In my last post, I mentioned that I was expecting a call from a company (Kaiser) that seemed to have interest in me. Well, in the time since that post, I have had two interviews with them. The first was with the recruiter and lasted about a half hour. I made it past that screening and had a second interview yesterday. That one lasted an hour and 14 minutes, and I am not waiting to hear what happens next, which I was told I should know in the next few days. I feel good about how it went and am really hoping they feel the same way, which should mean a third interview, face-to-face finally...hopefully...since the first two have been via phone.
One thing that I feel good about is that I don't really get that nervous for interviews, especially over the phone. Also, since I have taken advantage of the career counselor services provided by Chevron, I was pretty well prepared for this last interview since I had been given a cd by my counselor about nearly 100 interview questions and how they should/could be answered. I remember two questions I was asked were worded exactly the same on the cd as they were in the interview. The interviewer, who would be my manager if I'm hired, seemed to be pretty interested in many of the things I was saying. he spent most of the interview asking me about a variety of different situations that I had experienced, which made the interview that much easier. There was only one that I had a little trouble coming up with an answer for, but I did come up with one.
Needless to say, I'm really hoping this will work out and that they realize that I'm the right person for them to hire. The commute (Pasadena) would be 2 miles longer than my current commute (El Segundo), which is manageable. This would also represent the third general area of the "Southland" that I have worked in: Irvine, El Segundo, Pasadena. To me that is kind of cool because it gives me more familiarity with southern California, especially when it comes to alternate route. I already have the alternate route to/from Pasadena recognized, and it would cut the commute to 21 miles via surface streets the entire way!
So what have I been doing with all this time at home? The biggest thing to me is spending time with the family. I get to take the kids to school and pick them up, which I love doing. I get to spend more time with Traci, although with the way Traci Steinman Photography is going, she is pretty busy now, not to mention that she is also co-coordinator for MOPS at our church, which is another job all by itself. I have been doing some job searching, although that has slowed considerably with the prospects of this job at Kaiser. Plus I have attended a few webinars related to job search preparations, via the career counseling services company.
I also spend time just hanging out. It's been nice to be able to watch the playoff games that are on during the day (even though the Dodgers are already playing golf) and I have taken Skyler to Disneyland a couple of times while Courtney has been in school. I'm planning on taking Courtney by herself on the 29th since she doesn't have school that day (parent conferences) so that we can do all the fast and crazy rides she wants since we're kind of limited when we usually go.
The highlight of my week has remained Saturday because of the joy I experience coaching Skyler's soccer team. I haven't felt that good about doing something in quite a while. The kids are great, the patents are great, my assistant coach is great and my team mom is great. Of course it helps that the Asst. Coach and Team Mom are family, but that makes it that much better.
Traci and the girls will be home from the gym soon, so I better catch up on the Yanks-Rangers game and hope that the Rangers are taking control of the series! Too late, they're home and need to get ready for bed...the girls anyway.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Time Off
So it has begun, the nerve-wracking time off from work. In one way it's nice because I don't have to worry about getting up early every morning, I don't have the stresses of work or sharing an office with someone who I do not feel very comfortable around. However, there are the other stresses from being home such as wondering where my next career move will be, financial concerns if nothing pans out before the money does and the (what feels like the remote-) possibility of heading back into depression, especially if money issues affect being able to medications.
The one nice thing is that although I would still love to be working for Chevron, financially, what's going on could be a ton worse. I turned in all my company stuff yesterday and now have no access to anything Chevron. However, I am on their payroll until November 9. This means that benefits are will remain in place through November 30 and that I will continue receiving my normal semi-monthly paychecks. If I don't have a job by November 9, I then qualify for 8-weeks of severance pay, plus unused vacation (1.5 weeks). In other words, we should be OK with money until the end of the year.
I have never enjoyed job hunting. I would rather negotiate the purchase of a car before job hunting. Fortunately, though, it appears I may have a lead on a potentially promising position with Kaiser Permanente (in Pasadena). A friend of mine who actually took over my first analyst position at Chevron, let me know about the position, which just got posted this week. From the sounds of it, this would be a great move for me as the job sounds very similar to what I have been doing. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and praying and hoping that something comes of this. I've been told that I will be contacted, but so far, no call. Therefore, I assume nothing yet about it.
