by iconic, noble folk – good people, with a sprinkling of libertines, libertarians (same thing), pot-heads, loners, and yankees. the heat keeps us honest, and the clear awesome nights are worth it all.
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Now friend, I’m a boomer, and I had most of those benefits: My fabulous University of Texas education cost me only $75/semester (’63-’68)! Tuition was $50 for a full load for Texas residents. My first new car, a ’67 VW, cost about $1,200. My car payments were $36/mo., the same cost as married student housing. When I got my first junior college teaching job, my salary was $6,600/year. I took home less than $600/mo., we paid $75/mo. for a beautiful rental house, and I couldn’t spend the rest!!! Even at that level, money piled up in the savings account. A visit to the doctor (no insurance!) cost $5. I could go on, but it hurts.
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