Day 16 - Interview

INTERVIEWING FOR A JOB

Today I had my first interview for a position as a Help Desk Technician.

It seemed to go quite well. I talked with the Operations and Day Time Managers. I was surprised that they didn't ask any technical questions. It was mostly about me, my personality and how I would interact in a given situation.  It was very informal as it was held in the lobby of the building. This is a government position and they will get that a clearance for me. I have no past issues, so this should be a quick process once all the paperwork is completed.

LOL - actually as my wife already went through this, it takes MONTHS to get your clearance.

The only down side was that I still needed certifications. Little pieces of paper that said I have been tested and passed some type of study on a technological subject. My ITIL certifications were actually handy as this was part of the over all puzzle.

I stopped at Barnes & Noble to get myself a cram book. My subject to pass will be CompTIA Security+. The good news is that this may not stop me getting hired, but I do need this passed in 6 months. Needless to say, I will be trying to get this completed in the next month. My personal goal is 1 chapter a day which will be 2 weeks of studying. After that, it will be prep test for another week. Once I have a good grip on this (need a passing score of 750), I will have to drop $276 on the certification test. OMFG - almost 3 bills for this - I gotta pass this the first time as it is costly.  I think this will be a an nice addition to my resume though and helpful.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 15 - Unemployment Debit Card

Finally over my Heat Stroke from over the weekend. Really took a lot out of me and hindered me doing a whole lot. Time to get cracking on my job search's again.

Maryland Unemployment Debit Card

I got a letter in yesterdays mail from DLLR. It was a notification that my unemployment benefits were approved. They noted that I should get my UI (unemployment Insurance) card in 7 days after the letter was sent. Which hopefully will mean I will get it this week sometime.

At least this is one thing that I don't have to worry about. It let me know what the new Citibank Prepaid Debit Card would look like and the envelope it will come in. As you can see, the card will come with a beach shot of our Maryland Blue Crab. I am happy to see it isn't an ugly or generic card :D

Back in 2008-09, the decision was made to stop using checks. This was done by the State of Maryland for 2 reasons. One was that it would save paper, postage and payroll for sending out the checks and second, it would stop the issue of missing or lost checks. In all, the State figured it would save them $400K a year doing this.

For me however, I want it to be direct deposited into my checking account as noted in other posts. Once I get this in the mail, they are suppose to include instructions on doing this. 

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 14 - Webcert

Not the best 3 day weekend I have had since I am on a temporary 'vacation' anyway. I was actually was sick yesterday and part of today. I think I may of gotten heat stroke which really sucked from being outside with my son too long.

WELCOME TO WEBCERT

For anyone living on unemployment in Maryland, you know what Webcert is. This is where we enter our information to qualify for unemployment insurance. It is very quick and painless to do this as you can see by the screenshot of the information here.

You only need to deal with 4 main questions and then click the submit button. What I found interesting was that you submit for your initial week, then you file every 2 weeks there after.  I guess this saves the DLLR from having to review these as often and saving taxpayer dollars.

I am actually looking into free online training  by a site called Alison.  It is free to join and seems to be a great way to get re-certified on some things. I will have to try this and let you all know how it goes.

I am alsolooking forward to getting my first 'Debit Card' payment so I can actually flip this around to be a Direct Deposit. It will be much easier that way to pay bills.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 13 - Happy Memorial Day

It was quite put off to see that my 13th day of unemployment falls on a holiday that we celebrate those that died for us in the Military.

It is a day that we set aside for those that did the ultimate job sacrifice. I am not sure many of us would take a job where each day could be our last.

This is especially true for not only the military, but also the police and fire personnel that risk their lives to keep us safe.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 12 - Time to Reflect

REFLECTING ON THE REALITY OF UNEMPLOYMENT

Well, I may get a bit physiological on this blog looking back now. It has been a little over a week now and only a small bud has possibly show up.

It is hard after just a short time to reflect, but you need to look back every so often so you can move forward. I know I have mixed feelings as I am happy to be here when my son comes home from school, but know financially it will be a drain.

I know we can pull this out for several months, but not happy as it will put a strain on our financial dreams of a house. We came close to the "American Dream", but the bank wouldn't meet our price. Looking back, I am glad they didn't as it would be a totally different stress level than it is now.

As the number of jobs I qualify dwindle, I will start addressing that in other ways. Even though I have internal knowledge, I really need to get a A+ and/or Network+ certification. I will be addressing that this week and will "go back to school" in a way.