In the meantime, this next week should be pretty productive as I will be establishing communication with the Chevron people (a specific corporate team) that will be looking out for other Chevron positions that I could perform based on my experience and the like. I will also be attending a webinar orientation for the company that will help me market myself, sharpen the resumes and such in order to successfully navigate the job market (outside Chevron). Both of those services are paid for and provided by Chevron...not bad.
One thing that has very quickly become the highlight of every week for me, especially with the current circumstances, is coaching Skyler's soccer team, the Green Gators. It has been so much more fun than I expected. It's awesome to watch the kids get better and better each week, We've now played 4 games and have 6 to go. Our first two games, we tied. Our last two games, we've won! So we are undefeated after 4 games: 2-0-2. I would not have expected this based on my significant lack of knowledge of soccer. In that sense, this has been a good learning experience for me as well as the kids. I think some of them know a lot more that I do about the sport. Some of them are just flat-out studs/studettes!
Thanks to my friend, I was able to take in one last Dodger game this year last night. Of course the Dodgers lost 7-5, but what happened in the game did not compare to my experience in my seat. For the first time ever, in about 25 years of going to Dodger games, I caught a game ball! We had pretty good seats on the Loge (second) level about seven rows behind third base. The ball initially landed two rows and one section past me, but took a hop or two off a chair and/or fan who didn't know how to catch. All this while my friend was up getting a drink or hitting the restroom...but, oh well.
The one nice thing is that although I would still love to be working for Chevron, financially, what's going on could be a ton worse. I turned in all my company stuff yesterday and now have no access to anything Chevron. However, I am on their payroll until November 9. This means that benefits are will remain in place through November 30 and that I will continue receiving my normal semi-monthly paychecks. If I don't have a job by November 9, I then qualify for 8-weeks of severance pay, plus unused vacation (1.5 weeks). In other words, we should be OK with money until the end of the year.
I have never enjoyed job hunting. I would rather negotiate the purchase of a car before job hunting. Fortunately, though, it appears I may have a lead on a potentially promising position with Kaiser Permanente (in Pasadena). A friend of mine who actually took over my first analyst position at Chevron, let me know about the position, which just got posted this week. From the sounds of it, this would be a great move for me as the job sounds very similar to what I have been doing. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and praying and hoping that something comes of this. I've been told that I will be contacted, but so far, no call. Therefore, I assume nothing yet about it.
In the meantime, this next week should be pretty productive as I will be establishing communication with the Chevron people (a specific corporate team) that will be looking out for other Chevron positions that I could perform based on my experience and the like. I will also be attending a webinar orientation for the company that will help me market myself, sharpen the resumes and such in order to successfully navigate the job market (outside Chevron). Both of those services are paid for and provided by Chevron...not bad.
One thing that has very quickly become the highlight of every week for me, especially with the current circumstances, is coaching Skyler's soccer team, the Green Gators. It has been so much more fun than I expected. It's awesome to watch the kids get better and better each week, We've now played 4 games and have 6 to go. Our first two games, we tied. Our last two games, we've won! So we are undefeated after 4 games: 2-0-2. I would not have expected this based on my significant lack of knowledge of soccer. In that sense, this has been a good learning experience for me as well as the kids. I think some of them know a lot more that I do about the sport. Some of them are just flat-out studs/studettes!
Thanks to my friend, I was able to take in one last Dodger game this year last night. Of course the Dodgers lost 7-5, but what happened in the game did not compare to my experience in my seat. For the first time ever, in about 25 years of going to Dodger games, I caught a game ball! We had pretty good seats on the Loge (second) level about seven rows behind third base. The ball initially landed two rows and one section past me, but took a hop or two off a chair and/or fan who didn't know how to catch. All this while my friend was up getting a drink or hitting the restroom...but, oh well.
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