This is a continuation of Kosmo’s Job Search Journey. When we last caught up, Frustration turned into Success.

The Whole Job Search Series:
1. You’re Fired
2. Assessing the Situation
3. Networking
4. Learn
5. The Interview
6. Frustration
7. Success

Four months ago, I began my new job.  I quickly realized that I was going to have to hit the ground running.  The guy I was replacing was heading to a new position the next week.  Not only was he moving to a new team, but he was physically moving to a new building.  I had a week to learn everything I needed to know.

My team would consist of two members.  I would be the business analyst, and the other team member was the developer (programmer).  We were building a system to replace the company’s financial reconciliation system for the investment accounting area.  As someone who was accustomed to large project teams (often a dozen or more people), this was a big change.

Early in the week, my boss spent a half hour with me and another new hire, giving us the basics of investment accounting.  Although I have a degree in accounting, I hadn’t used that knowledge in my previous job, and it had gotten a bit rusty in the twenty years since I had last sat in a classroom.  The basics came back pretty quickly, though.  It was like riding a bike – you don’t forget.

The first week was spent acquiring the access and software I would need, as well as spending time with the outgoing business analyst and the developer I’d be working with.  The learning sessions were helpful, but it seemed like I was missing a lot of context.  I finally asked the BA if there was any additional information, such as meeting notes from discussions with the business partners.  Yes, there were meeting notes.  (Why hadn’t he shared them right away?  I have no idea.)  These helped provide a bit of context, but it became obvious that the high level requirements that had been gathered to this point didn’t capture the whole story.

In my second week, I requested Visual Studio 6 for my workstation.  (Yep, the current system was that old).  I was hoping that the existing code would be well-documented.  Not exactly.  The areas that had been updated recently were pretty well documented.  Other areas had very limited comments, if any.  This was going to be an interesting challenge.

The system was heavily dependent on database stored procedures.  I was aware of the existence of stored procedures, but had never actually used them.  In my previous job, I had done occasional coding work, but even in those cases, I always interacted with an object that did all the database interactions – I had rarely written code that had interacted directly with the database.  Well, it was time to learn.  Once again, the stored procedures weren’t particular well documented, although recently updated ones were better.

I spent several weeks poring through the existing code, trying to reverse engineer the existing process.  I was doing this mostly on my own, as my developer had his hands full with other tasks.  He was always helpful when I had technical questions, though.

By the time I was ready to engage the business area to drive out detailed requirements, I had created quite a few Visio diagrams detailing the process.  These were helpful in explaining things to the business partners and my developer.  At this point, I have a better understanding of the workings of the current system than the developer or the business partners, due to being immersed in it for months.

I had been warned that the business partners might be somewhat difficult to work with, mostly because of frustration at the limited progress the project had made.  I didn’t let this discourage me, and I went into the sessions with the positive attitude.  My attitude was infectious.  Even though I was a contract employee, I think the business partners realized that I wanted to help build a solution that was the best fit for their needs.

We’re mostly through the requirements process at this point.  We still have a few points to drive out further, but we have most of the system requirements hammered out.  My developer is beginning work on screens and some of the basic logics.  Although the project is technically using a waterfall method, I’ll be pushing  it to a more iterative approach.  There’s a lot of complexity in the project, and handing off the entire system for user testing at once would be a recipe for disaster.  I’m confident that the business partners will change their minds on a few things, and it’ll be better to know those changes as early in the process as possible.

The job is a contract to hire position, with the contract set to expire in late September.  My boss isn’t sure he’ll have budget to hire me at that point, but I’m very confident that the contract will be renewed.  I’ve had discussions with my recruiter to push my rate up a bit for the second contract.  When I initially negotiated, I knew that I was probably leaving a few dollars on the table, but I was more interested in making sure I got the gig, so that I could get a foot in the door at a leading company in the area.  Also, after twenty years with the same company, I wasn’t sure how my skills would translate to another company.  At this point, it’s obvious they translate very well.  I’ve gained a reputation for having a willingness and ability to dive into things and figure out how systems are working, as well as a willingness to assist with other projects, and an ability to get along with everyone on the team.

So far, so good.  If the company offers my full-time employment at a salary that matched the salary at my previous employer, I’d definitely take it.  It’s interesting work, and it’s a great work environment, with a boss and co-workers who are easy to get along with.

This is a continuation of Kosmo’s previous article, Frustration in his Job Search Journey Series. It jumps right in where he left off.