I have my own twist on the whole "light at the end of the tunnel" story.

"If you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, then turn around as you are looking (or going) the wrong way."

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day 11 - Being a Contractor

WORKING AS A CONTRACTOR

I can't say this is the title I would want for myself again (but will as I need the job). I have known several contractors over my time and they have all been great people to work with. They are usually more motivated that an employee as they are under the microscope more. It is however a position that does not guarantee a job tomorrow.

Depending on the Contract company you work for, your benefits are different as well. My wife had full benefits including paid time off.  The company I worked for had no paid time off benefits at all. If I needed time off or it was a holiday work week, I had to work extra to make up the time to get my 40 hours.

On the flip side however, some places view contractors as second rate employees. Though my colleagues didn't treat me this way, the rules of the department did. I was hired as a temp to perm position if things worked out. I busted my ass and did what I could to prove my capabilities and professionalism (which I did as noted by the over-sized 'Thank You' card I got). When we switched to a different department later in the year, all that changed.

Under the new Department, there were 2 rules for Contractors.

Rule 1: Contractors can only work a max of 18 months (1.5 years)
Rule 2: We don't hire Contractors

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME????

This has to be the most ASININE set of rules to ever exist in a company. Lets take this in for a minute. You will bring me in, you will train me, I will get my hands into the system and excel, then after a while, just kick me to the curb. You want to talk about a total waste of company time and valuable resources.

The job I was doing had me working outside the original scope of the position i was initially hired for. I was actually knee deep with some of the rules and user setups for their system. I had no time to side train as the thought was that I would be working there for another 6 months. Oh well, not so much and now they are scrambling to catch up on what was dropped by my sudden departure.

Work is getting backed up, people now need to be trained over again and the end user community is upset that the turnaround is now days instead of hours. Sounds like your rules are antiquated and you need to re-evaluate them.

My wife was happy however as she talked with people who used to work for this Bank. They said that you worked hard, but no respect for the job you did. Not a good combination coming from a Bank that is ranked in the top 5 in the United States.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

 

Day Ten - Final Pay Check

LAST REGULAR PAY CHECK

Yep - this is the final regular pay check I will receive. It is very distressing to know that I will not see one again until a new job is found. It is not even a full check as I only worked 2 days which sucks even more. Since it is less than what I would be paid by unemployment, they will cover the difference for that week - I hope.

Thus, this will also begin my weekly pay from Unemployment Insurance. Entering my information once a week noting I did search for a job and got nothing to show for it.

Not the proudest moment in my life, but I am thankful it is there. I am not one to depend on others as I should be able to do for myself now. It just gives me that much more of a push to find that job that will actually pay the bills.

One other thing I need to do now is see what other assistance we qualify for. Since both if us are unemployed, can we get food stamps and job training assistance?

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day Nine - Unemployment Letter

Still plugging away at all this and hoping something comes of all this soon. I did see that one of the applications I submitted had a status of 'Approved' which I am hoping means - INTERVIEW!!!!

UNEMPLOYMENT LETTERS

Well it seems that I will be getting a letter a week from DLLR in reference to my claims. I guess it is kind of nice to get one noting that you can continue and when to do it for the week in question.

This paragraph makes me a bit nervous (Yes, they write in caps and bold so you can't miss it):

"BENEFITS WILL NOT BE PAID UNTIL THIS DEPARTMENT HAS VERIFIED THE REASON FOR SEPARATION FROM YOUR EMPLOYMENT WITH THE EMPLOYER. 

WORK SEARCH CONTACTS ARE SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION. FALSE INFORMATION MAY RESULT IN DENIAL OD BENEFITS, FINES AND/OR IMPRISONMENT."

 WTF -  so my previous employer is sitting on their hands and not responding to them. Hell, they haven't even called me since my contracted ended initially. They had a job that was over a hour away AND would have to travel to boot to sites in the area.

I know a job is a job, but when you look a logistics, it sometimes does not make sense. With gas prices, maintenance of the vehicle and increase risk of some dumb ass hitting you,  it just sucks. Any amount that may of been an increase, would just get sucked in your car. Since I have a young child, I don't want to work too far way from him in case of an emergency :(

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day Eight - Networking

Applied to more jobs, but no calls yet.

