Archive for January, 2010

Debating today’s job fair

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

After yesterday’s job fair disappointment, I spent most of today seriously debating going to the next. For one thing, the whole “NO EXCEPTIONS” regarding experience and security clearance is kind of a deterrent.

I looked up where it is and it’s not hard to get to, but I really don’t want to waste time or gas on something I might get turned away from. I’m entry level and while I have 2 years as a hobbyist, almost no employer counts that knowledge.

I also didn’t sleep well last night. The stress of moving, job searching, etc are resulting in some really crazy dreams. I often am waking up feeling like I ran a marathon all night.

I think a nap is calling more than this job fair. Hopefully there will be others soon.

Job Fair: Not as Advertised

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Attended the job fair today, but it was a bit of a disappointment. I arrived early and got in line, hoping to beat out most of the crowd. I pre-registered, so I could hopefully move through the line fairly quickly. There was a line that snaked around several corridors, but with this economy that wasn’t a shock. They eventually split the lines up into those who had preregistered and those who hadn’t.

About an hour into the wait, I heard a man’s voice booming across the crowd. He eventually got to my section and announced loudly: No IT, No Tech, No Professionals. There were just 5 tables. The ad for the Job Fair was wrong. There was no representation for the major IT firms, despite being in Plano.

So, between 100 – 200 people walked out, including me. With my health problems and petite size (in case you’ve missed it, I’m barely over 5 feet tall), it’s fairly useless for me to inquire about military or law-enforcement.

However, attending did bring me a few leads. One of the ladies I was standing with had some IT/tech leads for me to follow: Esurance, Broadview Security, and Televista. Still a bit irked at wasting my time, but that was a very nice silver lining.

Supposedly there’s another career fair tomorrow in Richardson that’s supposed to be all Tech and IT, so planning on making my way there.

Job Fairs

Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

In Michigan, I rarely found out about job and career fairs until the day of. Usually with only 3 hours left before the fair ended.

Bright and early Thursday morning I received an unsolicited e-mail from a local recruiter regarding a job fair. A week in advance. It contained clear and concise directions, a link to registration, and full information regarding who is attending. Among the attending companies are many that I wouldn’t mind working for.

Cue me bouncing around the house in joy.

Toto, I don’t think we’re in Michigan anymore! Texas, I like your style!

Bank Account Cleaned Out

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

We rented a car for our road trip. Our old car simply wasn’t safe and we had no money to fix it up. So we sold that one for scrap and rented a nice, little 2009 Chevy Aveo for the trip down for $159 a week from Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Grand Rapids, MI.

Seemed pretty reasonable for a really nice car.

First snag, when Matt called and offered us a place to live in Texas, we called Enterprise and asked to take the car to Texas. They wanted us to drive all the way back to Michigan, negotiate a new contract and then drive to Texas. Never mind that the car had Georgia plates, registration, and insurance. Michigan.

24 hours later, despite being told we’d get an answer before they closed, they finally relented and we left for Texas.

They decided once we were in Dallas that we could drop the car off at any local Enterprise instead of driving the car off to Michigan. Now, here’s where things get fishy. My grandparents (Poppa and Sheba) have been meddling this whole time. Despite ignoring us or downright abusing us, they’re suddenly worried. They’re apparently talking to the car rental company. I don’t know if I should blame them for what followed or not. I am angry that the car company actually talked to them in the first place. Either way, first quote was $400 to drop the car off, but when we called to arrange it, it was only $75.

We dropped the car off January 7th at the Enterprise in Wylie TX. Strangely, we didn’t have enough money in our bank account to afford the $75. Sandy, Matt’s Mom, helped us pay it. We figured we could pay her back this past Friday.

Wednesday, the 13th, we get a call from the bank saying we’re overdrawn. However, their computers are down so they can’t tell us anything else.

The 14th, we call back and find out we’re not only overdrawn, but we’re overdrawn by $800. Frustrating, but not that surprising. This has been a brutal couple months.

Friday, the 15th, Sandy calls us first thing in the morning. Her debit card was charged $400 by Enterprise without her consent. We spent most of the day on the phone trying to iron that out. They claim they can’t refund her directly but it’ll go to our account.

Sandy calls her bank to ask that they deny any further charges from Enterprise and they tell her they’ve had numerous complaints about Enterprise continuing to charge after the car has been returned.

So now we’re waiting until Monday for a manager to come in.

I transferred my payments for my WoW account to my college refund card, only to discover I only have $10 on it. I put $21 on it, but it’ll be Monday before it posts. So looks like I’ll be missing the raid tonight.

If you ever rent a vehicle from Enterprise, watch your bank or credit account closely. Make sure you get an actual receipt and get everything in writing.

On the bright side, Matt bought Dragon Age Origins yesterday and he plans to play WoW all day. So his brand new PS3 is sitting all lonely and neglected. I think I’ll fix that! ^_~

Adjustment

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Spent the last week adjusting to living in Texas. Poor Matt, he went from no pets to three. Echo has decided she’s Matt’s cat for now. She follows him around like a puppy, curling up in his lap, begging to be let into his room, and sleeping on his bed while he plays WoW. Luna barks like a maniac at him whenever he comes into the room.

Matt called the 22nd of December, right after my blog post. He’s letting us stay in 2 bedrooms of his 3 bedroom house rent free for 2 months. After that, we’ll negotiate rent. “Haul your asses down here!” he said. And haul ass we did.

The first catch came in the car rental company. Despite the Georgia plates, registration, and insurance they wanted us to drive all the way back to Michigan from Virginia to renegotiate the contract and then drive to Texas. They promised to get back to us on the 22nd, but never did. Mom got the oil changed on the 23rd and called them back to demand an answer. Finally given the okay, we took off for Texas.

Someday, I need to go back with cameras and time for a proper vacation. It was pouring when we went through Memphis, TN and we stopped only to get gas. Same story for Little Rock, AR. I was so frustrated with Richmond, I never did get to the cultural and historical areas.

Either way, I’m in Texas now. We arrived Christmas day and with Matt’s blessing have been relaxing so we can start attacking the job search this week. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is HUGE. By far, this is the biggest metropolitan area I’ve ever seen. But the weather beats Michigan out by miles.

I’ve had dinner twice at James’s restaurant and gotten to meet Wally and his wife, Patrick, and James’s and one of his sons. Matt’s parents also openly invited us to have Christmas at their house, which made Christmas much happier.

What my task is now is a set of New Year’s Resolutions… including finding a job. Matt says there’s some consignment shops near the upper class and extremely upper class areas of town where I might be able to find some really great used clothing. This morning I redid my resume yet again.

Right now, I’ll take most anything just to get on my feet, but I really would like to find something in my field. That being said, I did tell Matt I’d be willing to do free work in the area to build my portfolio and make my name known in the area.

Much love to you all. I’m going to make it, even if I have to turn into Supergirl to do it.