webcowgirl | Entries tagged with job search

I don't agree with everything this woman says about the difference between men and women as managers, but I do agree with her on what makes a good manager. Well worth reading.

I have accepted the job offer after negotiating a salary rise. Next step: negotiating a leaving date. Current step: across the street to get a nibble.

We're in the house in Scarborough. It's an awesome place - full of really interesting books (I'm guessing maybe 2000 or so), musical instruments, and interesting things to cook with. It's also decorated with fascinating antiques, shiny things, and bits and bobs from around the world (for example, the bathroom has a Tibetan mandala painting). It's like taking a vacation inside someone's mind, with all of their memories and experiences. I feel ridiculously at home here. In fact, I love it.

Out the front windows, over the red tiled rooves is the little protected fishing harbor, with the touristy beahfront promenade (gambling arcades, ice cream shops, chippies) curving away from it. Hovering behind us is a hill with a castle on top - maybe Norman but I'm not sure. We're about to walk out the door and find out, though. Later on I'll report on the Knickerbocker Deluxe and the other karaoke joint on the waterfront. (Note: regular updates on my Wewbcowgirl Twittr account, including photos. Much easier to manage from a phone than LJ posts.)

Oh yeah - also expecting a call from a recruiter today. Will report back on that.

Accomplished: review of Company at the Union Theatre. Summary: for £15, stellar, don't miss it.

Not accomplished: not able to do testing. Some files didn't get merged. C'est la vie.

Next up: brief visit with

bathtubgin, dinner, then Aunt Dan & Lemon with K, J, and W. I will nag Josh about Tripadelic on my way to the bar. Wish me luck with the house cleaning brownies and finishing up my review before I go to bed.

What I accomplished today: grocery shopping, planted all of my flowers (the ones I bought 2 months ago), made tacos out of the most beat-up tortillas I've ever deigned to use, bought some summer-weight trousers online (never did this last summer, still needed them, fall in value of pound made them seem more affordable in UK than previously), survived an hour and a half of bad monkey puns (for details see my Twitter feed), redid my resume so that it's ready to submit for that Test Manager job at Tripadelic (God, my fingers are crossed).

Failed to do: finish review of Company at the Union Theater (really, really good), clean living room, put away laundry.

Ah well. Three shows this week so all I've got time to do is pack, and when I say "time to do" I mean "when I stay up late after I get back home because I have no extra time, no, not really." I'll be going to Nice on Friday and I'm really looking forward to it. :-)

The contract for the new job arrived. I just chuckled with delight to read this in an email from the recruiter:

"You will have your company induction on the Monday at our head office in Sutton before heading up to Holborn, details of this will be in your information pack."

I can smell the scent of sweet freedom in the air. Aaaah. I'll spend the morning of the 24th of September in Sutton. I will, from that day forward, never spend a day in this glassy prison I call $howboat. I can't wait.

I have absolutely nothing to do at work today. And, it seems, neither does anyone else - the place is a graveyard. I've approved a WFH day for the guy who sits across from me, I've told the girl who works for me who blew all of her vacation to take some sick days, one of the other guys who works from me is taking vacation ... it's like the three leads (including me) and two testers over here. DEAD, dead, dead. And the weather, LORD! Raining and 60. Yesterday I went out to lunch with one of my reports and the restaurant proprietor turned on the heater near our table!

Anyway, I'll have to come up with something to do to while away the hours today other than the performance plans for my guys. I'm thinking a calendar of "what we're doing while you're visiting" for my soon-to-be houseguests or something like that. At any rate, Remembrance of Things Pasts continues trickling along, though somewhat hampered by being forgotten at home while I was road tripping (not that I didn't gossip for three hours in one direction and sleep for three the other), but is now at page 412, and I have the next Dresden Files book at my service.

So the extremely experienced and very smart QA lead who started almost the same time I did - the one who'd worked for nearly a decade at IBM (I think) - also gave notice yesterday. And supposedly The Demotivator got chewed out on by the CTO on Friday because "resignations were higher than we expected." Do I hear the sweet sad sounds of "Autumn" playing in the background?

