Thursday, July 28, 2005
The thiry-seventh week in review
This is my second attempt at this blog entry. The first was wiped out by a spontaneous reboot which I am currently blaming on my firewall.
Monday, my teammate and I had our interviews at RBC. I prepared for a technical interview. Unfortunately, it was more behavioural (again!). The manager did most of the talking. The team lead asked about my technical experience, but nothing in-depth; otherwise, he was pretty quiet. My teammate said his interview was similar only he called the lead stiff. They promised to get back to me by the end of the week, maybe Monday at the latest. I've heard this one before.
After the interview, I met another former teammate for coffee. Called him up at the spur of the moment because I wasn't sure how I'd be feeling after the interview. Sometimes, I come out of them spitting mad. He asked me if I had highlighted this or that and my response was no. I'm not good at blowing my own horn. I just hoped that my story gibed (jibed?) with my other teammate's. I had told them that a guy was the mainframe expert. The MQ position at my coffee buddy's shop is still open (I tanked at the interview). I feel like sending them a thank-you note but that would be spiteful. Getting my MQ certification was "inspired" by the feedback from them.
Tuesday, I got in touch with a former CLA project manager and now RBC Insurance employee to get him to put in a good word for me. I then sent out a thank-you email to the interviewers and included my email signature which has my certifications. Belated horn blowing. I also got a couple of calls/emails from recruiters about an IBM contract.
Friday, I got a note from a former CLA AIX sysadmin about an MQ contract in Edmonton that can be worked from TO. I applied for a couple of middleware analyst positions, one at Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting!) and one at Economical Insurance (in Waterloo!). I know I should get a call for at least one of them. I also applied for a Helpdesk position at State Farm just because they'll be moving their head office very close to home next year. I missed out on a couple of contract jobs via GSI because of a family crisis (hornet's nest in the attic). By the time I got to the Internet after rushing out for Bug-B-Gon, the postings had been removed. I had been dragging my feet waiting for RBC to call which you're not supposed to do.
This week has been rife with opportunities that are a good fit.
D.
Monday, my teammate and I had our interviews at RBC. I prepared for a technical interview. Unfortunately, it was more behavioural (again!). The manager did most of the talking. The team lead asked about my technical experience, but nothing in-depth; otherwise, he was pretty quiet. My teammate said his interview was similar only he called the lead stiff. They promised to get back to me by the end of the week, maybe Monday at the latest. I've heard this one before.
After the interview, I met another former teammate for coffee. Called him up at the spur of the moment because I wasn't sure how I'd be feeling after the interview. Sometimes, I come out of them spitting mad. He asked me if I had highlighted this or that and my response was no. I'm not good at blowing my own horn. I just hoped that my story gibed (jibed?) with my other teammate's. I had told them that a guy was the mainframe expert. The MQ position at my coffee buddy's shop is still open (I tanked at the interview). I feel like sending them a thank-you note but that would be spiteful. Getting my MQ certification was "inspired" by the feedback from them.
Tuesday, I got in touch with a former CLA project manager and now RBC Insurance employee to get him to put in a good word for me. I then sent out a thank-you email to the interviewers and included my email signature which has my certifications. Belated horn blowing. I also got a couple of calls/emails from recruiters about an IBM contract.
Friday, I got a note from a former CLA AIX sysadmin about an MQ contract in Edmonton that can be worked from TO. I applied for a couple of middleware analyst positions, one at Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting!) and one at Economical Insurance (in Waterloo!). I know I should get a call for at least one of them. I also applied for a Helpdesk position at State Farm just because they'll be moving their head office very close to home next year. I missed out on a couple of contract jobs via GSI because of a family crisis (hornet's nest in the attic). By the time I got to the Internet after rushing out for Bug-B-Gon, the postings had been removed. I had been dragging my feet waiting for RBC to call which you're not supposed to do.
This week has been rife with opportunities that are a good fit.
D.
