I got a call last Wednesday from the guys at TelstraClear saying that they wanted to bring me in again to speak to another Service Desk Team Leader about a position on their team (instead of the two teams I applied for). I said I would love to, and the next morning there I was having a cup of coffee with two people from TelstraClear (TCL for short). I met with them for a little over an hour, talking about my experience in IT, my life back home, why I was in New Zealand, and a lot of random stuff about the USA and New Zealand, etc. The meeting wasn't really an interview, they had received "glowing" references from Jeff and John (thanks guys!) and had the results from my previous interview at TCL a week earlier, and mainly just wanted to meet me and see what kind of guy I am. Suffice to say I passed with flying colors, and got an email on Monday (not a Holiday like I thought) saying they wanted to offer me the position as soon as they put the paperwork thru. I had to fill out an official application form and copy my passport / visa and drop it off at TCL before they could put all the paperwork in. Since it was a monday, and since I'm unemployed, I hadn't shaved since the Wednesday before. Let's just say I looked rather homeless and was hoping with all hopes that when Craig (the manager) said "drop it off at reception" there would be NOBODY around (except of course the receptionist). I got off the elevator on floor 13 at TCL, walked up to the receptionist, dropped of the papers, turned around....
And played the waiting game. It was 4:58pm and everyone who works normal hours was trying to leave the building. About five minutes later the elevator FINALLY came, and the doors started to open. I breathed a breath of relief as the elevator was my escape - I could leave and nobody would have to see how pathetically homeless my five-day-beard looked. And off the elevator steps Craig - my possibly future boss. Oh well. I'm sure he didn't care, he was very happy I dropped everything off and was going to put the paperwork in, so I don't think my scrubby looks lost me the job I have yet to get (yet). The paperwork takes a week or two to go thru, so we set a tentative start date (pending final offer, acceptance, etc.) of Nov. 10th 2008.
The two guys I met with and if things go well would be working with were very cool guys. They wanted to make sure I was think-skinned as the other guys in the department joke around a lot and would be making fun of my Americanism from day one. I responded to this by saying my former-lunch-bunch and I could go days only quoting Arrested Development, Always Sunny, the Office, and Scrubs, and that every other sentence out of our (read: my) mouths is "That's what she said." They found that to be a good thing (yeah, wtf were they thinking), so that could be disasterously wonderful.
The other news out of New Zealand is Amy has yet another job. This time at a brand new, never before opened, bar - as the Head Bartender. Yeah. Amy, with her two-weeks of Bar / Wine Store experience got a job as the Head Bartender at a new bar. I suppose less-experienced people have been in more important positions (Sarah Palin), but still shocking none the less. I have no doubt she'll do great, as her drinking experience outweighs Palin's entire political experience, and she's a people-person so she'll do great with all the customers. That's actually why they hired her, she did really well in the interview and they told her that she seemed like a people-person and had a lot of people-skills and that was what they were looking for. Right now she's going to be working both jobs until she decides which is the best and until I get a job, but I imagine in the next month or so she might cut it down to only one.
Anyways, we're all doing well here. I have more pictures of the gardens and such on facebook - LINK
Hope everyone is doing well elsewhere!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Blog Action Day: Poverty
I have a lot to update everyone on in regards to our kiwi experience. Today I will not be doing that as there is something much more important to discuss. No, this is not another news story about someone giving their life for another person. Today I am participating in something bigger than I can imagine. Today I am blogging for Blog Action Day 2008: Poverty.
There’s a website I found a month or so ago in preparation for this blog called Global Rich List. At the time I was working at SVA so I ran my salary through and found out that I was in the top 5% of the richest people in the WORLD. The website gives some statistics that I’d like to share:
• Three billion people live on less than $2/day
• 1.3 Billion live on less than $1/day
Think about that for a minute. According to Wikipedia the approximate population of the world is 6.5 billion people. That means that roughly 2/3 people on the planet live on less than $2 per day!
