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Class of April 2015 Part 9

Old 11-07-2015, 02:03 PM
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Having a fun day applying to some jobs today. The worst part is going through personality assessments. Some of those questions are real goofy. And I find myself giving conflicting answers which isn't helping. Just once In a while depending on how the question is worded. Maybe they'll average them out. Lol.

Not a great day for it because I am lacking confidence today. I feel as though I'm not hirable due to the mistakes I've made. I conflict between wanting to lie, somehow soften my poor choices, or be up front. I always settle with be up front and hope to prove That my errors will not repeat. But then I go through the process in my mind again within the hour! It's a tough market out there.

I've been looking into career coaches. Maybe pay somebody to help me through that and prepare for difficult interview questions. But then again, I'm not applying for very high level positions. But on the other hand, they'll have several candidates to pick from. Might as well go with somebody who doesn't get fired. Arg. I drive myself crazy sometimes.
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Old 11-08-2015, 07:10 AM
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Today is 201 days! Ooooh Yeeeaah!!! Busting through those barriers with the strength of a thousand hammers!

http://youtu.be/_fjEViOF4JE

Edit: 202 days
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Old 11-08-2015, 09:47 AM
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Hey Inc, congratulations on breaking the 200 mark! I'm very happy for you And good luck with the job apps. Those are very challenging for me as well. Don't fret too much about having been fired...my organization has fired quite a few talented individuals and they always land on two feet (and some in even better situations). Let your talent and experience shine through!
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Old 11-08-2015, 03:00 PM
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Congratulations on 200+ days!!!
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Old 11-08-2015, 11:52 PM
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Congrats to Inc and I think Amp on 200 days. A pretty amazing mark to hit guys!

Was out to dinner with out of town in laws last night and several bottles of wine were brought to dinner. When the waitress asked "how many wine glasses do we need?" I heard a slight "bummer dude" rumble in my head. Glad that I didn't drink last night, as I have to go to work for the third straight day on five hours of sleep. That would have been an ugly hungover.

None for me today. Just coffee and tea, lots of coffee and tea...

Have a great day everyone!
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Old 11-09-2015, 06:31 AM
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Good job SG.

So I went to my PT job and it was cxl'd today. Sweet! Went back to bed. Woke up to a tow truck taking my trailblazer. That was over due. Only took so long because I'm hard to find. Knowing that, I never pulled my stuff out. Just was lazy about it is the bottom line. He was really nice and let me take my goods. Thank God. Cause that would have been $100 gone.

I have another ride anyway. So it's all good. I haven't driven the TB in a few months. I should have told them to take it. Piece of crap was falling apart anyway.

Thank God my job was cxl'd. I don't know why I was blessed in that way. I knew it was going to be taken yet I never pulled my stuff. I was just asking for trouble. It was loaded with stuff I pulled out of my house.

Any way...that's done!
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Old 11-09-2015, 09:05 AM
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Another sober weekend under my belt! YES!

This weekend I had a houseful, and I loved it. My house is way too quiet today. My dad and step-monster, my son, his girlfriend and my granddaughter, my sister and my two aunts stayed for the weekend.

On Friday, my step monster had a box of wine in her room, and really thought I didn’t know. I teased my dad about his bottomless glass of wine. He laughed, and said he didn’t want to temp me. I told him it doesn’t bother me as I was past the point of no return. My sister and my step-monster over indulged and were pretty loaded by the end of the evening. Trying to have a conversation with a drunk person has it’s own challenges, but it was stressful because my step monster suffers from narcissistic personality disorder (imagine the light bulb when I finally diagnosed her mental state not too long ago) and the wine only made her more intolerable. We had to ignore her strikes against us, her inflated ego, judgments and self righteous attitude all evening. I really wanted to blast her a few times, but said nothing. Nobody said anything to challenge her, and she stormed off like a little kid more then once. It really bothered the step monster that she was not receiving the kind of attention that she so craved. I felt sorry for my aunts, but they too have steeled themselves from her behaviour over the many, many years of having her as part of the family. I really came out on top at the end of the day because we all just ignored her, and kept turning the focus back to my dad, because in fact, we were celebrating him.

