My Lovely Sister

I have 3 wonderful sister's but today belongs to just one.  Today is my sister Kat's birthday.  It always comes at the end of the school year. Which means it gets a little lost in all the manic end of school stuff.  This is sad because Kat is amazing.  She is always there for our family.  She has done so much in the name of loving her family.  Today should always be special for her because she is special to all of us.  I love my big sister and I miss her very much today!

Oh those lovely cellphones

It amazes me, how dependent I am on my cell phone.  I did not realize it until it went dark.  That is right, last week my HTC Resound just went dark.  Nothing would turn it on again.  I was very sad.  I really enjoyed my phone.  I had to take it in to see if the men at Verizon knew how to fix it.  That was a laugh.  Jason and I were discussing an open beta and if it was this week or last week.  We were talking over the Verizon man's head...yep that was too much tech for him.  My guess is that Verizon is fading out in store tech support.  Not surprising with how cheap it is to make a phone now days.


So we have to get me a new phone.  I am job searching and cannot really be without a phone.  I was very lucky there was a promo for my line.  Free IPhone 5C.  IPhone...yep just my luck.no droid deal.  So, I am going IPhone.  Not thrilled with this idea.  Yet, I cannot rightly spend over 150$ on a new Droid when the IPhone is 30$ and change.


So I decided to get the blue one, they sadly do not have purple.  I will have to find or make a purple case for it.  Here is a picture of what my new phone looks like.



I will try to remember to post a pic of my actual phone when I get it all set up the way I want it.

The hunt is still on

I have not really done a job hunt post since the one about rejection.  No, I am still not liking the passive rejections of the modern HR environment.  I think it is rude and silly.  I mean really all you need is a 3 sentence mail form to send out via email.  How hard is that!  But that is not what I talking about today. 


Today is about letting people know that their resumes have been received.  On lost job listings I find the nice little line "no phone calls, please."  That is fine, if you send a confirmation of receipt.  It annoys me to no end when they do not want you to call but will also not send a confirmation.  I hate calling them.  Yet, it is the only avenue I have to confirm they received my information.  It is something very simple to do that relieves so much stress for the job seekers.


Example:


Meg,
 
Thank you for your interest in the Communications & Technology Coordinator position at the COMPANY NAME HERE. Your resume has been received for consideration. All submissions will be carefully reviewed and the candidates of interest will be contacted for further information. Again, thank you for giving us an opportunity to review your credentials.
 
Best wishes in your job search,

Mother's Day

This past weekend was Mother's Day.  This is one of the harder holiday weekends for me.  I do not have my mom or my Grandmothers.  I know that I have my sisters but that just is not the  same.  The day really does feel like everything is pointing out what I no longer have.  So, I am very anti-social that weekend and I will just hide in a book or video games.


I love my mother very much and I miss her so very much more.  I am not sure she would approve of my "turtling" for the holiday weekend.  She was always one to enjoy a party and being around the family on these special days.

I am fairly certain this was our last picture together.

When did rejection become so bad?

In case you were wondering, yes I am still looking.  I am having no luck.  Which is not surprising see how the market is where I want to move.  Even my father is amazed at what there is to offer.


What I found to be a pleasant let down was a rejection "letter".  Well it was not a letter but an email.  It was obviously a form email sent to all rejected applicants.  But they SENT it!  They communicated their desire not to hire me.  Yes, I was disappointed but I did have the days and weeks wondering if they were going to call me.  I love companies that do this and I would more likely to try them again just because they have the foresight and thoughtfulness, yes that the thoughtful, to let applicants know their actual status with them in a timely manner.  I submitted my resume and within a week I was rejected.


I know it seems odd to praise a company for saying no to hiring me.  I am going to give you some perspective, I have been job hunting on and off for the past 6 months.  I send out anywhere from 1-3 resumes every week or so. Let say I have sent out close to 50 resumes.  I have heard from 2 companies.  The first company was a phone interview and possible follow up, but I never heard from them again.  That to me was passively rejecting me.  The second was my rejection this pass week.  That leaves somewhere around 48 companies/organizations that do not communicate with rejected applicants.  When did not having common courtesy become the normal for our hiring community?  I know it is a little more working to compile a list of rejected applicants and send them a 3 line email but lets the applicant move on and try other avenues.


As I said, they rejected me but were polite enough to do so.  I would feel better trying to work for them on down the road just for that simple courtesy.  Thank you!


My rejection letter (minus my details and the company's name):

M,

We have reviewed your application for the Database Specialist at company.  Although impressive, your skills and experience do not align as well with our position as those from other candidates, whom we have now chosen to continue in the process.

We wish you well in your career and thank you for your interest in company.