Poverty isn’t about a lack of money. Lacking money these people can’t pay for healthcare or an education. They live their lives day in and day out trying to make money and get themselves and their families a better chance at life. Lacking money means that they usually lack goods and services such as soap, clean water, drinking water, etc.
I’m not going to pretend to know much about poverty – I don’t. Part of the reason I wanted to participate in the blog action day was to help spread awareness and change the conversation for the day. Yes – our economy is in crisis. Yes – elections are coming up. But aren’t there bigger things in the world? Sometimes we don’t think about the little guy. We don’t think about the person half way around the world who doesn’t have access to things we all take for granted – clean water, a doctor, and an education.
My Aunt Joyann, my mother’s sister, is currently volunteering at a school in Thailand. She’s a volunteer teacher for a year and is not getting paid to help the kids. Every day she wakes up and helps teach kids who have NOTHING, not even books on the shelves in their classrooms. I can’t think of a single person I know who’s really gone out and done what she’s doing for others and I’m very proud of her for that. She’s blogging about her experiences, and I try to make it part of my every day routine to check her blog and see what it’s like to live completely immersed in another culture, and in a place completely stricken by poverty. It’s easy to forget about these people, and even easier to do nothing about the poverty stricken people of the world. My aunt wakes up every day and HELPS. Joyann – I’m so proud of you and what you’re doing! I can only imagine what could happen if there were twice as many people like you as there are.
Together WE can change the world! I was talking to Amy yesterday about the “donating just a dollar a day can feed this child for a year” commercials we’re all so keen to. Why don’t more people do that? It’s easy and it’s not expensive at all.
I’m asking everyone who reads my blog to do something for the poor and poverty stricken people of the world. Please – donate money, donate canned foods, do ANYTHING. This problem isn’t going away anytime soon, and we only have ourselves to blame for it sticking around. Tomorrow when Amy and I are grocery shopping and the cashier asks if we want to donate $5 with our food purchase I’m going to say yes. Sure $5 might not seem like a lot, but if we all do it – if EVERYONE does it, we can feed a village. We can buy books for a school in Africa. We can end poverty during my lifetime; we just have to start NOW.
There’s a website I found a month or so ago in preparation for this blog called Global Rich List. At the time I was working at SVA so I ran my salary through and found out that I was in the top 5% of the richest people in the WORLD. The website gives some statistics that I’d like to share:
• Three billion people live on less than $2/day
• 1.3 Billion live on less than $1/day
Think about that for a minute. According to Wikipedia the approximate population of the world is 6.5 billion people. That means that roughly 2/3 people on the planet live on less than $2 per day!
Poverty isn’t about a lack of money. Lacking money these people can’t pay for healthcare or an education. They live their lives day in and day out trying to make money and get themselves and their families a better chance at life. Lacking money means that they usually lack goods and services such as soap, clean water, drinking water, etc.
I’m not going to pretend to know much about poverty – I don’t. Part of the reason I wanted to participate in the blog action day was to help spread awareness and change the conversation for the day. Yes – our economy is in crisis. Yes – elections are coming up. But aren’t there bigger things in the world? Sometimes we don’t think about the little guy. We don’t think about the person half way around the world who doesn’t have access to things we all take for granted – clean water, a doctor, and an education.
My Aunt Joyann, my mother’s sister, is currently volunteering at a school in Thailand. She’s a volunteer teacher for a year and is not getting paid to help the kids. Every day she wakes up and helps teach kids who have NOTHING, not even books on the shelves in their classrooms. I can’t think of a single person I know who’s really gone out and done what she’s doing for others and I’m very proud of her for that. She’s blogging about her experiences, and I try to make it part of my every day routine to check her blog and see what it’s like to live completely immersed in another culture, and in a place completely stricken by poverty. It’s easy to forget about these people, and even easier to do nothing about the poverty stricken people of the world. My aunt wakes up every day and HELPS. Joyann – I’m so proud of you and what you’re doing! I can only imagine what could happen if there were twice as many people like you as there are.