Saturday passed by with no fanfare and it was peaceful as my parents went home and I had a really good visit with my aunts and my granddaughter. It wasn’t until this morning that I remembered it was day 200!
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Old 11-09-2015, 02:08 PM
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Hey guys! Just getting up to speed here! Really glad the book launch went well Cauliflower! Also great that you all managed to keep the step monster in the box!!!

I know that "bummer" feeling, SG... Not good. Thing is, at the end of the day you always feel better for not going there!

Anyway guys, just thought I'd touch base! Take care, all!
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Old 11-10-2015, 12:22 AM
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Inc, I agree you didn't need the trailblazer - you're blazing your own trail these days. Congratulations to you (and everyone else) on the +200 mark!!! I don't know if I should suggest anything on your job applications - fwiw I would not hire a coach though. Save your money. You clearly have the right experience, it's just a question of how to present your past. There can be any number of reasons why people leave their previous posts - I would just focus on writing a knockout resume that will get you in front of them, and once you achieve that, focus on the future, ie how you can meet their current needs and why you are the right person for that. Questions about your past? Deal with them bravely and without giving the impression of feeling sorry for yourself would be my advice. You may be surprised at the reaction. Good luck

So we're all keeping on - a few murmurings as usual but we can handle that now. Am on the road again this week but at least I am sober. I plan to stay that way too.

Have a great week!
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Old 11-10-2015, 06:53 AM
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Inc, people move on everyday....they get fired and get new jobs, and so can you. I wouldn't spend money on a coach, just anticipate that the interviewer will ask why you left your previous job, and practice your answer. I wouldn't get too personal, keep it professional: "I fell below the companies standards". Keep your answer short and show that you are regretful but ready to move on.

Those personality assessments are crazy. I haven't job searched in 6 years since I started working for my husband, times have changed! I was helping my sister look for a job recently, the only place I could find an advert was online. And every job listing had online application processes. I also worked in Human Resources, and when we needed new recruits, we just had to place an ad in the paper and we got all sorts of applications. What ever happened to human interaction, finding that perfect person for the job by following gut instinct?
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Old 11-10-2015, 07:09 AM
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oh geez, I just remembered that I had another drinking dream. I was out to dinner somewhere and someone poured me a glass of white wine or champagne, I took a sip and then another, in my dream I was wondering if a sip or two would get me tipsy. It's just my subconscious, but these dreams are all to real to me. I have to be prepared for situations like that in real life. I don't need to test my tolerance to alcohol, I know my tolerance, I'm can't handle it!

I also realized this weekend that two of my grown sons did not know that I quit drinking, If anyone needs to know, it's my kids! I just assumed they figured it out or my husband told them. I know I told my son's girlfriend this summer, so I guess I assumed she told him! My sister was high fiving me across the table the other night, saying how proud she was of me reaching 6 months, and she was loaded from the wine, and my son was there. He was very impressed though. And, I had to tell my step son yesterday after he was talking about our upcoming family trip to mexico. He could not believe it either, he also was a little upset that we wouldn't be doing tequila shots and drinking coco-loco's together anymore.
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Old 11-10-2015, 11:36 AM
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Cauli...those dreams are helpful, aren't they? It's like our subconscious mind is letting us know where the weaknesses are.

Happy for your super weekend. Sounds sooo much better than the first visit on detox when your monster in-law came over. Like two different worlds...two different Cauliflowers

Working through my leads I have for insurance. I got 30 of the 130 I'm due to far. I'm hoping I'll have enough time to work them rigorously before I become a slave to retail.

Another short day on my part time job. Been counting in the very same stores I'll be working for shortly. Some of them are trashed, some are nice. Depends on staffing, mgt, and the neighborhood. I suspect payroll hours are lean and mean no matter where the store is located. And if anything like my previous employer, payroll/sales is actually tighter in higher volume stores than lower as the higher volume stores helps finance the productivity in the lower volume stores since there is a "bare minimum" of hours they can run and yet keep the doors open.

OMD....
You rock buddy. What you said is probably nothing more than what a career coach will say. They won't recommend lying, nor do I want to. I'm over that. My experience speaks for itself. People make mistakes and they learn from them. My fear is that I would blab on about not being in the right frame of mind due to the loss of my father then divorce. But ultimately that would just give them more reasons to raise an eyebrow. I would expose the fact that I have a self destruct button.