And this article, that says (as I summarize it), women who ask for more/challenge the status quo are seen as "not nice?" I've sent it on to two people here who most need to hear its message. (Thanks,

booklectic, for the link.)

Otherwise, mostly useless here, am looking at getting tickets to see the Bacchae on September 6th.

I have given my notice. I am aiming for a start date at my new job of September 24th, which will leave me time to spend with my family and then with

scarlettina when they visit in mid-September. My last day in the office should be the 19th, which, in my mind, will be lunch and then taking my crap home with me.

This is the song that's playing in my mind, David Bowie's "Fill Your Heart:"

"Free .... yeah ... The writing's on the wall!
"Free .... yeah! And you can know it all
"If you choose. Just remember, lovers never lose ... 'Cause they are ... free!"

1. Get cat litter.
2. Get clothes line.
3. Aquire feather boa (not sure where my old one went).
4. Buy green nail polish.
5. Buy groceries.
6. Touch up hair.

And of course, pack ....

Letter of acceptance ("upon receipt of contract") has been sent.

Am trying to get a hold of Sea Kayaking Cornwall to take their two day intermediate class the following weekend.

What most of you care about: I went to the ballet tonight, hoping to be right distracted, but during the Arvo Part music/Hamlet themed ballet I was thinking about costumes, and the job sitch. Okay, let's be honest, I was thinking about the job sitch all day and was completely NOT focused on doing any sort of work at all. I wanted to run around and go, "I'm out of here! I'm leaving! You can take your rude assed CTO and moron baby managers and KISS MY GRITS!" But instead I was waiting for confirmation from TJG that they did really and truly want to offer me the job, and I got that around 3 PM today.

And I thought about the other companies that are on my short list, and, well, no one had anything nice to say about them, and I haven't even progressed to the interview stage. And I talked to a guy that used to work for me and is now a miserable lead on another team, and he said, "Wow, that sounds like a great job." And apparently he and I are basically interviewing for the same jobs, which is a giggle for me, only he actually got the interview at MySpace and I didn't (not that I care too much). And

m_vermilion is right, what matters is do I have room to grow, and

koaloha (whom I see as a touchpoint of sanity and kindness and focusing on what really matters in life) said the money will all come out in the wash in the next year or so, and she's right, too.

So I decided that I'm going to take this job. I'll take the semi-offer tomorrow and let them get the paperwork through for the extra money I requested and then give me my official contract to sign. I'm aiming for a September 24 start date, and September 19th quit date, which will let me take three days of vacation while my brother and SIL are here, then two days of "between job time" while

scarlettina is here. I want to have my vacation officially approved, though, so I'm going to try to hold off on the notice thing until it's actually 30 days until, but making it past Monday is going to be difficult for me.

I also decided 1) I'm dressing as Sally Bowles for the costume ball on Saturday and 2)

rosamicula and I are going to go to Italy for part of the time

shadowdaddy is in Las Vegas, because we can and because she was genuinely enthusiastic about the idea. And I must say, Missy Micula was great company for the show tonight (the Bolshoi mixed rep at ENO). Capsule review: piece one, "Class Concert," to music of various Russian masters (in the order, Composer, his student, his student, his student) was GREAT, extremely energetic, building to a frenzied head as the dancers worked through harder and harder dance moves. It just felt SO much like members of the corps showing that they were ready for being promoted to bigger roles, and the energy was incredible. The section where the danseurs were THROWING the ballerinas through the air was crazy! (PNB needs to add this to their rep.) Section two, Chris Wheeldon's "Elsinore," didn't really do it for me - the partnering was nice but actually having a story would have been more engaging than just being "atmospheric." The third bit, Twyla Tharp's "Upper Room," benefitted from some Phillip Glass music (recorded, though I think it didn't matter), but watching these poor Russian ballerinas attempt to get some urban dance grooves going was painful. They'd absolutely hit these ballet moves (made so much clearer in my mind by watching the first piece), then struggle to shrug their shoulders in any kind of rythmn. One girl was actually "on," and once

shadowdaddy'd pointed her out to me, I kept my eyes glued on her and enjoyed the rest of it more. But, well, of course, there were always the lovely macaroons Ms. Micula had picked up from Paul, and great visits over the intervals ... so it was a good night out, and I am reminded that she and I must see each other more (monthly museum trips seem to be in order), and that I must get my dance tickets purchased for the Sadler's Wells events and the City Ballet trip to London in the spring.