Together WE can change the world! I was talking to Amy yesterday about the “donating just a dollar a day can feed this child for a year” commercials we’re all so keen to. Why don’t more people do that? It’s easy and it’s not expensive at all.
I’m asking everyone who reads my blog to do something for the poor and poverty stricken people of the world. Please – donate money, donate canned foods, do ANYTHING. This problem isn’t going away anytime soon, and we only have ourselves to blame for it sticking around. Tomorrow when Amy and I are grocery shopping and the cashier asks if we want to donate $5 with our food purchase I’m going to say yes. Sure $5 might not seem like a lot, but if we all do it – if EVERYONE does it, we can feed a village. We can buy books for a school in Africa. We can end poverty during my lifetime; we just have to start NOW.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Turn up the heat!
I decided this morning to turn up the heat on my job search. I spent the last hour or so finding and applying for more IT jobs in Wellington, about 8 or so in total. The thing I did differently this time was I avoided recruiting agencies, and I personalized the cover letter for each position. Maybe this will work, maybe it won't, but at least I can say I'm trying to get something done. I have an interview today that should go well. The recruiter who set me up on it let me know exactly what they're looking for so I can tune my "Zach-Magic" to those areas.
Last night I went for a short walk and was looking up at the stars. I've never looked up at the night sky from the southern hemisphere before, but I wanted to give it a go. Wow! The southern cross is BEAUTIFUL (I think that's what I was seeing). I also looked a bit at the moon and started pondering some things. There's a lot of people in the world and in America who don't venture outside their borders. They're afraid of change, and they're happy not knowing what else is out there. I got to thinking about the stars in this sense, in that in the USA we have a set of stars that we can see that people down here can't, and in the southern hemisphere there's another set of stars that people in the USA can't see. Although the stars themselves are huge, when we look at them in the sky they're very small. And that's what is different in the world - the little things. In that same sense we can see the moon in the USA, and we can see the moon in New Zealand. The moon is huge compared to these stars when looked at from earth. So the big things are the same in the world - we're all human, and the little things are different - our languages, our food, etc. I might have more on this later as I continue to ponder the big picture in life. There was a quote I heard last night on criminal minds that also got me thinking about these things and about life in general. It goes a little something like this... "We all die. The goal ins't to live forever, it's to create something that will." Think about that, and think about the world and how big and small it is at the same time.
Hope all is well,
Zach
Last night I went for a short walk and was looking up at the stars. I've never looked up at the night sky from the southern hemisphere before, but I wanted to give it a go. Wow! The southern cross is BEAUTIFUL (I think that's what I was seeing). I also looked a bit at the moon and started pondering some things. There's a lot of people in the world and in America who don't venture outside their borders. They're afraid of change, and they're happy not knowing what else is out there. I got to thinking about the stars in this sense, in that in the USA we have a set of stars that we can see that people down here can't, and in the southern hemisphere there's another set of stars that people in the USA can't see. Although the stars themselves are huge, when we look at them in the sky they're very small. And that's what is different in the world - the little things. In that same sense we can see the moon in the USA, and we can see the moon in New Zealand. The moon is huge compared to these stars when looked at from earth. So the big things are the same in the world - we're all human, and the little things are different - our languages, our food, etc. I might have more on this later as I continue to ponder the big picture in life. There was a quote I heard last night on criminal minds that also got me thinking about these things and about life in general. It goes a little something like this... "We all die. The goal ins't to live forever, it's to create something that will." Think about that, and think about the world and how big and small it is at the same time.
Hope all is well,
Zach
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Last Week and the Week Ahead
During the last week I've had many interviews with recruiting agencies. The vast majority of IT positions in New Zealand are hiring through these agencies, and they each specialize in different areas (government, large enterprise, medium enterprise, consulting firms, etc.). From these interviews I've gotten a good response about my skills, and learned where I need to focus my learning and my future IT certifications. Sadly I have yet to get a job, and have had only one interview with an actual company.
