The Dreaded Interview...

So most people that I know hate going to interviews. You're thrown out all kinds of questions that don't really have good answers, are totally vague, have nothing to do with the job or any of the above and more.

While I'm not exactly thrilled at the rare occurrence that I have had to go to an interview (I know its under 10), they aren't the worst thing in the world.

Now, being on the other end of the sharp stick is a completely different matter. In my years working in various aspects of management for different kinds of companies, I have always hated being the interviewer. Having to come up with all of the obtuse questions and trying to make a snap judgement on someone over the course of 10-30 minutes.

And the only thing worse than a one-on-one interview is a group interview. Fortunately, I've only been in on 1 group interview though, so my experience there has been gratefully limited.

But I realize that as the Store Manager, its my job to interview people for job openings, and soon because Black Friday is only a few weeks away.

Now, as part of the interview process the application is typically going to be the first thing that I see about my potential employees. And the first thing that I'm going to notice is the handwriting. Now, I don't have the best handwriting in the world when I'm writing for myself, or my wife or at work. But when I fill out a job application, I am deliberate and precise with my handwriting. There is nothing worse than an application that is completely illegible.

In the event that people actually turn in their application directly to me, appearance is the next concern. If you come in in a t-shirt and jeans, I'm probably going to look less favorably on your application. Now, not to say that people have to come in wearing a 3-pc suit, but at least look like you're trying.

Once I get to the actual application, more concerns come to mind. I will admit that now we're in the digital age, where everyone has an email and there are more free-email services than I care to count, the first thing that I look at is a person's email. I was recently reinforced in my thoughts on this matter by an article that I read on Yahoo about things not to do when you are filling out applications. It really isn't that hard to hit up yahoo, hotmail, live or gmail and get a simple first initial, dot, last name @ email address. And it isn't like the people that you are going to be giving this email address to don't already have your name, so what does it matter? People who turn in applications with emails like "pixiprincess" "bigpapa" or the like are not very likely to be at the top of my list for people to hire.

Next, we have your employment history. Now, I will grant that most applications only have room for 3 jobs, but turning in a resume allows for much more expansive work history. Unless you have only had 3 jobs, putting that place you worked at for 2 weeks is probably not a good idea. I always look at length of employment when I'm skimming resumes and applications. I'm more receptive to a skimpy work history than one that has half a dozen jobs where you only worked a few weeks or a month or two.

The rule I have for my personal resume is simple: Less than 8 weeks doesn't count, unless it directly relates to the job I'm trying to get. So my 7 week stint as a barista, my 6 weeks working for Domino's after I left Papa John's and my 6 weeks as a Telemarketer get left off unless I'm applying for a job in one of those three fields (none of which I would ever want to work in again, I might add.)

The last pet peeve is for the previous work experience area. The label says "Reason for Leaving". By the very title, it implies that I realize you probably no longer work there. If you still work there, your "From-To" dates should read "Presently Employed", "Present" or "Current. The "Reason for Leaving", in this case, should be why you are looking to quit, or the simple fact that you intend to remain employed.

Putting "Quit" under "Reason for Leaving" is terrible. Considering the fact that there are only 3 options: Quit, Fired or Still Employed, I want to know why you Quit or why you were let go. The best applications I have ever seen explain why the person was no longer employed with that company, seasonal work, lay offs or quit for whatever reason. Now, if why you were let go is too lengthy for the box, "Will Explain" is sufficient. To be honest, I don't care half the time.

And that brings us to the interview. For a job like the ones at UPS, going to the interview with the HR person in casual attire, jeans and a jacket, is perfectly acceptable. You're going to be wearing those clothes more likely than not. However, for my work at VZW, showing up to the interview in jeans is a no-no, especially when I tell all of my interviewees to dress "professionally." Polo shirts are even reaching a bit for that line. A pair of dress pants, or a skirt if you must ladies, and a button-up shirt or nice blouse is all I'm asking. Again, no need to break out the 3-pc suit or tuxedo.

And finally, bear with me. We both realize that interviews suck, but they're a necessary evil.

Final Note: Calling once a week, or once every other week for a couple weeks after the interview is acceptable. Calling every day after you turn in your application is see if it has been reviewed yet is a sure fire way to get it filed in the circular cabinet.

Rest of the Year

So I was reading the wife's blog the other day (here) when I realized that there are really only less than 2 more months left in this year (to be honest, at this point its only 6ish weeks because 1 is behind us and the 1 after Christmas doesn't count). And with that thought came the realization that there really is a lot left to do.

For November, I've got to get my VZW store into shape for the Christmas season: bring in at least 2-3 more employees and get some decent phones in stock (not as easy as it sounds when you aren't the ordering manager).

There's the half-week before Thanksgiving at UPS that is typically characterized by a busy Monday and Tuesday moving more frozen turkeys and hams than I care to count. Followed by a droll and quiet Wednesday where we sit around and wait for the volume to trickle in.

Then we've got Thanksgiving, going out to my parents' this year because we alternate each year between the two families. I've got to pick up my Mom's birthday present before this point because I'm going to give it to her on Thanksgiving (there's a reason for it, trust me.)

Then Black Friday at VZW, should be fun. Hopefully we actually make some money.

Then we're into December. I'm sure I'll be picking up at least another 10 hours per week at VZW and then about halfway to Christmas V-Sort will start at UPS (if I got onto the list this year, it all depends on who wanted to take it and who didn't), so I'll be up to around 40-45 hours at UPS and around 50-55 at VZW.

Then Peak Week, which this year will have a double dose of fun as I'm sure VZW will be just as crazy as UPS (yay for quadrupling volume in the span of 2-3 weeks!). Then Christmas Eve at the In-Laws, then Christmas at the Parents' then we're done!

