Reality

It's been exactly one week since I returned from my adventures in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia. As much of the big "mo" I had going upon my return, it quickly faded into the reality of the job situation....tough, tough and tougher.

Overall my trip went well and I still have a few prospects sitting out there in Kentucky. There are definitely more options back East due to an increase in population, but with an increase in population comes a tougher applicant pool. Time will tell if something works out, but I did everything I needed to do to talk to as many people as I could. I was fortunate to have two interviews to go along with all the network connections I made.

I was informed today I wasn't quite as qualified as the position in Atlanta required. Yet another disappointment. As intriguing as moving to Atlanta sounds, it would have made things tough on my family and myself. It is still a shot to the confidence when each opportunity that has potential comes back with the results you didn't expect. I've had tremendous feedback on my resume so I'm beginning to wonder if my interview skills need some work. It's been a work in progress since being thrown into this situation but I've felt good about my presentation and ability to answer questions candidly. Clearly there's something missing and as a friend of mine told me from the beginning, don't focus too much on the resume, work the network and work on the interview. So, I think I have some work to do.

With the massive amount of free time on my hands I've been honing my skills as an actor. I think I may have hit it big with my latest gig...

http://www.poptent.net/media/9620

Thanks to my friends at Adams, Hull & MacCluer for inviting me to be a part of the shoot. I'm a budding star for the 2 seconds I'm on camera. Watch out America.

Hot-lanta

Yesterday I arose at the early hour of 4am to hit the road to Atlanta for an interview. Man, I was excited. A great agency in a great town and an actual INTERVIEW. It was going to be more than the informational interviews I had been having with folks. I brushed up on my buzzwords to use, practicing the cool answers to questions like, "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" and "Describe yourself in a situation when things don't go as you had planned?" and all the other funny and odd questions you get. After about an hour on the road I couldn't quite figure out why I was ready to fall into a deep slumber. Then it hit me, my body clock was telling me it was 2am PST. Anyway, I got there in one piece and it was a good trip with lots of sun and hardly any traffic.

Well, the interview in Atlanta went well, at least parts of it did. I walked away feeling good about the situation even though things sort of got off to a weird start. I was able to meet with three different people during my time. The first person I met with was the typical interviewee where if you didn't get the right words out to sell yourself in the first 3 minutes your chances of moving the discussion forward were slim to none. I thought I was able detail my background and experience well enough to keep the conversation moving, but then the dreaded "have you ever done this" question was posed. These are the toughest questions and situations to deal with if you haven't done or don't have the experience of what is being asked. I think spin is the right phrase to keep the conversation moving. Unfortunately for me I don't think I did a good enough job "spinning" the answer to the question and the brief interview was over.

As bummed as I was, I knew I still would have the opportunity to talk with two other people. The second person I had the pleasure of meeting was enjoyable from start to finish. I also did my part by answering the few questions that were asked correctly. I opened myself up to some tough experiences from my past work and was able to engage the other person in a casual, yet professionally constructive conversation. As with the first person I met with, my time was short and off I went to the third and final person I was to meet with.

Hello World

Welcome to my blog. I know, it sounds so much more sophisticated than it really is. I’ll be checking in almost daily to update the world on the happenings with me. Specifically, I will be using this blog to document my search for employment. After being given my walking papers on 01.12.09 I’ve been in search of new employment opportunities. I’ve had a few things come up in the Eugene, OR area, but opportunities are pretty scarce. Things will develop when the right opportunity presents itself, but I’m open to any and all leads anyone wants to pass along.

To explore more opportunites, I’m opening my search to the Eastern time zone. I’ll be in Kentucky, Georgia, Florida and places in between in the next week and half. I’ll be using this blog to document the trip and job search while away from my World Wide Headquarters of Eugene, Oregon.

Let me know what you have going on, give my your opinions and as I mentioned, any job lead is a good lead.