That interview was yesterday, with our Internet Provider "TelstraClear". The interview went OK, however I'm a lot less confident after having the interview. I'm not sure why, but it made me really think about what kinds of IT job I could get and how prepared I am to have another IT job. I have a lot of thinking to do about where I am in my career and where I see my career going. Many of you would be quick to point out that I'm young and have my whole life to figure that out, but alas I am going to be stubborn and do it my way. :) I do welcome all of your input in the matter, and always listen to your suggestions.
Another thing that hit me hard yesterday was after the interview I got an email about another job that a recruiter had emailed to me. I was very excited about the position as it seemed to be a perfect fit (if there is such a thing) and in my opinion I was perfect for it. Much to my disbelief, the manager of that position told the recruiter that they thought I was too "senior" for the role, or that it was below me. It hit me hard because here I was thinking I wasn't good enough for any of the roles I was applying for and then the next second I'm too good. I wish things were easier, but I know that they never are.
The economy has me a little worried lately, as I'm sure it has everyone worried. Because of the time difference in New Zealand when I wake up and eat my breakfast while watching the news the stock markets are closing. Yesterday I sat as the dow was down 800 points, thinking "how can people go to work knowing that everything is going downhill so fast?" I regret not voting absentee, and I do realize how important every vote is. At the same time I don't know who would be better in this time of uncertainty. I know what I believe, and I know who stands with me on 99% of the issues, but the issue that matters most is the economy and I don't know if either candidate will be good for it. I joke when I tell people that I'm from the USA that with the current state of the economy I got out at the right time. I don't think that's true at all. The way things are shaping up around the world there is no way to "get out" or avoid the economic downfall. Its made me think a lot about the great depression, and how America said that we wouldn't let that happen again. Look at Iceland! We're in the year 2008 and Iceland's economy got so bad in a week that it's currency dropped 30%! Iceland is an industrialized nation, they have a GDP, they export, they do stuff! How did this happen? If it can happen to iceland why can't it happen to us? Why can't it happen to the world? The way things are shaping up and crashing down it's only a matter of time before the entire world is in crisis. There was an article on CNN about a 25 year old lady who lost all of her retirement in stocks in the last few weeks and was devastated. What about the retirees who have lost EVERYTHING in the last few weeks? What about the 42 year old man with a wife and 3 kids who just lost the college savings for his oldest child? Are these things we've all taken for granted over the last century, or are these things we deserve as "Americans"? I don't know what's going to happen with the economy - nobody does. We can hope that it turns around. Maybe this is the economic "Katrina". We saw the warnings and we watched the first blow go by. Now we're here a few days later going "maybe we should step in and do something". Perhaps because of what's happening now and what may happen in the next months or years we'll be weathered for the storm. Perhaps this is good in the long run, after all who doesn't want to say the soundbite "the dow will bounce back". All I know it's hard to be motivated to find a job when you know there are less and less jobs, and the job I find may not last long.
I have another interview tomorrow at a company here in town that I'm hoping goes well. I don't know if I want the job, but I want my confidence restored and a good showing at an interview should do that.
I have more to say, much much more, but I don't want these posts to get too long. Let me know what you guys think about anything I discuss in these. I'm curious how the economy is affecting other people and how the elections are shaping up at home.
I hope everyone is well today/tonight, and I miss you all.
-Zach
That interview was yesterday, with our Internet Provider "TelstraClear". The interview went OK, however I'm a lot less confident after having the interview. I'm not sure why, but it made me really think about what kinds of IT job I could get and how prepared I am to have another IT job. I have a lot of thinking to do about where I am in my career and where I see my career going. Many of you would be quick to point out that I'm young and have my whole life to figure that out, but alas I am going to be stubborn and do it my way. :) I do welcome all of your input in the matter, and always listen to your suggestions.
