Chris Bigelow
Disparate thoughts and musings…Why You Should Keep Your Job Search Pipeline Full
So you’ve targeted a company, landed an interview, done your research, and think the interview went well. You’re excited! This is “the one!!”
It’s natural at this point to breathe a sigh of relief and want to take a day off. Maybe two. Don’t do it! No matter how well the interview went, or how much you desire to work for that company, you should keep applying to other positions to keep your “pipeline” full.
Why? That plum opportunity may not turn into an offer. Or it may not turn into an acceptable offer. If you let your pipeline go dry while you wait, and bad news comes, you could set your job search back by weeks. Not good, right?
If you keep it full, the worst case is that you’ll receive multiple job offers. Oh wait – isn’t that the best case? And before you write in saying “No one gets multiple job offers in this economy,” let me tell you that is precisely what happened to two friends of mine during their job searches this year.
As of this writing I am awaiting news on the results of interviews with three different companies, the oldest dating back to the first half of September. What am I doing while I wait? I am continuing to network and apply to other companies. In fact, I have an interview with a fourth company this coming Tuesday.
I’ve also attended the Career Navigator job search “boot camp” to brush up on my job search skills. And I’ve been giving presentations on social media and job search to keep my presentation skills up, blogging to keep my writing skills up… you get the idea.
It’s easy to drop your guard during your job search when you have landed one or more interviews. Don’t do it – keep your pipeline full.
Have an Old Bike Cluttering Your Garage? Donate it here!
[This week I'm utilizing my blog for a public/community service announcement.]
Do you have an old bicycle (or two) cluttering up your garage? Looking for a good way to get rid of it (them) that doesn’t involve a landfill (you DO want to be green, don’t you)?
Each fall the Avon High School Tech Club (some of you may recall I blogged about the Tech Club before, regarding their wooden bridge competition entry) holds a bicycle drive for charity. This year it is on Saturday, 31 October (yep – Halloween), from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM at the Avon High School parking lot (only about 35 minutes south of Rochester and a lovely opportunity to enjoy the fall foliage).
Adult-sized bikes, bike frames and parts are accepted in any condition. As a community service the Tech Club students rebuild/recondition the bikes to be fully functional. Bikes are then distributed through “Second Life Bikes” to Rochester area individuals with no other means of transportation.
If you have a bike to donate it may be dropped off at the Avon High School parking lot on Saturday afternoon. Tech Club members will be there to accept your donation and thank you. If you are unable to drop off your bike on Saturday, pick up arrangements can be made. Please contact the Tech Club adviser, Mr. Bob Castle, at 226-2455 x1604 or at bastle@avoncsd.org.
Thanks to Mr. Castle and the Tech Club members for supporting folks in need!
Radio Resume
I’ve never been big on self promotion. Funny how things change when you’re in job search. Not only have I learned to self promote now, but I’ve realized that I need to do so for the rest of my career (for some tips, read Brag!: The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn without Blowing It).
This week I thought I’d talk about my experience being on the radio. Seven of the local Clear Channel radio stations have been running a promotion during the last few months called “Radio Resume”. This is a free public service they initiated to help unemployed folks advertise their availability.
I learned of this promotion a few weeks before it started and immediately applied. On 22 July I received a call from the WHAM general manager saying I’d been chosen and on 23 July they called to record my Radio Resume.
What’s a Radio Resume? It’s a 30 second spot (5 second intro & 25 second pitch). About 3-4 sentences. It closes with a request to see your resume on the station’s web site, where all of the Radio Resume participants’ resumes (past and present) are hosted.
Last I checked the promotion was still going on so, if you are unemployed and live in the Rochester area, I recommend you consider applying. The application process is simple – just enter why you feel you should be chosen – in 300 characters or less. For those of you on Twitter or LinkedIn, that’s just over two tweets or status updates.
If you are fortunate enough to be called, here are my recommendations:
- Repeat your name twice
- Give your title or function
- Tell the employer what value you will bring to them (this is WHY they hire you, right?)
- Refer them to your resume on the radio station’s web site (call to action)
Things not to say (either because no one cares or you’re just wasting precious seconds):
- When you were laid off (or how long)
- Personal financial details (like bankruptcy or foreclosure)
- Marital status, number of children, etc.
Write out what you want to say, bold the words you want to emphasize, and add hyphens anywhere you want to pause. Then practice, practice, practice. Time yourself. Whittle it down to a punchy delivery of the bare essentials. This is radio – your message is only as good as the delivery. Oh wait! Isn’t that true of all of your self-marketing materials?
Is a Radio Resume worth the effort? Absolutely! Worst case, people in your network will hear it and you will be top of mind with minimal effort on your part. If they hear of a position that fits you they will remember (and think of) you. Best case, it can lead to an interview and, possibly, employment. I know of two people, including myself, that received interviews as a direct result of someone hearing their Radio Resume.
So stop sitting around reading blogs and go apply for a Radio Resume. And best of luck!