My list is ever growing and I have actually applied to a job in Gaithersburg, MD. I am trying to keep my commute down to less than an hour. For anyone who travels towards Washington DC, this is not possible from my apartment. Interstate 270 South is a bitch to drive in the morning towards DC, but nothing like the interstates in Los Angeles :P

NETWORKING

Seems that Social Networking is a huge marketing thing now (see photo). This could be a great way to get that next job or lose it in the same breath. There has been much talk about this recently with companies demanding to see your Facebook account and even reviewing it prior to hiring.

This is a bit hard for me as I only have my blogs, Twitter and Linked In. I am sure that you are shocked to see that I didn't mention Facebook. I was on that a couple years ago, but decided to get out of it. It seemed that I was only on it for the games and not much else.

My wife however, is a Facebook Addict (at home) with all the virtual reality stuff on it. I know if she sees this I am a dead man - but I have insurance for that :D

I have updated all my status on the sites I do hang with. They are mostly in other countries as the things I like are not too popular here (Japanese Animation for example). Though I have a tight group, we are to diversified in location :D

How about your friends, we are sure they have some ideas - right?

It is hard for me as I never had friends outside work in recent years. When I moved to Florida, I lost contact with most of my childhood friends. Even though I am back in Maryland, they are too far away to hang out with now.

The woes of adulthood as real life does take over our social life rather completely at times.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day Seven - Unemployment Insurance

Applied to 4 more jobs today, but still no call backs yet. I know it is early in the process, but I seriously would rather be working.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE BENEFITS
 
I applied for my first week of unemployment. Not the proudest thing I have ever done as I don't like to rely on others. In my current situation however, a needed thing to keep our family afloat.

I will not get full benefits for last week however. What they do in the 5 or so questions, is ask if you received any money for a job (I will need to take a screen shot next week so you can see the lines of data you need to complete).

Since I only worked a couple days, I had to take that estimated figure and round it up the nearest dollar. I can only assume that they will take my gross pay for those 2 days, subtract it from what I would of received in unemployment benefits. This way my total benefits will not be more than the normal insurance payment.

LOL - I am already taking in a hit in pay. The change was only 13 cents, so rounding it up means I lost 87 cents. Not much, but when pennies count it is something still
.
My wife still has to post hers for last week, but she will not get anything. She worked 4 days and whatever her pay is, it will be well over the $430 she would of gotten (before taxes).

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day Six - The Rejections

Here it is Monday and the start of a new work week - EXCEPT FOR ME!

Usually be this time I would be on my second cup of coffee at work and busy answering emails. I couldn't drag myself out of bed until 10:04 AM. Not sure if it was the dreary rain outside or me wallowing in my own self pity of not having a job. Well, need to get my ass out of bed and onto the computer. Isn't like opportunity will knock at my door or anything.

REJECTION

Lets take a look in the old email folder and see what joy it has for me. Here are my normal daily Job posting updates, some personal sites notifications and a couple rejection emails. I am now up to 3 of these rejections.

Yep, if you are lucky enough, you will get these lovely written emails. They are kind enough to let you know that you are a nice person, but not cool enough (from your resume) for the position you applied for. Though this is a sad reminder of your worth, it does give you knowledge that you won't be getting this job - FUCK ME!

With the kind words of 'NO', they do offer you a link to their open positions and some hope that you will find something that fits you better.

Here are some examples of their kind words from a couple emails I received.

Again, we sincerely appreciate your interest in "Insert Company name here" and for allowing us to consider you for employment. We wish you much success in your career pursuits.

or

I would like to thank you for your interest in "Insert Company name here" and we wish you every personal and professional success with your job search and in the future. 

YES - wish me well, keep me motivated for that job that YOU know is out their for me. Sorry, a little too much cynicism, I now, but this is actually how we all feel, so don't kid yourself.

Better open the other emails as see if any new jobs popped up that I need to apply to.

Here is an interesting blog on this issue and how to best handle it: Careerealism

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day Five - Applying for the Jobs

Yea, I know it is Sunday and you are suppose to 'rest'. But Daddy needs a new job, so lets get cracking.

APPLYING FOR A POSITION

This is the most annoying part of unemployment - applying for jobs. You can either do it via the internet or in person. Either way, this is a headache in one form or another. On both, you have to fill out a FUCKING FORM that repeats everything (more or less) on the Resume you worked so hard on.

Though I have to say, the handwritten Employment Forms are more physical bitch to do. HAND CRAMP!!!!