My interview started off well.  One of the analysts in my interview had graduated from my high school a couple years ahead of me.  It’s a small high school (50-60 in a graduating class).  I vaguely remembered the guy, but I did remember that he was on the basketball team.  That seemed to make him happy. – who doesn’t like being reminded of their glory days?

I had a plan for the interview, and I had several opportunities to drive home key points such as focus on the customer, teamwork, and the importance of testing.  I had prepared my remarks on those topics, and I think I nailed the question about testing with this response:

Testing is important – it’s not simply a box to check off.  While the goal of a developer should be to avoid defects, the goal of a tester should be to find defects.  If you don’t find any defects during testing, you probably missed some that will impact you in production.

The interview was on a Friday.  The manager told me to expect to hear something by Monday or Tuesday.

I didn’t have to wait that long.  Later that afternoon, I got the call.  I was offered the job on a contract-to-hire basis, meaning there’s a good chance it will turn into a permanent position at the end.  The position was initially described as a straight contract position, so contract-to-hire was a nice surprise.

That was almost three weeks ago.  I’m writing this on a Thursday, and the new job starts Monday. [Editors Note: That was actually this past Monday as I delayed publishing this a bit.]

Optimally, I would have gotten a permanent position with higher compensation than what I currently have.  I didn’t get that.  It’s not a permanent position, and the total compensation is slightly lower than my current position.  It became obvious pretty quickly that I’m well compensated by my current employer (including a pension), and this would be hard to match in the current environment.  However, I do get paid overtime (at least during the six month contract phase of the job), so there’s still an opportunity to match my current compensation that way.  Since I won’t be receiving a pension, I’ll be increasing my 401K contribution in an effort to compensate.

Now, the positive aspects of the job.  First, it’s one of the premier companies in the area.  It wasn’t the very top company on my list, but it was definitely in the top three.  The commute is also great – just 15 miles (or about 20 minutes) from my house.  I don’t even have to drive into the busier part of the Cedar Rapids metro area to get there.  The job itself also seems interesting and challenging.

Overall, the opportunity is as good as I could have hope for.  I’m excited to get started – the past three weeks have been passing very slowly.

I’ve been transitioning my current work to a longtime colleague and am in the final stages of wrapping things up.  My manager is allowing me to use my accumulated vacation to reach the employment date I need to qualify for severance.  It’s 30 weeks of severance, so this is a pretty big deal.  Since the contract-to-hire position has no guarantee at the end, the severance money will be tucked into the rainy day fund.

[Editor’s Question for Kosmo: Can you (and would you want to) up your 401K allocation at the old job so that a larger portion of your severance goes to your old 401K? Rainy day funds are important, but this is another way to boost retirement.]

My parting from my current job has been amicable.  The people who made the decisions about the reorganization were at a higher level.  My first and second level managers have been very supportive.  I’m trying to remember all the good times over the past two decades, and have made an effort to make sure I’m not burning any bridges.  After all, you might need to cross that bridge again in the future.

[Editor’s Thoughts: I didn’t want to hijack the story above, but the point about testers finding defects reminded me of one of my favorite stories ever which was published just last week: Jerry and Marge Go Large. It’s a great read about how a couple seemingly legally beat the lottery.]

In the last segment of this series, I wrote about my promising interview. (You can read my entire job search journey here, just start from the bottom and work your way up.)

The interview had gone well.  I was just waiting to get past the holidays so that the company would responded.  Then days turned into weeks.  Although the staffing company said that the company was still making a decision, I had my doubts.  Either they had chosen other candidates and the staffing company wasn’t being open with me, or a recent (fairly large) change at the company had affected the need for this role.  At the time I’m writing this, two months have passed with no news.

A second staffing company contacted me after seeing my profile on Facebook.  They thought they had a position that I might be a good fit for.  They arranged a technical screen phone call with one of their business analysts.  After the technical screen, the opted not to submit me for the opening, since some of my weaker areas (specifically, knowledge of Agile project methodologies) were skills that would be important in the role.  So this was yet another dead-end.

The first staffing company contacted me again.  They had a position that seemed interesting, except that I was missing a key skill they were looking for – experience with a specific customer relationship manager software.  I pointed out this gap to the recruiter to avoid unrealistic expectations, and was assured that this wasn’t a problem.  I thought the interview went fairly well, but they opted for candidates who had experience with the software.  I can’t say that I blame them.

At this point, I started to go into panic mode.  I was less than two months away from the date I’d lose my job.  That seemed like a short duration, since it had already been four months.