Another thing that hit me hard yesterday was after the interview I got an email about another job that a recruiter had emailed to me. I was very excited about the position as it seemed to be a perfect fit (if there is such a thing) and in my opinion I was perfect for it. Much to my disbelief, the manager of that position told the recruiter that they thought I was too "senior" for the role, or that it was below me. It hit me hard because here I was thinking I wasn't good enough for any of the roles I was applying for and then the next second I'm too good. I wish things were easier, but I know that they never are.
The economy has me a little worried lately, as I'm sure it has everyone worried. Because of the time difference in New Zealand when I wake up and eat my breakfast while watching the news the stock markets are closing. Yesterday I sat as the dow was down 800 points, thinking "how can people go to work knowing that everything is going downhill so fast?" I regret not voting absentee, and I do realize how important every vote is. At the same time I don't know who would be better in this time of uncertainty. I know what I believe, and I know who stands with me on 99% of the issues, but the issue that matters most is the economy and I don't know if either candidate will be good for it. I joke when I tell people that I'm from the USA that with the current state of the economy I got out at the right time. I don't think that's true at all. The way things are shaping up around the world there is no way to "get out" or avoid the economic downfall. Its made me think a lot about the great depression, and how America said that we wouldn't let that happen again. Look at Iceland! We're in the year 2008 and Iceland's economy got so bad in a week that it's currency dropped 30%! Iceland is an industrialized nation, they have a GDP, they export, they do stuff! How did this happen? If it can happen to iceland why can't it happen to us? Why can't it happen to the world? The way things are shaping up and crashing down it's only a matter of time before the entire world is in crisis. There was an article on CNN about a 25 year old lady who lost all of her retirement in stocks in the last few weeks and was devastated. What about the retirees who have lost EVERYTHING in the last few weeks? What about the 42 year old man with a wife and 3 kids who just lost the college savings for his oldest child? Are these things we've all taken for granted over the last century, or are these things we deserve as "Americans"? I don't know what's going to happen with the economy - nobody does. We can hope that it turns around. Maybe this is the economic "Katrina". We saw the warnings and we watched the first blow go by. Now we're here a few days later going "maybe we should step in and do something". Perhaps because of what's happening now and what may happen in the next months or years we'll be weathered for the storm. Perhaps this is good in the long run, after all who doesn't want to say the soundbite "the dow will bounce back". All I know it's hard to be motivated to find a job when you know there are less and less jobs, and the job I find may not last long.
I have another interview tomorrow at a company here in town that I'm hoping goes well. I don't know if I want the job, but I want my confidence restored and a good showing at an interview should do that.
I have more to say, much much more, but I don't want these posts to get too long. Let me know what you guys think about anything I discuss in these. I'm curious how the economy is affecting other people and how the elections are shaping up at home.
I hope everyone is well today/tonight, and I miss you all.
-Zach
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
New Zealand PSA
Ok - I found the really morbid New Zealand public service announcement ads. Watch them below...
http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/advertising/speed/same-cop.mpg
http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/advertising/fatigue/fatigue-drifting.mpg
http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/advertising/drink-driving/mate.mpg
I'm still searching for the one where the dude throws a kid into a bookshelf (yeah - CRAZY morbid!), when I find it I'll post it.
Hope everyone is well (and not drinking/driving, speeding, sleeping)
EDIT: Found it! http://www.hadenough.org.nz/Resources/Media/ALC_045_203_LARGE.wmv
I also found a news article about this ad and other ads that are not allowed to be shown before 8:30pm because of their violent nature.
http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/advertising/speed/same-cop.mpg
http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/advertising/fatigue/fatigue-drifting.mpg
http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/advertising/drink-driving/mate.mpg
I'm still searching for the one where the dude throws a kid into a bookshelf (yeah - CRAZY morbid!), when I find it I'll post it.
