Too good to last...
 

Welp,

Looks like I may be on the hunt for a new job here in about 2 weeks. My department is downsizing and if I don't find another job within the company in 2 weeks, I'm out of a job. I don't interview well and haven't interviewed for a job in about 10 years.

So this is just great. Lost my wife and my home and now I may lose my job. This is awesome.

Sorry to read this, Jedi.

What business/position do you work in?

Sorry to hear. :(

Damn, that sucks. What are the odds of finding another job in the company?

I'm a QA software engineer at Apple for Final Cut Studio.


Thanks man


I'm not sure. They gave me a list of jobs within the Applications division, so I need to go through that. They said that was just a small sampling of the total jobs within Apple. So, I may get lucky...I hope.

You're at Apple, a big company, I think your chances are higher than if you were at a smaller company at least.

I'm hoping. I'm going to see if there's anything in iTunes or the iPhone, things that I know won't go away for a long time.

I would think they have lots of jobs serving this function.

Best of luck.

Good luck, man. Considering I'm going through the same job thing now, I definitely can empathize.

SI

ugh. good luck man

Good luck

I hope so. I wanted to get my office all packed first before looking at Apple's internal job site. Thanks for the luck. :)

Thanks man. I hope you find something soon and we can post in a "Found a Job" thread for you. :)

DT & Mark...Thanks guys, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Best of luck Jedi. Use the force on those in charge and you will be fine.

Jedi - keep us posted. I know my BFF was pretty well tied-in with the software community in the Valley...not sure if he knows of anyone looking for software QA engineers, but it can't hurt to ask if you need me to.

Hey Jedi,

I know Adobe is hiring in several areas as well and if you have the Final Cut skill set and the QA experience should help in several of their app divisions. Check them out.

Yes, this is the programmer you are looking for.

Hang in there JK, keep plugging.

Sorry to hear Jedi, keep your head up, with a big company like Apple something should shake out. Best of luck to you.

Aww dang, sorry JediKooter :( Would relocating be an option?

1. Work on your interview skills immediately. Find someone to practice with and take those sessions seriously. If you interview badly, it's going to be even tougher on you if you get laid off - there are a lot of candidates out there and if you suck at interviews, you won't get a sniff on the open market. At least inside Apple you understand the corporate culture. There's no real excuse for being a bad interviewee.

2. If you do get laid off, file for unemployment the very same day. Don't wait for pride, a pending job offer or the tooth fairy.

Thanks man. I did try that. Didn't work unfortunately. I did get a cupcake though!


I will keep updating for sure. Yes, please ask him. At this point in time any possibility is 100% than what I have right now. I really appreciate you asking. :)


Adobe is a dang good idea. Plus with Premier and After Effects, that basically the same thing I'm doing...was doing. I'm definitely going to hit up their site tonight. I know ILM is hiring too, but, I'm not sure what for though. I have a possible (extremely slight) in LA and maybe something in Houston, but the Houston thing is months away though.


Haha! Yes, I will keep plugging away. Hopefully my skill set isn't too niche.


Thanks BYU. I'm hoping that is the case. I have to compete with about 50 other people by my estimate. So, keeping my fingers crossed and my lower case Js dotted.


Thanks DC. Yes, relocating is an option since my wife freed up my schedule last summer. :)


Blackadar: For sure need to do that. I haven't really had to interview for a job in about 10/11 years by my calculations. So, there's plenty of rust that needs to be cleaned off.

I will be filing for that very soon. They are keeping us on the payroll for two more weeks then we get a two month severance package.

Let the fun begin...

I have fired an email off to my Adobe friends to see if they have anything open in your area.

I will generally hear back in the next day or two.

Too awesome MacroGuru!! I appreciate big big big time. Even if nothing pans out with them, I definitely owe you some beer or other beverage of your choice.

Thanks again :)

Well, hopefully there's some good news soon...Got an email from my former director and he said that ILM is looking for 4 QA guys and actually a few former Apple people I worked with are there in that department. So, George Lucas, you will be getting my resume in the next 48 hours. yes...this is the resume you are looking for...

Ok cool. Just got off the phone with an Apple recruiter and he is setting me up for some interviews on Monday!!

Good way to go into the weekend, on a positive note, and now you can be prepared ... but for the love of Pete, don't stress yourself into a bad way between now & then.

No matter how long since you've done the interview thing, you're a big boy & you can handle this so don't get yourself twisted into a knot over the next couple of days.

Hell, just go in and tell them your FOFC handle, that alone should get you the damn job.

Good luck, Jedi!