I went into desperation mode.  I expanded my search area from 35 miles to 70 miles.  I applied for any role that was even remotely a good fit.  I searched online for any companies that hired remote worker.  In the span of one twenty-four hour period, I applied to fifteen jobs.  I still wasn’t any closer to finding a job, but at least I felt like I was doing something.

February 5 was probably the low point*.  I had been a bit depressed over the weekend and vented a bit to some very understanding friends.  I had tried to keep from getting too stressed out, but I was starting to crack.

Hours after I vented, I got a call from the second staffing company.  They had a position they wanted me to interview for.  I discussed it with the recruiter, and it sounded like a good fit.  A phone interview was set up for Friday.  It was going to be a long week, waiting for the interview.

In the next few days, I watched hours of training videos, read hundreds of pages, and skimmed several hundred more pages.  I was trying to round out my knowledge, as well as reinforce things I already knew.  I spent countless hours preparing.  I was exhausted by Thursday night.

On the day of the interview, we were hit with a snow storm.  The interview was still on, but my wife and kids (10 and 8 years old) would be home.  I crossed my fingers that the kids wouldn’t try to kill each other during the interview.  My stress level escalated…

… we’ll pick up here in the next installment, which is now published here

* Editor’s Thought: It was a low point for me too, but that was for sports-related reasons, not job ones

Shortly after the first nibble from a recruiter, my wife got an email from a different recruiter.  They were looking for business analysts to work on a two year contract.  While I prefer a permanent position, two years is a decent length of time to figure out a next move.  Even better, even the somewhat vague description of the position made it pretty apparently that that position was with a specific employer that I was targeting.  If I got this position, I could treat it as a two year audition in an attempt to get hired.  (Note: some recruiters don’t allow companies to hire the contractors.  This recruiter does allow it.)

Initial meeting

I reached out to the recruiter via email.  We then had a brief phone call where we talked about my experience.  At the end of the call, he requested that I create a consultant profile using a template he provided.  I spent about an hours in MS Word tweaking things and fired it off to him.

The recruiter was very optimistic about my chances.  In his words, the only reason the company wouldn’t want me would be if “the hiring manager was your archnemisis”.  I knew that Lazy Man wasn’t the hiring manager, so it would seem like I have the job in the bag, right? (Editor’s Note: Hey that’s only in our baseball fantasy league… and in that rivalry, I’m the nail and you are the hammer.)

Tap the brakes slightly.  I know that the recruiter wants to add me to his stable of consultants, so that he could place me somewhere else, even if this position didn’t work out.  Flattery is a great way to do that.  So at this point I was cautiously optimistic.

We talked about rate, and I negotiated a rate of $5/hr higher than what the recruiter suggested.

Interview Day

Fast forward a few weeks.  I made the initial cut – the company wanted to interview me the next day.  Another person from the recruiting agency called me to go over some of the aspects of the position and to let me know what to expect during the phone interview.  I printed out my resume and some cheat sheets, and did some prep.  I was definitely ready for the phone interview the next day.

Early the next morning, I get a call.  The company actually wants to interview me on-site.  OK, that’s an unexpected change, but I can handle it.  My ability to use my cheat sheets is now gone, but I can show my flexibility by acting like the change is no big deal.

I get dressed up in my suit a get ready for the interview.  I jump in the Elantra and head to the employer’s site, about 20 miles away.  A few miles before I get there, I stop for a pee break to make sure I won’t need one during the interview.

I arrive about ten minutes early and walk to the security desk.  While they try to contact one of the managers, I make small talk with the two guys at the security desk.  It’s always a good idea to be friendly and polite to everyone you interact with, regardless of how inconsequential their involvement in the process may seem.  (Tip to employers: ask your security desk personnel how interviewees treated them.  If they acted like arrogant asshole to the people at the security desk, that might be foreshadow future problems.)

The Interview

Two of the managers were in the room and a third was going to dial in.  The remote manager was a few minutes late, and they apologetically scrambled to reach her.  I just sat back and smiled like it was no big deal.  If you get upset about a slight delay during the interview, that isn’t going to reflect well on you.  One of the on-site manager had forgotten to bring a copy of my resume.  I came prepared and pulled out a copy for her.

Once everyone was online, the managers each took a few minutes to describe the work their teams were doing and the challenges they were facing in the future.  It was pretty informal, and they seemed very sincere and forthcoming.  I definitely got a good vibe.