Hope everyone is well (and not drinking/driving, speeding, sleeping)
EDIT: Found it! http://www.hadenough.org.nz/Resources/Media/ALC_045_203_LARGE.wmv
I also found a news article about this ad and other ads that are not allowed to be shown before 8:30pm because of their violent nature.
Monday, October 6, 2008
She's on fire
There's a great pseudo-song on Grand Theft Auto 3 called "She's on fire" that for some reason I have stuck in my head right now. The really sad part of this is that the song is only two or three lines long, so when it's repeating over and over and over it's like a car tumbling down the side of a cliff just rolling over and over and over. Maybe that's a little too intense, but it is what it is.
Speaking of intense - New Zealand has some pretty f'ed up public service announcement ads on TV. I have to search for them on YouTube or something because everyone HAS to see them. They're good ads with good intent (i.e. don't drink and drive, don't speed, etc.) but they all end up with someone dieing. One that we saw last night was a guy drinking at a party and he threw a kid into an entertainment center killing him. They're about a minute long and just freaky. I'm going to find some tomorrow for ya'll.
By now you're all going "What is he talking about? I want to know about New Zealand, not the crazy stuff that goes on in your head, mate!" So - New Zealand.
Amy worked @ the wine store two nights ago and liked it. She's waiting to hear back from them and the French restaurant to see when she's working. I had an interview today and I have another one tomorrow. Hopefully something will pan out. The one I had today was with yet another recruitment agency, which is great because I'm getting really comfortable talking with them. The lady commented at the end that after talking with me that she learned a lot more about my position @ SVA and thought I was capable of a lot of different roles and was really impressed by my 2-3 years experience crammed full of good things. What can I say, I put on a tie and the Zach-magic just starts coming out my pores.
It's crazy how bad the economy is affecting EVERYTHING. When I started looking @ jobs a month or two ago there were 3,000+ IT jobs for hire in New Zealand, and now there's less than 1,500. The NZ elections are coming up in November too, so people are waiting to see what they're going to do about the economy like us.
This keyboard SUCKS. I'm in a shady internet cafe and this keyboard does NOT want to type things at all. Tomorrow we get our internet installed so I can do more blogging then without all these issues.
Hope everyone is doing well, and we'll get to responding to facebook mssgs, and week or so old emails tomorrow!
-Zach
Speaking of intense - New Zealand has some pretty f'ed up public service announcement ads on TV. I have to search for them on YouTube or something because everyone HAS to see them. They're good ads with good intent (i.e. don't drink and drive, don't speed, etc.) but they all end up with someone dieing. One that we saw last night was a guy drinking at a party and he threw a kid into an entertainment center killing him. They're about a minute long and just freaky. I'm going to find some tomorrow for ya'll.
By now you're all going "What is he talking about? I want to know about New Zealand, not the crazy stuff that goes on in your head, mate!" So - New Zealand.
Amy worked @ the wine store two nights ago and liked it. She's waiting to hear back from them and the French restaurant to see when she's working. I had an interview today and I have another one tomorrow. Hopefully something will pan out. The one I had today was with yet another recruitment agency, which is great because I'm getting really comfortable talking with them. The lady commented at the end that after talking with me that she learned a lot more about my position @ SVA and thought I was capable of a lot of different roles and was really impressed by my 2-3 years experience crammed full of good things. What can I say, I put on a tie and the Zach-magic just starts coming out my pores.
It's crazy how bad the economy is affecting EVERYTHING. When I started looking @ jobs a month or two ago there were 3,000+ IT jobs for hire in New Zealand, and now there's less than 1,500. The NZ elections are coming up in November too, so people are waiting to see what they're going to do about the economy like us.
This keyboard SUCKS. I'm in a shady internet cafe and this keyboard does NOT want to type things at all. Tomorrow we get our internet installed so I can do more blogging then without all these issues.
Hope everyone is doing well, and we'll get to responding to facebook mssgs, and week or so old emails tomorrow!
