Unemployment Chronicles, Day 10: SOARing

The plan for today was to start working on improving my resume by listing out some of the accomplishments I want to highlight.  Because this is the world of business, we can't do this without an acronym.  Having a cutesy acronym for something that is relatively straightforward is giving me PTSD flashbacks to work, but hey, at least I have experience with this kind of thing.  Oh yeah, very accustomed to that.  They actually mentioned my current least favorite acronym -- SMART goals -- at the first outplacement meeting, and I lived through that, so no worries.

OK, no peeking ahead, see if you can guess today's acronym.  Here's a hint:  Check the title of this post!  Give up?  The acronym is SOAR.  Just like that bird over there.  SOAR stands for Situation, Obstacles, Actions, Results.  It's a way to help tell your success stories, the things you want to put on your resume or talk about during an interview.

Anyway, acronyms aside, this is not a difficult exercise for me.  My materials suggest creating 10 to 20 of them, and at first that seemed a little daunting without my performance reviews to consult.  Then I thought of 26 items pretty easily, so I am working on narrowing the list down to 20.  I have accomplished a lot over the years, plenty of things I am proud of.

The next thing is to translate those accomplishments to a resume.  Building a resume is not one of the ten steps to a new job; it's more like a prerequisite.  I'll see if I can post it here when I'm done.

Unemployment Chronicles, Day 9: The Good Life

Advantages of not working:

1. Exercise.  Jackie and I have worked out most days.  Until two weeks ago, it had been maybe 15 years since I went to a gym and worked out.  I'm getting better on the elliptical machine every day.
2. Getting together.  When I wanted to have lunch with my retired friend Chuck this week, he had all five days clear, and I was busy just one day, because I was going to the movies.
3. Casual dress.  I could probably have a naked day once a week if I wanted.  I live with other people, and nobody wants to see that.  But I could.
4. Food.  Plenty of time to cook.  I'm eating things that we have set aside, like the big bag of brown rice.  I consider that eating for free.  Also, we have spent more time examining the food budget and cutting costs.
5. Schedules.  Most days I get up at 5:15 or so with the dog, but some days I do that and then go back to bed.
6. Commuting.  Don't have to do that.
7. Mental health.  I'm in between being stressed about work and being stressed about being unemployed.  It's great.
8. Blogging.  More people have looked at my blog this month than ony other, because I have time to write.
9. Errands.  Jackie has a bit more time, because I do some of the driving around.
10. Chores.  I have more time to do stuff around the house.  Perhaps I will actually do that.

Unemployment Chronicles, Day 8: Linked In

I google-imaged the word "link," and a picture of elf-boy came up, so close enough.

Today felt much more productive.  I went to the outplacement website and started working on the steps to getting a job.  The first one is about becoming more familiar with your professional environment, and they emphasize LinkedIn, calling it a "must."  LinkedIn has a tool that measures how complete your profile is, and the advice is to reach 100% complete.

Well, I was surprised at the effort required.  This is not like updating your Facebook profile with your favorite movies and songs.  It's a lot more like writing a resume, and since mine is not really up to date, I had to do a bit of work.  I still have some updating to do (my picture is a vacation shot with sunglasses, same one I use for Facebook), but I put in job and education information, work skills and that fine picture, and I got my profile up to 90% complete, from 45% previously.

The last step, to get that last 10%, is to get 50 contacts total.  Right now I have 14.  I don't know 36 more people on a professional basis, so that might be a tough goal.  This leads me to wondering if I should try to link to my family members, and whether being linked to me would drag down their profiles.  I am also suspicious that LinkedIn set that number as a goal partly for the purpose of hooking in everyone everywhere, because that's a bunch of contacts.  Anyway, I'll see what I can do.  I already sent one invitation, so 35 to go.

The Unemployment Chronicles, Day 7: Too Much Nothin'

I did a little bit today.  I had lunch out (networking!), went to Costco and Fred Meyer and the bank.  I talked to my outplacement coach and made an appointment to see her, emailed an acquaintance in the working world (non-Farmers even) who sent me my resume and a contact number for her company.

But the truth is I'm feeling a little uncomfortable with my minimal amount of productive activity.  I could easily see keeping this kind of pace all the time if I could afford it, but it's nagging at me that I will have to get a job sometime, and that puts a bit of a damper on the leisure time I'm enjoying.  I should have chosen to do my Milestones class this week instead of next.

So the challenge is to find some productive things to do for the next week.  There is plenty to do around the house, and I could spend more time preparing for the class.  It has been two weeks since my last workday.  Time to pick up the pace.