You upload your resume, cover letters and references to your main job search sites. You fill in a barrage of questions and other crap and finally review and press Save. You think "Thank the Gods that this is over" and you can start applying to all those great jobs.

Find that job that fits your resume, click on 'Apply Now' and get transported to their website. You look over the qualifications and go 'I can do this easily and be back in the job market'. Then you click the wonderful 'Apply Now' to quickly apply for the job.

WTF is this PAGE !!!

Oh, you now need to log into their website to apply. Create a new login name and password, enter your personal information, upload your resume & cover letter just click the continue button to complete.

But wait for it  . . .  .

WTF PART DUO !!!!  I have to enter the same damn information all over again. I just uploaded the resume and now I have to re-enter all this crap again. WHY, can you tell me WHY????

Yes we can, they need to have it entered into their database on the back end so it can be searched for key words and to insure you REALLY DO meet their qualifications.

HINT: If you are applying on-line, figure a good 20 minutes (or more) per job you are applying to so you can enter all your information.

For the record, I have 5 Job Search engines I have logins to. Outside this, I  have also created 8 other logins for the jobs I have applied to. I am sure this number will grow each daily to annoy me to no end.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day Four - Unemployment Paperwork

Receipt of Unemployment Insurance Paperwork

Went to the mailbox yesterday and found I had gotten in all my paperwork. It was fairly fast to get this in a couple days. What I found unproductive thought was that it came in 4 different envelopes. You have got to be kidding me - 4 Envelopes!

It was like getting a jigsaw puzzle in several boxes. I can see that at least they are helping the Post Office, but wasting my taxpayer money on all the postage.

Here is what I got in each of the envelope:

1. Purple DLLR booklet and Maryland Workforce Exchange flyer
2. Determination of Monetary Eligibility
3. Claimant Responsibilities when filing for Unemployment  Insurance Benefits
4. W-4 from to holding or not holding taxes

 Of the 4 forms items listed above, only one needed to be returned. I had to send in my W-4 to let them know NOT to withhold taxes. Maryland is 7% and IRS would be 10%. Since both of us are unemployed, this would mean an extra $152.00 per week. Something that we need to keep the bill collectors at bay. I guess we will need to keep track of this so we have the money for the tax collectors at the end of the year - JOY!

The good news was that I maxed out the payment available (in MD that is $430/week). Even with both of us possibly bringing in $860/week, we are still short by $1400/month in what we would have brought home. We know where some immediate saving is, so we should be able to keep afloat for 3 months or so.

I can start applying for this on Monday, but it will be a cut in benefits as I worked part of the week. They will deduct my gross for that week, so it will only be whatever is left over out of the $430. On top of this, I won't see it for 3 weeks AND it will be on a Debit Card - how is this good for my rent when they don't take cards??? Well, that will be for another day.

Here is our first weekend without jobs to go to on Monday - CRAP!

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day Three - The Infamous Resume

YOUR RESUME

You have taken the time to review and change all the information on your resume to best describes all the crap you did in the best of light. However, you need a battery of resumes to fit any job criteria you are applying for.

I myself have about 3 different versions as I have a wide range of experiences through out my life so far. Since I have worked, Retail, Warehouse and Technical Support, these 3 resumes will fit one of these possible job opportunities. I only keep the last 3 jobs I worked on my resume so that it doesn't get too overwhelming. This may be different for you as you may have job hopped a bit to get the best job possible. I think in this case, you may want to showcase at least 10+ years of work experience.

HINT: When applying for Government (or really any job) positions, tweak your resume to include as many key words as possible that match the words used in the job posting.

Each of my resumes will be tailored to the specific job I am applying to. This also means the wording or various duties I preformed will be different on each as well. One of the things I found helpful for me was having a MASTER resume. This will have every piece of job information that I can remember for every job I ever did. I will also include all training, titles and certifications that came with the as well. This makes it easy when creating other resumes.

With that said, I have been mainly Technical Support in the last 13 plus years, so I will stick to that as my primary and Warehouse/Retail as my backup. I am not going to provide links to writing resumes or what to put on them as there are enough on the net to sink your Battleship.

Try to keep your resume short and to the point. No more that 2 pages and make sure the font size is easily read by anyone. Any more pages than this and they will just stop reading it on the second page anyway. If you happen to be handing your resume personally, then make sure it is printed out and stapled together. DO NOT try to stand out by printing it on some crazy colored paper (unless maybe you are in Graphic Design). Only on white or cream colored parchment is needed.