Then it was my turn.  I was asked to give a brief description of my experience.  They asked for more information, but it definitely seemed like more of an information sharing session than an interrogation.  In general, I tried to incorporate the ideas of adaptability, teamwork, and customer focus into as many answers as possible.

At one point, they asked “How would your team members describe you?”.  I immediately responded “bald”.  Amid the laughter, I took a few seconds to compose a serious answer.  Not only had I bought some time to come up with an answer, but I had created a memorable moment.  My chances of getting forgotten amid the stack of candidates had been greatly reduced.  I was no longer a random interviewee – I was a guy who had made them laugh.

I was caught by surprise when he hit the end of the scheduled time.  The interview was flowing very well, and the time flew by.  In general, I have a difficult time meeting new people, but it felt like I nailed this interview.

We spent a few minutes wrapping things up.  The two managers discussed which of them should walk me back to the security desk.  Even though it was out of the way, they both ended up accompanying me, and we made small talk on the way.  When we reached the security desk, they continued the conversation for a few more minutes.  They seemed to be in no rush to get rid of me – something I took as a great sign.

Next steps

It’s been a week since the interview at this point.*  I’ve made a trip to the recruiter’s office to sign NDAs and related paperwork.  The initial expectation was that I would know something by now.  Surprise, surprise – there have been delays in the process, and it will probably be another week.  They are bringing on a couple dozen people at once, and the process is taking longer than expected.

So, at this point, I’m waiting to hear back.  You’ll find out the result in the next article in this series.

* Editor’s Note: This was submitted on December 22, so some time has passed, but things don’t move fast this time of year.

This is part 3 of Kosmo’s job search journey. While this article stands well by itself, it will be even better if you read You’re Fired (Part 1), Assessing the Situation (Part 2), and networking for the full context.

As I write this, I’m about 10 weeks weeks into my job search, and in the middle of the “dead period” of the holidays.  Not surprisingly, the hiring process grinds to a halt during the holiday season, as hiring managers (and everyone else) takes some vacation in order to spend time with family.

What am I doing during this time?  Kicking back and relaxing?  Not exactly.  I’m learning – refining my existing skills and building new ones.

Refine existing skills

The first thing I noticed when I started reading job descriptions was that the companies used different verbiage to describe the skills I had.  I sampled several relevant job descriptions and used their phrasing to re-work my resume.  I spent twenty years with the same company, so the initial draft of my resume contained a lot of company-specific descriptions of my skills.  However, it’s important that you describe your skills using the terminology that the hiring companies are using, to ensure that your resume is deemed a match when your resume is searched for a particular term.

I also realized that the business analyst role has certifications that didn’t exist when I started my job.  I bought the study guide and painfully slogged through it.  It’s about 80% review and 20% new content.  When I finished, I had a better feel for how the business analyst role functions in other companies, instead of just knowing how it functions in my current company.

Building new skills

I quickly realize that almost everyone is looking for experience with Agile project methodologies.  While I have a small bit of experience with Agile, the vast majority of my experience is with waterfall methodologies.  So I jumped back on Amazon and bought a couple of books.  I’ve finished an overview of Agile and am beginning a book that takes a deep dive into Scrum, a common Agile methodology.

I also noticed that a lot of people were looking for experience with JIRA, a software package commonly used by Agile projects.  At my current company, a JIRA user would be a specialty role, so there’s no way for me to acquire this skill on the job.  So I signed up for a cloud account on the vendor’s web site.  For $10/month, I can play around with JIRA and get more comfortable with it.  Note: you can also self-host JIRA for a fixed cost.  However, it isn’t officially supported on OS X, and I didn’t want to spent a lot of time resolving installation issues.  If I had the free time, troubleshooting the installation might be valuable experience – but right now, I just want to move forward and learn JIRA.

Learn about the company

It’s also a good idea to learn about the companies that are hiring.  I’ve been reading their web sites and even the SEC filings for public companies.  I’ve also been reading lots of job descriptions – not just the job that I’m applying for.  Reading the descriptions for the other jobs gives me a better feel for how the company operates, and how the roles interact with each other.

Status

About a month ago, I got my first nibble.  A recruiter wanted to know if I was interested in a six month assignment at a local company – a company that it high on my list of potential employers.  Unfortunately, I can’t forgo my 30 weeks of severance pay to take a six month contract job.  I explained the situation to the recruiter, and also let him know that I might be interested in this sort of job in the future.  Even though this isn’t a good fit right now, I don’t want to burn any bridges.