The Unemployment Chronicles, Day 6: The Hunger Games

We are going to see the movie today, after which I am taking Lucas to archery, so hey.  All four of us have read the first two books.  Based on my blistering review, the boys have not read book three yet.  The third book was as bad as the first two were good.

But there is a double entendre in that title, because we don't know when I will get a job again, and when I do, how much it will pay.  It is not likely I will earn the same as I did before.

So we are starting to look at costs and where we can trim back.  We have already almost stopped eating out.  There are ways we can trim the TV service and the phone bill.  Jackie and I have even talked about selling the house and moving to someplace that we can buy outright with the equity, although I don't think we will yet.

I have been considering the food bill, because it's one of the biggest expenses.  Start with thirty days, four people, three meals, thats's 360 meals per month.  Trim fifty cents off each meal, and you save $180 bucks per month, so I have been looking at how many meals we can have that cost one dollar or less.  Not easy for dinner, but for breakfast and lunch there are lots of possibilities.  Also, we get a lot of food at Costco, so it makes sense to consider what we buy there.  Hot dogs, burritos, canned ravioli -- cheap.  Chicken bakes, potstickers, chicken wings -- not so cheap.  Muffins, meatballs -- I'll have to check.

Meanwhile, we can go to the movies when everyone else is busy.

The Unemployment Chronicles, Day 5: Interlude

And now for something completely different.

Lucas has over 180 emails from colleges, although many are repeats, plus he has a box full of snail mail.  I don't remember anything like this kind of feeding frenzy when I was in high school.  Maybe it was me.  Yeah, actually, that could be it.  Some of these colleges (Stanford, Princeton, Cornell) are offering summer programs for high schoolers rather than asking Lucas to apply, but in any case, these colleges have contacted him:

1. Columbia University
2. University of Great Falls
3. Pace University
4. University of Arizona
5. Washington and Lee University
6. University of the Pacific
7. Grinnell College
8. Cal Poly
9. Creighton University
10. Florida International University
11. Carroll College
12. Brown University
13. Princeton University
14. Boston University
15. Northeastern University
16. Dartmouth College
17. Syracuse University
18. St. John's University
19. University of Miami
20. Willamette University
21. Texas Christian University
22. Tulane University
23. Illinois Wesleyan University
24. Drexel University
25. Fordham University
26. Hofstra University
27. University of Portland
28. The College of William and Mary
29. Santa Clara University
30. Colorado School of Mines
31. Ursinus College
32. Arizona State University
33. Case Western Reserve University
34. Lewis and Clark College
35. Rochester Institute of Technology
36. Rice University
37. University at Denver
38. Seattle University
39. Bates College
40. Pacific Lutheran University
41. Northwest Christian University
42. Adelphi University
43. University of Pennsylvania
44. Champlain College
45. University of Idaho
46. Southern Oregon University
47. Colorado State University
48. Missouri University of Science & Technology
49. Rensellaer Polytechinic Intitute
50. Kenyon College
51. University of Chicago
52. Montana Tech
53. Stanford
54. St. Olaf College
55. University of Puget Sound
56. New York University
57. Vanderbilt University
58. Macalester College
59. Gustavus Adolphus College
60. Sarah Lawrence College
61. Carnegie Mellon University
62. Knox College
63. Rutgers University
64. University of Redlands
65. Ohio State University
66. Harvard
67. University of Rochester
68. Haverford College
69. Worcester Polytechnic Institute
70. St. Mary's College (Moraga, CA)
71. Hamilton College
72. Whitman College
73. Kettering University
74. St. Mary's College of Maryland
75. Colgate University
76. Bard College at Simon's Rock
77. Washington University
78. Harvey Mudd College
79. Bentley University
80. Oberlin College

And that's a lot.

The Unemployment Chronicles: Day 4

As with most of my best ideas, the title "Unemployment Chronicles" was copied by others before I thought of it.  It is really hard to have an original thought.  If you Google the title, lots of other items come up, but not my blog.  Anyway, I can't help it that other people used my idea before I did.

Today I received access to the outplacement firm's website.  As I suspected, there is more information out there than I can easily absorb, but I clicked around and tried it out.  It will mean more once I post a resume and use their jobs database.

My two first areas of concentration are networking and a resume.  Jackie and I brainstormed some networking ideas, and it's pretty bleak.  I know several people at Farmers.  I know a few beyond Farmers that I can talk to.  I can perhaps ressurect a couple of connections from 10 years ago, and I am trying to think who else has left the company.  Bleak.  For me, networking may mostly amount to trying to use the Internet to get my name out there, and tapping the pool of recruiters I know from work.

