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I Got Fired Today
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Bob,
Send her over - we're in a perpetual state of hiring over here, I've looked at more resumes than I care to think about. I can give you some feedback easily. 
What is it you do or prefer to do, Bob? That might help a bit. (Yes, I realize your resume would answer that, but I'm just talking Cliff's Notes here
 And by all means, send or post your resume, I can give it a critical eye. I'm involved in interviewing all the time 'round here. I know what we (don't) want to see.  --sofaspud --"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
bob, maybe we should have a job support group. *grin*
The good news is that at least you are taking action. BTW, make sure you have a good suit already pressed and ready. Someone told me that right now, it'll be more in a nature of a marathon in this job market. At least, it will be for me. __________________ Into terror!, Into valour! Charge ahead! No! Never turn Yes, it's into the fire we fly And the devil will burn! - Scarlett Pimpernell 
Chris, I'll drop it into email right now. It's in an old Word format, because I happen to have Word 97 on this machine. If that's not good for you,
let me know. Spud, as soon as I remember what the heck your email is, I'll shoot you a copy, too. This is annoying. I can't find anything in my address books under "Sofaspud", and I suck at putting handles and real names together, so if I have it under your real name, I'm missing that, too. Please drop it to me in Yuku mail or suitably obscured in the open channel? Thanks. -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
Oh, and to answer your question, Spud, I'm a PC programmer. I've specialized in Delphi for the last 15 years or so, but I can handle Visual Basic well
enough and was starting to prototype a VB.NET version of one of my apps. I've got a fair amount of SQL under my belt, some C, a little C++, and everything needed for my website, of course. It's a fairly eclectic skill set, but my main strength is that you can turn me loose with an IDE, a manual, and an idea, and I can dive right in and have something for you rather quickly. Ordnance, I have five suits pressed and ready... Next step is to start looking for recruiters in the area. I'd like to stay in NJ, at a driveable location; I got sick of commuting to NYC, so it's NJ recruiters, or at least ones who'll work in NJ, for me. -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak. Quote: Bob Schroeck wrote:What's "driveable"? North Jersey? South Jersey? Philly-Trenton? ![[Image: 6bf36ddc1d2c96930d75576c361a9b3f8152885f.gif]](http://www.accessdenied-rms.net/forums/forumimportfiles/6bf36ddc1d2c96930d75576c361a9b3f8152885f.gif) Jeanne Hedge www.jhedge.com "Believe me, if I have to go the rest of my life without companionship, knowing myself won't be a problem." -- Gabrielle of Potadeia
Good question. I'm spoiled by my commute to Best, which on a good day was about 25 minutes, but I'd be happy with anything within about an hour's
drive -- Trenton to the southwest, Howell or Freehold to the south, Morristown to the north, Elizabeth to the northeast. How's that? ETA: As long as Peggy's working in Plainsboro, I'm willing to go a bit further south, because that makes our commutes line up. Likewise, further north is more inconvenient as long as I'm part of her commute process. -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
Hrm. If it's advice you're after, I'm going to suggest picking up C#.
A quick glance at CareerBuilder shows a dearth of Delphi positions -- though there is one listed outside your preferred commute range (Saddle River). I'm not sure what your familiarity is with C#, but right now that's a hot skillset (in my experience). My company lists experience with it as a strong preference for our developer positions, for example (I'd point you that way, but our easternmost branch is in Colorado :/ ). A quick search on CB shows 20+ positions posted in the past 30 days for a C# programmer. The top three on my listing are in Hoboken, Princeton, and Voorhees, respectively, the last of which Google says is outside your preferred range, but that's only the top three, and one of those is within 20 miles (approximately).. I'll point out that C# is _dead easy_ to pick up. If you grok class-based programming and are familiar with C, you can pick it up in minutes and start doing useful stuff in just a couple hours. As I'm sure you're aware, the language doesn't really matter in programming, it's the mindset. Language familiarity just makes things easier. Also, Microsoft offers free downloads of the Express editions of VC#. The Express editions are slightlycrippled but nothing that'll prevent you from learning the language. (I know I sound like a MS fanboy here, but it's really just that that's what the market wants. :/ ) I sent an email to the guy I know whose company is based out of Newtown, PA, and I also realized that I have some contacts at a large consulting firm based out of Atlanta -- I play Starcraft with one of their top guys a couple times a month -- and they've got offices all over the east coast. I've sent an email to him too, see if he knows of anything. I'll let you know when I get word back. My email is sofaspud DOT prime AT gmail.com, if you still want to send that resume along. --sofaspud --"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
I have no C# experience, but I'll take your advice, grab the free download and look for a "for dummies" book or the like.