Brag!: The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn without Blowing It
The Dream of Higher Education: Has It Become Just That – A Dream?
I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Perhaps because I have a child starting post secondary education in another year. Perhaps because I am, as the popular euphemism goes, “in transition.” College has gotten ridiculously expensive.
Let me back up for a minute. I attended college at Clarkson University (then known as “Clarkson College of Technology”, or “CCT”). It was a kinder, gentler time. And cheaper. Not that we realized it then. At the time it seemed like a lot of money to go to college. My how one’s perspective changes.
Clarkson projected that my freshman year of school would cost something on the order of $5,400. To a 17 year old that is one mighty large figure. This number included tuition, room, board, books, and some altogether too meager allowance for laundry and other expenses. But as numbers go, probably not a bad approximation. I don’t think their figure included any allowance for travel to and from school. My freshman year I accomplished that carpooling with an older Clarkson student from my home town in a VW Beetle. And NOT one with a bud vase. But I digress.
So, back in the day, four years at Clarkson pursuing a “lofty” engineering degree would set you back somewhere between $23,000 and $25,000 (and, no, we did not use slide rules). I changed majors mid-stream and required one extra semester to line up credits, so my cost was probably another $3,000 higher. Upon graduation I was fortunate enough to receive two job offers. Having been dirt poor (trust me – starving artists have nothing on college students) for 4-1/2 years, I accepted the higher offer.
No doubt breaking some social taboo, I will confess that my starting salary out of college was $407 per week. <tap tap tap>. That’s $21,164 per year. So, in rough numbers, a four year (we’ll ignore my extra semester for a moment) engineering degree from a well respected, private institution cost roughly 15% more than my starting salary. Are you with me so far?
Fast forward to 2009. I don’t have exact figures but, prior to the nasty recession we are in, starting salaries for graduating engineers were running around $50,000-$55,000 for a manufacturing or mechanical engineer. Let’s split the difference and call it $52,500 (and before I get inundated with emails let me note that, yes, I realize that there is a difference in starting salaries between, say, a civil engineer and a chemical engineer).
As I mentioned earlier, I have a college bound child. One more year to go. Naturally, we are doing the college and major research thing (automotive engineering no less!). So off I go to various private, engineering school web sites to check their estimated first year total costs. Ouch! My findings are summarized below:
Even if we take the least expensive school (in this example Kettering, and by no means a reflection of it’s reputation), first year expenses have increased 640% ($34,572/$5,400). Meanwhile, starting salaries have increased roughly 248% ($52,500/$21,164). What’s wrong with this picture? A four year engineering degree now costs at least $150,000, or almost three times the first year’s starting salary. Is it any wonder that students today are graduating with a staggering amount of college loan debt?
And is it any wonder that people are beginning to question the value and payback of a college degree? Factoid: From 2000 to 2006, there was a 10 percent growth in overall enrollment at two-year institutions, according to the most recent figures from the Department of Education (data from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/08/22/growth). And I read a fascinating analysis a couple of months ago arguing that there was a strong economic case for becoming a plumber instead of going to college. Hey – we’ll always need plumbers. Food for thought…
Project Lead The Way® and the “Indestructible” Bridge
Last Thursday night I had planned on attending my first meetup of the Social Media Club of Rochester. Until I found out that Avon High was presenting their first annual Project Lead the Way® Technology Fair. Since my son had several projects that would be on display, the choice was easy – Tech Fair.
First, a little history is in order. Project Lead The Way® (“PLTW”) is a national program with heavy participation in NY and IN. Avon High was one of the charter schools first involved in the program, which began with 12 schools in New York State in 1997, and they have developed a great program. While there are some different flavors nationally, including biomedical sciences, Avon only offers the engineering option. During their four years of high school the students take five engineering classes. Classes include:
- Introduction to Engineering Design™
- Principles of Engineering™
- Digital Electronics™
- Computer Integrated Manufacturing™
- Engineering Design and Development™
Avon’s classes were created in conjunction with RIT (every school’s PLTW program is affiliated with a local university or college). Part of the student’s final exam is created by RIT. If the student gets a sufficiently good grade, they can receive credit from RIT by paying a $200 fee. So upon successful completion of the program (and payment of a cumulative $1000 fee) they already have credit for five classes at RIT. I believe the credits go towards technical electives, but don’t quote me on that. Credits aside, it is a wonderful introduction to engineering for students who are inclined to go that way. Long before they leave high school they know if that is the right path for them or not.
Thursday night’s demo was, among the many other displays, supposed to include the destruction of Avon’s second place winning bridge from the Tech Wars competition held earlier in the year at GCC in Batavia. Many schools
competed, but only Avon’s bridge survived a maximum 400 pound load (all the weight plates they had available) without collapsing. The bridge of the team that won held the load for the required minimum time before it, too, became so much kindling . That team was awarded first because of design efficiency – - their bridge weighed 1 to 1-1/2 pounds less than Avon’s bridge. But on to the exciting part.