Remember above all - KEEP YOUR RESUME UPDATED!

btw ~ I applied to another couple position today, so now up to 6 this week. Need to get out and get my grocery shopping done for the next couple weeks.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

Day Two - Job Hunting

CERTIFICATIONS

One of the issues with Computer Support are these damn certifications. I had been working for a company for years and never did get my A+ or Network+ certificates. This sucks for me as many companies are requiring this for the job. I can understand the reasoning, but 10 years experience should be something to bring. For now however, I am at least working on getting the A+ since I have the time now.

I did however take a different approach as I wanted to be in a more Managerial position. I decided to get certified in ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library). I found this to be very interesting and a great way to get a better grip on the process within IT. It helped me to bring structure to a chaotic environment.

I currently have my ITIL Foundation V2 and V3 Bridge which gives you a base understanding of all the process. I also expanded on that as I was on the Service Desk and got a more advanced understanding of this area. With that said, I also have my ITIL Practitioner Support and Restore v2 certification as well.

JOB LEADS

While my wife is searching for jobs for herself, she usually finds some that may be in my neck of the woods. She sent me a few leads which may pan out today.

I also have alerts from Dice, Monster and Career Builder which I review as well. For me, these are the BIG 3 as I like to call them. When nothing is popping on these sites, then I have a folder of saved links I use. Some of these other sites are simply the local newspapers which is a very useful tool.

For more government work, I check out USAJOBS. There are also several recruiter sites that I look at to see if there may be anything as well. One job search site my Mom gave me was Indeed which is also on you should have. I also use Craigslist (but with eyes WIDE OPEN) which can be tricky and never really fruitful.

You will note however that you will see the same jobs on multiple sites, so remember you just need to apply once :D

Today is my wife's last day as well. Now we have no income and no benefits - we have both officially become an unemployment statistic.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day

By NatSilva on deviantART

Day One - Unemployment Claim

I wanted to start this blog to chronicle my time while unemployed and job hunting. This, as you will see, will be a Family Affair.

History

I have been working fairly consistently since I was 15 years old. The only other time (besides now) I have not been working was in 2010 when I moved from Florida to Maryland. I was out of work for 3.5 months during that time. Otherwise, I have always been actively employed since 1980.

Current Situation

I have been working as a Contractor for the last 18 months for this banking company. It was suppose to be a temp to perm job until we switched departments.There was no issue with my performance as it had to do with their policy. It seems this new department I was working for had 2 policies. One was that a contractor could only work 18 months maximum. The other rule was that they did not hire contractors. They did try to get my job extended (my company and the group I worked with).

It was suppose to be all squared away and I was working another 6 months. However, on the way home from work yesterday, I got a call from the Contract company saying it did not go through as thought and not to report to work tomorrow. WTF - have job - not have job now - LIFE SUX!

The thing that made this extra hard for us was that my wife (who is also a Contractor) has her job ending this Thursday. This makes it worse as now not only don't either of us have jobs, but also no Health Insurance. COBRA you say - how about $1700.00/month just for Healthcare (not including Dental or Vision). On a fixed income with only some savings and 2 unemployment checks, this would not be possible.

DAY ONE


I had to stop at my bank to let them know that I needed to be placed on a Free Checking Account. I had an interest bearing account, but since I was no longer getting direct deposits, I had to switch or get fees. I recommend everyone check with the bank if something dramatic happens in their life. You don't need to incur crazy fees that could of otherwise been avoided.

It was the very first time I have ever claimed unemployment benefits. Not really happy about this as I never ever thought this would be me.

The place to start of course is the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulations (DLLR for short). You will need to get to the Department of Unemployment Insurance to start your claim however. You will need to click on the link for Claimant Info. This is where you will given the information to start the process.

I was able to do this online as I had been working for the same company for 18 months. You can find out more info when you file for your Initial Claim like I did. It was easy to complete as I had all the information required which was nice. Now I just have to wait for the Mail-person to deliver the claim information packet so I can get started.

Since you need to at least apply to 2 jobs per week, I went over to the Maryland Workforce Exchange site to update my info. After updating everything, I was also able to find 2 Computer Support jobs as well. One was in Hagerstown and the other was in Frederick which is where I used to work. Hopefully one of these will pan out and this will be a short blog :D

Well, now that I am home, I need to do some house work and make dinner. Just call me Mr. Mom for the next couple days.

Jobless Cartoon of the Day