And yeah, I'll send you the resume, but be forewarned it's a first draft. Like I haven't made that clear already. And thanks for the call-making on my behalf. -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
I occasionally find myself having to translate between C# and VB.net. They're both .Net languages so if you can deal with one, switching to the other
shouldn't slow you down much.
Grrr. Only on XP and above. I really have to find an XP upgrade CDROM for my desktop before they vanish entirely.
At least I can put it on the laptop. -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak. Quote:As long as Peggy's working in Plainsboro http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_%28TV_series%29 ? "No can brain today. Want cheezeburger." From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies
Yes, that Plainsboro. No, the hospital isn't real. But if you linked to that page you know that.
I was profoundly depressed yesterday. I'm doing better today, having started getting my resume out to a few places in advance of the comments on it I've solicited from people -- I can always replace it if I make changes. Just that small amount of progress had made a great change in my point of view. -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
Despite how good I felt yesterday, I woke up feeling depressed today. I'm not sure how this will shake out; Helen's coming over tonight, so hopefully
the company of a friend will help. Plans for the day: Upload the resume to job sites. Call some headhunters. Read the ads in the papers. Some housework. Try my hand at C#. -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
the trick with post-employment depression is to Keep Working. Whether you're just making massive headway in the Honey Do list, catching up on personal
projects, or 'merely' spending time putting out resumes, the act of getting shaved, dressed, and ready for work will keep you on the '9 to 5 groove', which is very important for mental stability! "No can brain today. Want cheezeburger." From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies
That's pretty much what I'm doing. I'm a listmaker by nature already, but I'm also a compulsive worrier -- I've noticed that if I've
been doing anything except job-related stuff, I start getting antsy. However, I'm feeling much better now. I only have my resume on two or three sites at the moment, but I've already gotten one bite from a recruiter, who I seem to have impressed on the phone. It turned my mood completely around. I may even take a couple hours to play City of Heroes today. Or at least update dayjobs. -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak. Quote: Wiredgeek wrote:Volunteer work does wonderful things to fill in gaps on resumes in times like this. It shows you're motivated and willing to work (and keeps your mind on things other than the current situation). If the volunteer work has something to do with what you do or what you want to do, so much the better, but definitely not required. Jeanne Hedge www.jhedge.com "Believe me, if I have to go the rest of my life without companionship, knowing myself won't be a problem." -- Gabrielle of Potadeia
Something I should probably look into, Jeanne, yes. But at the moment, I seem to be eating up most of my day with the resumes and the posting. Not sure how
I'm doing that, except registrations on job sites seem to take longer than I would think. BTW, for networking purposes I've just gotten onto Facebook. If anyone wants to friend me, go ahead. -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
I'll send you a FB Friend. I'm trying to organize my social networking things together in one place so I have to get use to using FB more
Baseload, just include a note that tells me it's you, okay? Thanks.
-- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
Sorry I took so long to get back to you. Unfortunately I don't really have any good news on my part. It was suggested by my local HR peep to try our job
search portal to see what comes up. I've taken a look, and it doesn't seem like there's anything on there that'll work for you. If you want, I can email you a screen shot of the jobs listed.
That's okay, NifT, thanks anyway.
-- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
(I feel like I need to introduce myself to a tight circle of friends. I use to work with Bob at Best too many years ago. I also like to think I AM a member of
the Narth gaming group. No matter how long it's been since we've actually played. )19 years! Bob, I left Best 10 years ago because the required skill set there was behind the times. You need to find something a little less 1996 than Delphi. Until you do though, once you've got your resume out on primary job hunting websites (dice, monster) you might try some of the freelancer websites. I haven't had the time to try them for real but in a couple weeks you will be depressed and/or bored. Read all the faq's and understand how payment works because it is not simple. Here are two I've bookmarked over the years. They both have active Delphi projects though that doesn't mean they're right for you or not. getafreelancer.com guru.com Off to facebook, Joe
Thanks, Joe. I'll check them out sometime today. This morning, though, I have an appointment to pick up the six boxes of stuff that resulted when Best
packed up my desk. ETA: Oh, and I don't have to wait a couple weeks to be depressed... -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak. |
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