-Zach
Thursday, October 2, 2008
And the hunt begins...
Before I tell you more about our time in New Zealand, I’d like to tell everyone about a news story last week. On the day Amy and I left Auckland, a man was fatally stabbed to death on the street. This occurred about an hour after we left our hotel, less than 2 blocks from where we were staying. The man was leaving his office building when he saw a woman getting attacked. She called for his help – she did not know him and he did not know her. He rushed to her assistance and started to chase the attacker. The attacker turned around and stabbed the man before fleeing. The man, fatally wounded, was able to dial 11, the first two digits of the emergency number 111, before collapsing on the street. Some construction workers saw him collapse, and were able to call 111 and spot the man fleeing and eventually identify him for police. There were several days worth of stories about this man, this “good samaritan” who by intervening saved this woman’s life. The woman spent a few days in the hospital; however the man who saved her died on the street before ambulances arrived. The reason I wanted to share this story with everyone is not because it shows how dangerous New Zealand is as it really isn’t dangerous at all, but because it shows how selfless most New Zealanders are. Had this happened in the United States would someone had jumped in as quickly, and stopped the woman from being assaulted? Here in New Zealand the FIRST person who was asked for help responded. The FIRST person who saw the man collapse responded. And the FIRST person who saw another man fleeing responded. This story in the news touched me. It shows what we all should do but rarely do. The man died saving others, and left behind his wife and three children. Was that his intent? No. His intent was to do what was right no matter what the cost may be for him. To that, I tip my hat to you and all those like you in world.
Now, as for our adventures in Wellington...
Monday we sent out our resumes. I applied for approx. 20 IT jobs, and got a lot of responses. Amy applied for a few random jobs – a wine shop, a bar, a sandwich shop, etc, and got a few responses. Tuesday I had to go into town to have an interview with a recruitment agency called Kelly Services. Kelly Services is the agency I’ve been working with for a few weeks now, they just wanted to meet me in person and discuss the job market, etc. So I went in and was told that they didn’t have jack and blah blah blah blah. There’s an election here in 6 weeks, and nobody knows who is going to get elected. If it’s this one dude then everyone in the government loses their jobs, and if it’s the other then they hire 300,000 more people. So the current state of the job market is: “Wait 6 weeks and see what happens.” Yuck. Between that and Wall Street’s shortcomings, nobody wants to hire anyone permanently.
But wait... I’m not looking for a permanent job, I’m looking for a CONTRACT job. *evil laughter* Since nobody wants to hire people only to then fire them if things turn really bad, they’re looking to contract people! Woo-hoo! Wednesday I had two more interviews at recruitment agencies (Candle ICT and IDPE IT Recruitment Specialists). The first one, Candle ICT, went phenomenally well. The guy loved me. I was workin my Zach-Magic again, and he was eating it out of my palm. He’s going to shortlist me for a job as a Systems Analyst (what I want to do) that he has to turn in today. I should get a call from them today or tomorrow to schedule an interview with the company. The second agency wasn’t taking too well to the Zach-Magic-spoon-feeding that we’re all so keen to. They outnumbered me two to one, so I was caught off-guard and couldn’t understand his accent too well. They were going to pass my resume on to a company that had already interviewed a few people, so hopefully they haven’t found anyone worthwhile yet and call me for an interview.
Amy called a French restaurant and spoke with the owner about getting a job as a hostess. She had a quick interview there yesterday (in French apparently) and is going to have a trail-by-french-fire night there this evening to see if she fits. She followed that interview up with one at a wine shop, where she was pretty much given the job (she has to have a “trial” night to see if she likes it and then the job is hers). After that interview she had yet another one, this time at a sandwich shop. She has a trial morning there on Friday. She’s excited about the wine shop and the restaurant, but they’re both full time and both evenings (4/5 – 11pm) and she doesn’t want to work opposite shifts from me. The sandwich place she’s not too excited about, but it pays 50 cents more an hour than the wine shop, and the hours are from 5-11am. She’s going to try them out and see what she likes over the next few days.