Avon’s PLTW students set the bridge up on the test rig and started loading plates. 400 pounds came and went – no surprise there based upon the Tech Wars performance. At 505 pounds they ran out of plates and had to go to the weight room for more. They kept adding plates until running out again at something like 940 pounds. Two kids went for yet more plates. They wanted to see if they could reach 1/2 ton. Ultimately, they stopped adding plates at 1090 pounds due to safety concerns. That and they had run out of room to load any more onto the guide pipe. Simply amazing for a wooden bridge with glued joints that itself weighs maybe 9 pounds.
Think this is something that would interest your child? To learn more about PLTW, please vist http://www.pltw.org/. The web site has a section where you can look up which schools offer the program – it’s an easy way to see if your school district does.
Virtual Vinyl
I have a confession to make. I love music. A lot. I can’t carry a tune in a bucket, but I love to listen to music. Lots of different genres but especially 60’s and 70’s rock. Back when the guitar work was the focus and so amazingly expressive. Some folks might argue with me, but in my opinion there are very few people today who can play as well as some of the lead axemen (and axewomen!) from this time period. Legends like Mark Knopfler and Nancy Wilson quickly come to mind, but there are so many others. I know, I know – I’m generalizing and there are certainly exceptions. But not that many.
So it’s no wonder that over the last few years I have been really pining to listen to my vinyl album collection, which has sat unplayed and unloved for, well, far too long now.
Fortunately, I had the good sense to hang onto my old Technics turntable and Lafayette receiver (with a built-in phono preamp), keeping them safely stored away in their original shipping cartons in a dry basement. So more than a year ago now I carefully unpacked them, wiped them down, and hooked them up. With some trepidation I turned on the power and, lo and behold, everything still worked! Mostly. The ravages of time had exacted a toll on the turntable drive belt, drying it out to the point of brittleness and impending failure. And dirt and oxidation had accumulated on the various receiver audio pots and turntable speed pots, creating some dead spots. But a replacement belt was easily purchased off the internet and
installed, and a liberal application of spray tuner cleaner resolved the dirty pot issue. Time for the acid test: “The Kids Are Alright” by The Who. Very nice! Lots of memories. I saw The Who in Buffalo in 1978.
Funny thing about memories, though. We idealize them. Remember the good and forget the bad. That’s why people refer to “the good ol’ days.” Don’t get me wrong – listening to The Who was still great. Tommy Smothers asks Pete Townshend, “Where’d you learn to play guitar like that?” Without missing a beat he responds, “Bowling”. Great stuff. But playing albums requires work. Almost a ceremony:
- Pick which album you want to listen to (NOT which song or songs)
- Carefully remove the album from it’s jacket and sleeve
- Put it on the platter
- Start the turntable and clean the album surface
- Cue and drop the tonearm
- Sit back and enjoy
- Oh – and flip and repeat in 18-21 minutes when Side A is done
CDs, on the other hand, are incredibly convenient. And pretty skip resistant. MP3 players are even more so. Wouldn’t it be nice to have all that classic music in digital form? You bet it would. But replacing my 150+ album collection with CDs, assuming they are even available, would cost between $1,000 and $1,500. Ouch!
Luckily, our good friends in the tech industry have provided some alternative solutions. If you have a turntable and receiver with preamp as I do, all you need is an A-to-D converter to plug in between the receiver tape output and your PC. I purchased just such a device called the Xitel INport (see http://www.xitel.com/USA/prod_inportdl.htm). $80 got me the little hardware unit, a USB cable, recording and editing software (for a PC), and a 30′ long stereo RCA cable with gold plated connectors. Everything you need in one box. There are other similar devices out there, but I can only personally vouch for the quality of this one. If you no longer have a turntable, some other companies now offer USB turntables with a built in A-to-D converter (see http://www.knowzy.com/usb-turntable-comparison.htm#LP2CDSoftware).
While time consuming, the process of recording an LP to your PC is pretty straightforward. Each side is recorded as a single WAV file, which you can later split into individual tracks using the provided software. Xitel does not provide any software for audio cleanup (Remember scratches, ticks and pops? Yep – the little rascals are still there), though a quick search will yield many available packages designed specifically for this purpose. For the moment I am happy converting my analog vinyl recording to digital ones, complete with all the associated vinyl noise imperfections, and burning the resulting files to audio CDs. I am thrilled to be able to enjoy my album collection in my car. Maybe some day I will buy a declicking package and take it to the next step.
Now I have my eye on that old tube amp sitting on a shelf in the garage. They say nothing beats the warmth of the sound from a tube amp. I wonder if it still works…
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(There is insufficient space to go into a lot of detail on vinyl ripping in this post. Besides, others have done a far better job at covering the details than I ever could. Two thorough resources I recommend are http://www.delback.co.uk/lp-cdr.htm and http://www.a-reny.com/iexplorer/restauration.html. Another terrific place for all things audio is http://www.hydrogenaudio.org. Give it a go – - you might be pleasantly surprised how easy it is to rediscover some terrific music)