Feeling pretty good today. Been struggling with depression and anxiety once in a while. This transition away from insurance bothers me. I really like doing it and the potential for good income is real. But in so far upside down there's no hope for survival. And leaving that for a company that is one of the worst 10 companies to work for in the U.S. Is not really a pick me up either. I constantly bounce between that and the fact that I'll actually be making money.

The hard part is my salary will just about cover child support. I'll be taking home less then $400 a month till February. I'll be relying on insurance sales part time when I can.

Anywho...speaking of which...got head out to an appt. Got make some money!!

Hope everyone is having a great day
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Old 11-10-2015, 12:08 PM
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Inc, again fwiw I wouldn't worry about saying those things affected you and your focus for a while, if you're asked and if you feel comfortable in doing so. Shows you're human. Presented appropriately, they're not excuses, just explanations and you've learned etc. And by the way - you don't have a self destruct button. You're still here. You had a self damage button but you disabled that button's function a while ago using the best equipment from Inc's toolkit. A bit of anxiety and depression is fine - all part of life's rich tapestry, and if most of my earnings was going on child support and not booze etc I could happily live with that, all things considered. Small steps in the right direction.

Cheers
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Old 11-10-2015, 02:04 PM
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Good stuff everyone!

Safe travels on the road OMD.

I am glad that you had a great weekend Cauli! I kind of enjoy watching people that I am not overly fond of drink to excess and make fools of themselves. I was always a happy drunk when amongst other drinking folks. There is that small group that just get obnoxious and or mean when drinking. It's funny that you have had numerous drinking dreams. I can't recall having had any thus far. Of course, one needs to sleep in order to dream.

Inc, I think the others have given you sound advice concerning future interviews. I know my company hires "personalities" almost ahead of resumes. At my/our ages, we all have had many life experiences, and not all of them have been positive. Seeing how you are balancing multiple jobs shows how industrious you are at this point in your career. The ability to bounce back from a mistake is a huge part of management.
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Old 11-10-2015, 02:23 PM
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I hire for my company, Mike. I appreciate honesty and I think about whether that person will fit with the team above a lot of other factors. How you come across on the day is 75% of it
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Old 11-12-2015, 09:43 AM
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Since giving up drinking, I feel that I am actually taking the time to enjoy everyday life as it unfolds in front of me. This morning, I was getting my septic tanks pumped out,(long overdue) and I spent the 45 minutes that process took hanging with the service man in the rain talking. Turns out we went to the same college(26 years apart,lol) and just talking about life. He was concerned that his truck wouldn't be able to hold all my waste water. At the end of it all, he ended up billing me for at least 700 gallons less than he pumped out. A little kindness can go a long way!

None for me today. I am going to have alcohol free waste water from now on.
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Old 11-12-2015, 12:28 PM
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It was remembrance day yesterday, so we went out to the service in the morning, then came home and we all just napped! We took advantage of a lazy mid-week day off!

It's snowing today!

Last edited by Cauliflower; 11-12-2015 at 12:32 PM. Reason: typing too fast!
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Old 11-12-2015, 02:53 PM
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Greetings everyone!

Thanks SG - been a busy week again. Thankfully a sober one though. I'll be back in touch properly at the weekend when things are a bit calmer.

Best wishes
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Old 11-12-2015, 04:11 PM
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Had the easiest interview ever today. Relieved. Very soon I'll be slave labor again. Just gotta pass background check and drug test.
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Old 11-12-2015, 06:59 PM
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Inc, I'm glad the interview went well and is over! Phew! It feels good to put those situations behind us.

Glad everyone is well! That's cool that you had a snow day yesterday, Cauliflower! We are finally having some cold weather here -temps getting down into the 40's at night. I can finally drink hot tea in the evenings again

I picked up a book yesterday, "Drinking: A Love Story" by Caroline Knapp. I've read about of third of it, and the parallels between her life and mine are unreal. I've started highlighting passages (haven't done that since school!) and kept the book with me in my purse today to look back at those. For those looking for a good read I highly recommend it.

I'm grateful for another sober day today. As always, thank you for being here. Take care, everyone!
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