We’re going to head into town today to use some internet. I have to check my email and see if anyone got back to me about any other jobs. I also have to check the sony style store’s website, as yesterday they told me they’d be advertising a position on there. It may not be a job in IT, but it’s a job that includes a Sony discount and who doesn’t love that?
We’ll try and get more pics up of Wellington soon. Hope everyone is doing well.
Happy (late) Birthday Grandma Pancaro! I miss you guys!
P.S. - Here's a link to a news artcile about the man who was stabbed. They have since arrested the attacker and found the knife used. LINK
Now, as for our adventures in Wellington...
Monday we sent out our resumes. I applied for approx. 20 IT jobs, and got a lot of responses. Amy applied for a few random jobs – a wine shop, a bar, a sandwich shop, etc, and got a few responses. Tuesday I had to go into town to have an interview with a recruitment agency called Kelly Services. Kelly Services is the agency I’ve been working with for a few weeks now, they just wanted to meet me in person and discuss the job market, etc. So I went in and was told that they didn’t have jack and blah blah blah blah. There’s an election here in 6 weeks, and nobody knows who is going to get elected. If it’s this one dude then everyone in the government loses their jobs, and if it’s the other then they hire 300,000 more people. So the current state of the job market is: “Wait 6 weeks and see what happens.” Yuck. Between that and Wall Street’s shortcomings, nobody wants to hire anyone permanently.
But wait... I’m not looking for a permanent job, I’m looking for a CONTRACT job. *evil laughter* Since nobody wants to hire people only to then fire them if things turn really bad, they’re looking to contract people! Woo-hoo! Wednesday I had two more interviews at recruitment agencies (Candle ICT and IDPE IT Recruitment Specialists). The first one, Candle ICT, went phenomenally well. The guy loved me. I was workin my Zach-Magic again, and he was eating it out of my palm. He’s going to shortlist me for a job as a Systems Analyst (what I want to do) that he has to turn in today. I should get a call from them today or tomorrow to schedule an interview with the company. The second agency wasn’t taking too well to the Zach-Magic-spoon-feeding that we’re all so keen to. They outnumbered me two to one, so I was caught off-guard and couldn’t understand his accent too well. They were going to pass my resume on to a company that had already interviewed a few people, so hopefully they haven’t found anyone worthwhile yet and call me for an interview.
Amy called a French restaurant and spoke with the owner about getting a job as a hostess. She had a quick interview there yesterday (in French apparently) and is going to have a trail-by-french-fire night there this evening to see if she fits. She followed that interview up with one at a wine shop, where she was pretty much given the job (she has to have a “trial” night to see if she likes it and then the job is hers). After that interview she had yet another one, this time at a sandwich shop. She has a trial morning there on Friday. She’s excited about the wine shop and the restaurant, but they’re both full time and both evenings (4/5 – 11pm) and she doesn’t want to work opposite shifts from me. The sandwich place she’s not too excited about, but it pays 50 cents more an hour than the wine shop, and the hours are from 5-11am. She’s going to try them out and see what she likes over the next few days.
We’re going to head into town today to use some internet. I have to check my email and see if anyone got back to me about any other jobs. I also have to check the sony style store’s website, as yesterday they told me they’d be advertising a position on there. It may not be a job in IT, but it’s a job that includes a Sony discount and who doesn’t love that?
We’ll try and get more pics up of Wellington soon. Hope everyone is doing well.
Happy (late) Birthday Grandma Pancaro! I miss you guys!
P.S. - Here's a link to a news artcile about the man who was stabbed. They have since arrested the attacker and found the knife used. LINK
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
They Call Me the Jackal
Amy and I each have two interviews today so we're short on time today.
Hope all is well, we'll update you more later today (hopefully).
Zach
Hope all is well, we'll update you more later today (hopefully).
Zach
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