On the resume front, my thought is to compile a list of accomplishments and try to highlight those -- some items to show that I have actually achieved something over the years, not just worked at jobs.  That will give me something to do.

My plan right now is to continue working on those two items, plus prepare as much as possible for the class week after next.  It's good to have a plan.

The Unemployment Chronicles: Day 3

My blog has a consistent format.  I always lead off with a single picture, set to the left.  It will be a challenge to continue finding pictures that convey the message I want without getting repetitive or dull.  I have a feeling I may start getting creative with the pictures soon.

Today I had lunch with friends from Farmers, which event I will refer to as "networking."  At least one of those friends is a pretty good resource in the accounting world, so I think that's fair.  As I have a pretty small network right now, it seems reasonable to start with close contacts and branch out from there.  My next idea is to make sure I have lunch regularly with a friend who retired from Farmers a couple of years ago.  He may not have many business contacts, but he knows people, and anyway I like him, so who cares?

Actually, my networking efforts are already paying off, and to my surprise this blog itself may be helping.  I sent my resume to a friend outside of Farmers a few weeks ago, and indirectly from my blog entries she learned that I don't have a copy, so rumor has it she will send it to me.  Easier than starting from scratch.  And then I will be in touch with her as well.  In addition, some kind soul known only as "Unknown" posted a link to Craiglist accounting positions for this area, which I have been through.

Today I also went into Farmers, signed some papers, and got the personal stuff from my desk.  It could easily be the last time I go into the building.  A lot of the stuff I threw away (starting with the old sneakers) as soon as I got home, but one item seemed especially useful -- a stack of business cards from recruiters.  Might come in handy.

Unemployment Chronicles, Day 2

Today I attended an introductory meeting with a firm that will try to help me get a new job.  Again, best to keep some details a little sketchy, but I suppose this kicks off the job search effort.

My greatest concern with the class is that there were too many people in it who were close to my age.  It's a little scary.  Mostly, today was a chance to learn what type of resources the company offers and what to expect.

They have a 1.5-day class that goes through a multi-step process for finding work, from figuring out what you want to do to negotiating a final deal., and I signed up for April 4-5.  Meanwhile, I should get access to their website in a couple of days, and that seems like the key benefit.  For every step of the process, they have multiple resources on the website, plus webinars, in-person classes, workbooks, and on-line courses.  The trick will be selecting judiciously from all those choices.  In addition, their network has actual job postings and a means to post your resume where recruiters can see it.

My own concerns and interests include:

• Getting a resume together.  I can list my jobs, but I need to highlight that my experience differentiates me from other people.  Marketing is definitely not my strong suit.  Speaking of which...
• Networking.  I am an introvert, and many of the friends I do have work at Farmers, which isn't super helpful.  After 11 years, I don't have any contacts from prior work.  This is gonna be a challenge.
• They have a class just on updating yor profile on LinkedIn.  I always wondered what that thing does; time to find out.
• There are resources about how to get into contracting.  That idea appeals to me -- no more babbling about company loyalty, engagement,  or being part of the team.  You pay me, I do stuff you need.  Our relationship is clear.

In between now and April 4, I don't see myself doing any hardcore job searching, like sending out resumes, but I'll start putting some ideas together.  Maybe I'll buy a suit.

The Unemployment Chronicles: Day 1

It's really not day 1 -- I did some work on March 12, but none since.  For a few days after that my status was uncertain, then I went on vacation to Vegas for a long weekend.  So I'm calling today day 1.  I will try to blog every day, or at least most days.

How did you get to this point, you ask.  Ah.  Well, I discussed here, almost a year ago, that there was this thing at work that was causing me to lose sleep.  I lost sleep many nights, literally, over the same issue since that post last April 1, and finally I am not working at Farmers.  And as is the way with the corporate world, I still can't talk about it or write about it.  I hope that explains everything.  Thanks for asking.

After working at Farmers for almost 11 years, I feel almost nothing in terms of loss at leaving.  I will miss my friends from work, but I don't think I get very attached to companies, which seems mentally healthy to me.  The emotion I have felt most is relief -- relief that it's over, relief that I will never have to do certain tasks again.  The second emotion is concern.  We have resources, but I cannot live without an income forever.  Still, that one is secondary for now, lurking in the background.

I have not done a lot yet to start looking for work.  Tomorrow, I have an appointment with an outplacement firm, and I'm curious to see what they do.  I have looked for a resume on my computer, but I don't see one; I guess I left that at work, but I can recreate it.  Mostly, I have been either goofing off or doing things around the house.  I am spending more time on Jarrod's homeschooling, and Jackie and I are working out most mornings.  Jackie has encouraged me to take a little break, enjoy a two-week vacation or so.