/tk

You are absolutely correct Jon. I'm just trying to take it easy for the rest of the weekend and polishing up my resume. Went out last night with some friends from work and other friends that were laid off.


Haha! If things start looking bad, I just might have to pull that card out and play it. :)


Thanks TK!!

One of the things I remember from my last go round of interviews is to have a bag of about a dozen stories handy that you can recall details and reflect well on you professionally. I try to mix it up from various times in your career and with different jobs just because it makes the stories seem relevant across my entire body of work.

That way when they ask some interview question you don't have a good answer for, you can just plug in one of these good stories even if it's only tangentially related. It's like when politicians get a question in a debate they don't want to answer then you can just talk about something else that reflects well on you. "So, Mark Sanford- what about that time you went hiking in the Appalachians" "Well, I love my family and there was this one time that little whasshername, my daughter, did something cute and you guys just love when I answer questions about her since she's so cute. Oh, and tax cuts! Next question"

I think that's the only useful job interview advice I have. But, yeah, think up a couple of questions vaguely related to leadership, difficult times at work, and some of the other generic questions that are often asked so that you've won those battles before you even start.

SI

Hopefully I can come up with some stories. I think I've led a rather mundane life to be honest though, haha.

Will definitely try and think of some of those questions. A head start will be a big advantage in my opinion. Thanks for the advice Sterling!

I do bad at interviews, too, and I'm no HR person so this may just be "the blind leading the blind" ;)

SI

Hey, even a broken clock is right two times a day!

Cool. Just got off the phone with the owner of a place for a possible job in LA. Went rather well for an off the cuff type conversation. Should be getting a call on Monday or Tuesday of next week with more detail.

awesome. YOu'll have more time to sit around online all day

Haha! And I am!! Of course it helps that it's raining like crazy today. :)

During my job search today, found an opening for The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien...oops!

Ok, tomorrow is the day, I interview with 13 (yes, 13) people at ILM. So, looks like I get to do the Death Star trench run of interviews on St. Patty's day. Have a few for me!! :)

OOoh, good luck!!!!!!!

Thanks DC! :D

13? :eek:

That's what I said. Not because of the stigma attached to that number, but, geez, 13? Couldn't find the rest of the people in the building to interview me? Haha!

i'd think that means they're fairly interested in you though - that's a lot of man-hours to devote to an interview...

I sure do hope so. :) Yes, that is quite a bit of time devoted to an interview and hopefully my interview will go better than the one that Luke's aunt and uncle had with the stormtroopers.

Good luck, man!
/tk

good luck kooter!

We recently interviewed for a couple of positions in my contracting group. We had over 100 people apply for two spots, though I should note that the majority of them weren't qualified and were just taking a shot in the dark. It actually made it a bit tough to sort through all of the people qualified for the position to get the two that we thought fit our group best. We probably could have hired 8-9 people if we had that many spots available.

I'm interested to see who I'll be able to hire when I start the winery later this summer. We're going to have some good options available. My only problem will be making sure to hire people that don't jump ship as soon as the market heats back up.

Thank you TK!


Thank you DT!


That kind of sounds like what may be going on with the position I'm trying to get. From talking to my potential manager there, she said that it's been about 2 months that the position has been open. So, I wouldn't be surprised if that's why they haven't filled it yet.

Keeping good quality people is always something to consider and a challenge. A great work environment and fair compensation, I think go a long way in keeping good workers around. It's funny, I just read an article that is kind of related to what you are saying, they said younger workers want more pay and more time off than workers from my generation (born in early 70s) and older. They basically said that younger workers (not all of them) don't understand that you have to earn the perks and the pay and you're not going to be a manager after working there for 3 months.

Good luck!

Thank you Passacaglia!

13 people, are you sure it's an interview and not an intervention?

Haha! That's a dang good question. I guess I will find out here shortly. :)

In fact there are only 9 people in total there. They pulled 4 random people off the street. Good luck, hope all goes well.

Haha! Looks like 2 backed out as I ended up talking to only 11 people.

I have to say, I think all in all, it went pretty dang good. I feel pretty good about how the whole thing went, didn't really stumble on any of the questions except for one, but, ended up answering it in a very round about way.

Definitely some kick ass facilities there. Wow. The view from the cafeteria is one of the best I've ever seen. Some serious talent walk the halls there for sure and it would be pretty cool to be able to work them. Hopefully I will get some good news here real soon.

awesome jedi!!

I have to say it was kind of intimidating while I was waiting in the lobby with a life sized Boba Fett near where I was sitting and Darth Vader not too far from him. :D

Sounds like it went well, best of luck.

I definitely felt good about it for sure. Thank you!

Good luck!

