My Journey from Dead End Job to Success

[passit1]

Thank you rebel100, Ploko, SuZQ2 and cstock. I appreciate your kind words...I didn't know anyone was reading this. Really was kind of an online journal after a bit.

My old company didn't call me back for that Strategic whatevertheheck it was deal. Which is for the best because it was the worst interview I had ever been on: about 85 degrees in the interview room, no job expectations to discuss, nowhere to lay my padfolio to jot down notes for follow up interviews..it was this funky IKEA living room chair and a side table too low to use routine....the HR person who was conferencing in by phone never asked a single question or even grunted an acknowledgement and the two interviewing me did not indicate their titles or if either one would be my manager should I be hired. Strange even for my old company.

Now the company who sent me the Excel test I opted out of finishing so as not to waste their time- they called! And really wanted to meet me. And I liked them. And the salary range was way more than I'm making now.
And the schedule was to work every weekend. Every. Weekend. Never heard a recruiter so disappointed when I told her I couldn't do it. It was nice to be wanted so much. But I just can't take that much time away from my family right now.

I'm going to keep looking for the right position. At least now I know what I want. And what I don't want.

[JTP]

Really glad to hear things are working out for you and the future seems very promising.

[passit1]

Amazon recruiter contacted me via email today for an Operations Manager position! I applied 3 times prior and never heard anything. Wonder if I was the 4yr degree that made the difference now? Sent my response to their questions and I guess I'll wait and see.

[passit1]

Still waiting for the promised phone screen from Amazon, but now I'm getting bites from other recruiters...I asked one today why she reached out after some small talk about recently obtaining the degree. She said it was the degree...without it, she would not have been able to reach out to me because the job posting required a 4 yr degree.

Now I'm feeling itchy to reapply to WGU and get the Masters...but I'm still working through losing my dad and helping my mom settle things. After the 1st of the year though, all bets are off.

[inkleind]

Your story gets me so pumped to get this thing out of the way. It's so frustrating to have the experience and know I'm being auto-shuffled to the trash bin because of the lack of an education section. Thank you for sharing and continuing to share!

[passit1]

I think the recruiting system is broken because it's a sorting out instead of a pulling in process. Basically they find reasons to not look at applicants that may not necessarily matter to the job. (am i the best person for the job because of taking 7 months worth of tests to get my degree or because I had 15 years of business experience that enabled me to pass those tests? ) This whittles down the amount of applicants to what recruiters think are the best for the position. In reality it just brings the number of applicants the recruiter needs to look at down to a manageable number. They don't understand they are choosing from what's left over.
A more effective way...instead of sorting out based on not meeting an arbitrary criteria, candidates should be pulled into the process based on proficiency at the most challenging aspects of the position, like strategic planning and measurable results.

[passit1]

Amazon emailed me to say they are interested in moving forward with my phone screen and on site interview but will resume the process in January as they need to focus attention on holiday order fulfillment. Fine with me...if it works out, I'd rather wait until after the holidays to look at a possible change in jobs.

Campbells recruitment has reached out to me as well with a phone screen for an operations position at one of their Pepperidge Farms frozen food production plants. It went well and they are submitting my resume to the hiring manager for consideration.

Dr. Oetker, the frozen pizza company that does Elio's, is looking at me for a marketing analyst position. But it's contingent on the VP coming down from Canada to do interviews and it's been going on a while so I think this one's going to peter out.

Before the degree all I every got when I applied to jobs I knew I could do was the "Reviewed, Not Selected" email from the ICIMS application system they all seem to use. After 2 years of that I told my husband to put Reviewed, Not Selected on my tombstone since that seemed to sum up my life. Now with the degree, I don't apply for positions, recruiters come to me. The only exception so far is Amazon...I was rejected 4 times by them until I applied after I obtained the BSBA...now I am "Under Review". Nice.

[videogamesrock]

Where are you posting your resume?

[passit1]

Indeed, Monster, Careerbuilder, Ziprecruiter, My Food Recruiter

[passit1]

After my Girl Scout troop dropped off a Thanksgiving food basket at a local nonprofit last weekend, we received a tour and a video about the organization. It brought me literally to tears and I wondered if there was a career opportunity with this local organization with whom I had been involved on several donation drives in various capacities. Sure enough, their website says they are looking for a Chief Operating Officer and my experience matches the qualifications (now that I have a degree). So I emailed my resume this past Friday. COO would be a great title on my resume and I have the skills in my wheelhouse. The place is less than 3 miles from my house and has a mission of eliminating homelessness in the county in which I live. Getting paid to help people by doing what I'm good at sounds perfect. ... and a lot like what I used to do at my old place. Hmmmm....maybe I have a type when it comes to jobs?