I'm rambling, sorry. Night, all!

(Later: PS: The website says, "Completing the Triple Bill is Class Concert, the iconic ballet by Asaf Messerer not seen here since 1965. Using all the Company‘s principal dancers, the ballet reaches an exciting climax which only the Bolshoi Ballet’s legendary bravura can produce." Um. Just what are they selling here again?)

Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: "You gotta have heart"

Okay, so ... I've signed up to be an official Penguin Classics book blogger. My book is Mozart's Journey To Prague, which I had never heard of but look forward to reading.

I also found out that the Balbec that Proust wrote about is actually a town called Cabourg. I'm geekily excited. Perhaps I will go there on vacation! Actually a whole Proust-themed vacation sounds fun ... why not?

Also, a FASCINATING article on how steak is now "in" for women. Check this quote out: Red meat sent a message that she was “unpretentious and down to earth and unneurotic,” she said, “that I’m not obsessed with my weight even though I’m thin, and I don’t have any food issues.” Admittedly it's nice to think that women are not wanting to act like something they're not when they're on first dates, and I did find myself agreeing that "ordering a salad displays an unappealing mousiness," but ... what an interesting line of thought, to prove you're low maintenance by ordering steak! Back in the day it showed that you were eager to empty someone's wallet. Thoughts?

Also, I find I'm still basically not happy about the work thing, but don't know how to deal with it other than by distracting myself. The job interviews help; I'm back on for the one on Monday after we renegotiated the salary possibilities. A 4% pay cut in exchange for retirement benefits and 5 hours less work a week sounds very doable to me.

OK, yay! I'm starting October 13, two weeks from today. I'd want to start sooner but I'm still sick so I don't mind taking some time to NOT work.

I went to lunch at Koraku with Kevin my neighbor today. We both had today's special, sauteed green beans with tofu. I wasn't able to eat all of mine so he took half the plate.

Now I think I'm ready to go find my silvery Roxie shoes. However, I am just DYING to find my Chicago soundtrack, partially because I just found out there is bonus content available online - only accessible if you have the CD. Drat it all!

Current Mood: restless
Current Music: "He had it coming - he only had himself to blame" - Chicago

I thought the interview today went pretty well. I tried not to be too geekily self-conscious, and I just hope that I did well enough to have them hire me. If so, they'll be calling me back tomorrow or Friday to let me know and be making an offer shortly thereafter. I am so INCREDIBLY ready to leave Qu ... I mean, Q***. In the meantime, we're going to see the Errol Flynn Robin Hood tonight and the refrigerator is coming tomorrow, AND I've got three stories to write for Tablet, so I'm thinking I'm going to be pretty busy the next two days. But for now, a nap.

Alright, the dog is medicated and the tomato plant is watered. Now I'm going to get my pilates clothes on and hit the 11:30 class at Mind and Body studios (satisfying item 8 on my to-do list, "buy new class card before prices go up), then come home, put on my interview clothes, and go to Koraku for some fine Japanese food at rock-bottom prices. This should keep me on time for my 2 PM interview at Expedia. I am very curious how far away this is from a real interview since it's only going to be 45 minutes long. Tonight I'm going to avoid a neighborhood meeting, possibly in favor of the 5 PM "Le Roi et le Oiseau" that I missed last night. We'll see.

Oh yeah, we watched "Castle in the Sky" by Miyazaki the night I was recovering from food poisoning. His movies are all so good! I'm pretty sure what we have is a pirated DVD set, though.

Update: Oops. Miscalculated amount of time to get clothes together for interview and am now too late for Pilates. What else is on my list?