Thanks Kodos!

Good luck JK

Thank you Jon! Hopefully I will have some good news to share sooner than later.

Congrats on the interview and good luck :D

SI

Thank you SI!

Funny...now Apple is calling me back for a job. Haha!

When it rains it pours? ;)

Good luck!

/tk

No kidding, haha.

Thank you :)

awesome JK!

Crazy last couple of days I do have to admit. The manager I spoke with at Apple says he wants to bring me on the team, but, he's still waiting for the req to get approved.

You don't even need to interview?

Excellent :)

SI

awesome. same pay? pay raise?

i've noticed that the job-stuff happens in bunches. my dad is looking right now and it's all very...bunchy.

Great news JK. As for myself after months and months of no leads whatsoever I get 4 calls from people wanting resumes/interviews. I hope something comes through because I'm beyond desperate.

The 20 minute phone call I guess was the interview, haha! I think it helped that what I worked on previously at Apple is a lot of what they do and plus I already know the systems there too.


Oh yea! :D


Not sure about the pay, but, from my past experience with Apple, that was one of the last things finalized.

Bunchy. That is a very appropriate word for it indeed!


That's how I've felt for this last month and a half to be honest. It was nothing after saturating companies with my resume and now, it's all of a sudden phone calls and interviews. One of my biggest concerns is because what I do, I feel is rather niche, that it may be a few months before finding work again.

I hope one of those gets you back in the door soon man. You definitely have all of my best wishes and good luck and if I can help in anyway, I would be more than willing to help out.

Glad to see things are looking up for you, Jedi. In my own situation, my boss called me on Tuesday to say that she and a couple of other managers are trying to get me extended to the end of the year. Their basic argument is that it will cost more having writers need to field complaints about errors that would appear without my presence than it would cost to keep me around. It's not a done deal, but it's nice to know that there are people in the company fighting to keep me around.

Thanks Kodos! Hopefully, the powers that be, agree with your boss and those managers. That's awesome that you have a group of managers on your side that want to keep you there and that's never a bad thing. Especially until the end of the year. That gives you plenty of time to possibly find something else or time enough to change things where there is no longer an 'end' date there. :D

Well, looks like I have one more interview to do. This time with the director of the department. From the conversation that I had, it pretty much sounded like unless I ended being a complete moron during the interview, they want to expedite the hiring process for THE job that I want.

Sounded like they wanted to get the interview done pretty soon too, so hopefully, maybe, by the end of the week, I will know if I'm hired or not.

Excellent, excellent news :D

SI

Yes it is for sure and hopefully more good news to follow soon.

good luck!

Wow that's awesome news. Good luck on what is hopefully the final interview en route to a new job. :)

/tk

Thank you Flasch!


It is good news! Thank you and yes, hopefully it will be the final interview. These guys have worn me out, haha, but it will be worth it.

Good luck with the interview.

Thank you EF!

Awesome! Good luck JediKooter!!

Thank you DC!

Alrighty! Job offer should be sometime later today! I spoke with the recruiter and he said that they are just finalizing the details of the offer with the hiring manager and should hear something soon.

awesome!!!

Yes indeed! Now I have to look into finding a new place to live that will be closer to work, which I'm not looking forward to, but, all things considered, I'm not complaining. :)

so this isn't the apple job right, but the ILM job?

that'd be sweet!

Correct, it is the ILM job. George Lucas will be my new boss after I sign all the paper work, haha!

can you kidney-punch him for the stillborn fetuses that were the prequels?

haha

Haha! No... ;)

If it's any consolation, when I was there for my interview, after the interview they took my on a tour of the facilities and in one of the areas they have some props, next to the Han Solo in carbonite, there is Jar Jar Binks in carbonite.

That was fast, they already called me back. They want me to start on the 19th.

Yeah!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, a lot of people's dream job! Congrats, sooo happy for you!!!

Thank you! Yes, that's what's making it kind of crazy. I will now have worked at two places that people are crazy about (in their own unique way) to get in the doors. But, I'm still staying reserved until I dot every i and lower case j.

i'll say it over here, just in case you end up with work-friends on facebook:

HOORAY!!! NOW WE (FOFC) HAVE INFILTRATED SKYWALKER RANCH!!! ILM HEADQUARTERS...THE EPICENTER OF SCI-FI GEEKDOM!!!

Great news! Congratulations!

Haha! I won't be at the ranch, but, I will be at the Presido facility. From the looks of it, I will be doing QA for ILM, Lucas Arts, Lucas Entertainment and Lucas Animation. Not 100% positive about the last one because that is mostly based in Singapore from my understanding.


Thank you Kodos!