I expect the search will start more in earnest tomorrow with the outplacement people.  I have heard that they will try to push me.  My break has given me time to focus on what my goal will be, and the one thing I know is that it will not be what I was doing, which was managing five people.  For me, managing amounted to multitasking to such an extent that it was severely counter-productive and spending too much time on non-technical tasks that seemed to add little value.  I can do more as an individual contributor.

Except for that little nagging concern about not finding work, I feel good about this.  And I'm sleeping well.

Adventures with Timeshares

For Christmas, I bought Jackie two tickets to see Celine Dion at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas last Sunday.  We booked our room and airfare, and then Celine cancelled all her shows for a few months.  Since I left my job a week ago, we found ourselves in Vegas with nothing in particular to do and no desire to spend a lot of money.  So when someone offered us free show tickets, free dinner, and admission to Madame Toussaud's to sit through a timeshare sales pitch, we decided, why not?  Neither of us had ever seen a timeshare presentation, and we were curious.

We were told the presentation would last 2-3 hours.  We were taken by bus to a location about 20 minutes from The Strip, called the Grandview, and then each couple from the bus was assigned a salesperson.  First warning sign:  A salesperson is going to spend 2-3 hours just with you.  Big investment on their part.  OK, maybe the first warning sign is the word "timeshare," and the second is that they give you free stuff to sit through it, but still, one salesperson per couple.

So we sit through a presentation hosted by a lady who used to play Marilyn Monroe in a Vegas show.  Not so much resemblance anymore, but nice enough lady.  And you don't just sit through it -- they make you participate.  The presentation is about how valuable and expensive vacations are, and it's OK.  They lie by claiming that they don't believe in high pressure sales, but no one believes them, and they give us sandwiches and drinks, so not bad so far.

Now we walk around with the salesman, and he shows us the property.  Nice enough.  Then he walks us up to an area to sit down and give us the  sales pitch.  I took a picture -- it's a big area with dozens of couples sitting with dozens of salespeople.  Now it's starting to get creepy, and I'm noticing that we're close to the three hour mark.  The sales guy is showing us numbers and is at the point where he doesn't stop talking long enough to let us say no.  When we finally say no anyway, he brings over a manager.  I let this guy go for a couple of minutes, then look right at him, tell him we absolutely will not commit, "don't waste your time."  He goes on, but not too much longer.

They send us downstairs to leave, and we talk to one more guy.  He says he wants to take a survey.  Liar.  Actually, he gives us one more pitch at a much lower price.  And after all this, we give in and buy.

OK, just kidding -- we said no, again.  Finally, we get our free stuff and get to leave.  The whole thing takes about four and a half hours, including an hour transportation back and forth and wating time.

A few disturbing signs:

• The price keeps dropping, dramatically.  The first offer is $42,000.  The last one is the same deal for $4,990.  Someone sometime must pay $42,000, or the $30,000 they offer later, or take the one bedroom every-other-year package for $10,000, and they are getting robbed.  It's fundamentally dishonest to ask $42,000 for something you are selling to someone else for $5,000.
• They insist that you buy same day.  To walk in and make that much of a commitment same day to something you knew nothing about that morning is insane.  To ask people to do that is fundamentally dishonest.
• Besides the big sales room we were in, the salesman showed us another room where current owners were looking to upgrade.  Lots of couples, each with a salesperson at their table.  The high pressure sales pitch doesn't stop when you buy!  That freaked me out.
• They kept touting that the address of the place is on Las Vegas Boulevard, the same street as The Strip.  OK, sure, but it's 20 minutes away.  Come on.
• Waiting on the bus to take us back, we talked to the people behind us.  They said that a couple from their presentation had bought, and they went back in a limo, not on the bus.  And Jackie pointed out that they don't want them talking to those of us who heard the $4,990 offer, because they probably paid a lot more.  So they give them a limo to isolate them.

In all, it wasn't a really bad experience for us.  It wasted a chunk of our day, but we got some free sandwiches, and it was interesting to see the sales pitch.  We didn't have enough time to go to the show or see Madame Toussaud's, because The Strip is big and we lost so much time, but we had a nice complimentary Italian dinner at The Venetian.  A guy was playing the violin at the tables, and when he approached us, I asked for La Vie en Rose, which he knew well and played for us.  We had wine and dessert and really enjoyed ourselves.

Today, we looked up those timeshares on EBay and elsewhere.  They are worth next to nothing, maybe a few hundred dollars.  Basically, the annual maintenance fees and other ongoing costs are about equal to the vacation value you get, so the value of the timeshare is nothing.  We're feeling pretty good about passing up the opportunity.