Armchair Monday

Coming into Week 9, the Dallas Cowboys are 1-6 and looking to snap a 4 game loading streak adc they travel to Green Bay and face the surging Packers.

I knew this game was going to be a challenge when I first looked at the schedule. Without Romo and with the Cowboys playing like they are, I wasn't looking forward to watching this Sunday night contest.

And I was unfortunately not disappointed. An early interception by Kitna, a fumbled kick return that was brought back for a touchdown and a non-existent defense characterized the first half, which ended 28-7. The only bright spot of the first half was the final drive of the half by the Cowboys, with Dez Bryant showing up for the game.

Of course, several calls that went against the Cowboys were obviously incorrect and just continues the example of the refs playing against the Cowboys on a regular basis.

The rest of the game wasn't any better and not really notable, except for the flagrant launch by the GB defense back at Roy Williams that should have resulted in an ejection but because the refs don't like the Cowboys, was a mere penalty.

I think this season is pretty much done for. With a 1-7 Record, the Cowboys would need to run the table against a very rough schedule to even be a distant thought for the playoffs. At this point, I think its time to start playing some of the rookies and get them some game time so next year we have some experienced backups ready to go.

Result: 7-45 (L)
Record: 1-7

Posted via Blogaway on my DroidX

My Smartphone and Me

So you may have noticed that on a couple of my posts I have a little signature at the bottom that reads: Posted via Blogaway on my Droid X. Well, if you were wondering, that means that was a mobile post, made from my spiffy Android-Powered Smartphone.

I wasn't really a strong believer in smartphones until earlier this year. I was very

happy with my LG Versa (pictured right) and didn't

really have the urge to get any thing newer. Well, that all changed near the beginning of the year when my younger brothers (working for the VZW Indirect Agent that I now

work for) picked up their brand new Motorola Droids, the first Android phone to hit Verizon.

The Motorola

Droid had a 3.7" screen, a slide

out keyboard and a 5mega pixel camera, making it one of the most powerful smartphones on the market. I played with it for a little while whenever I saw my bro

thers and eventually, when I started working for the Verizon Indirect Agent and got to play with the phone even more, picked one up for myself.

At first the wife didn't really see the use of it, but soon after she came around as well and was anticipating the next upgrade on our account so she could pick one up as well.

The original Droid was a decently solid phone, but on the horizon more powerful phones soon appeared. I had my phone rooted (giving me access to features and settings on the phone that were not stock) and had the phone overclocked (running faster than the stock settings). But eventually it just wasn't enough to keep me.

So I decided to pick up a Motorola Droid X. An absolute behemoth as far as phones go, the X has a big 4.3" touch screen, an 8MP camera and a stock 1ghz processer (nearly twi

ce as fast as the original Droid.)

If I hadn't already been a solid supporter of the Android platform, the Motorola Droid X would have done it for me. The phone is snappy and responsive and handles all of the awesome Android customization that I have found absolute necessary (a bit OCD, you see).

Most people have a very hard time with my phone when they pick it up, because I've got it customized to such an intense level. Running WidgetLocker, I have my lockscreen set up with different widgets that allow me to change settings in the phone without ever unlocking it. I can get to my dialer, email and messaging applications all from the outside of my phone.

Once into the actual phone, you'll find LauncherPro Plus set up and running. With a 3 page, 5 icon dock, I'm able to put all of my most used applications on the dock and never have to worry about having them clutter my homescreens or about going into the application drawer to find them. A recent addition to LauncherPro added a "Swipe Gesture" to these dock icons. With this option, I can add a second application or shortcut to each of my icons, thus effectively removing 30 total options to the Dock.

For my 3 dock pages I have system functions and misc apps on one (system panel, root explorer, calculator, blogaway, foursquare and GPS settings), basic apps in the middle (dialer, visual voicemail, facebook, twitter, my app drawer button and swipe to lock the phone, text messaging and email) and on the last, quick dials to my 3 brothers, mom and wife with swipes to direct message them. LauncherPro also comes with the ability to hide apps in the app drawer if you don't use them.

Most of my 7 homescreens are cluttered with widgets (a facebook/twitter feed, a calendar agenda, a bookmarks widget, a contact list for work related people) with 2 pages dedicated to actual applications and frequently used settings.

The most use I've gotten out of my Droid was when we went on Vacation a few weeks ago to Texas. Not only did the phone serve as our GPS the whole way down (Google Maps with Navigation, GO!) but I was able to keep up on almost all of my non-work related reading and interaction without the need of a computer.

I can honestly say that I will probably never get a phone that isn't a smartphone and for the forseeable future, I'll be sticking with Android as well.

Ah the irony

So for the last few months, basically since I took over as the Store Manager, my VZW Indirect Store has been slightly overstaffed. Not heavily overstaffed to the point where no one is making any money, but overstaffed to the point where we often had too many people working most of the time.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, my UPS area has been chronically understaffed (as I mentioned in my previous post) and I had been trying to convince my full-time supervisor to get me more people.

Now, coming back from vacation, I find the situations reversed. My UPS area has more people than I technically need (but I'm not telling anyone there that fact) and I just had 2 employees yanked from my VZW store so I'm down to me and 1 other person.

The reasons for the reversal: at UPS we're hiring hand over fist in preparation for Peak (a glorious 2-3 week period where our volume triples and we move everyone's Christmas goodies). On the other hand, the Indirect Agent I work for just took over 5 new stores in the surrounding area and now we need staff to handle those positions.

So while my 25hrs per week at UPS should prove relatively painless, at least through the end of November, I've got about 1 week to get some staff hired and another week or two to train them before Black Friday and the Christmas shopping season. The fact that most of the applicants I get aren't qualified to fight their way out of a wet paperbag is unfortunate, but I might just have to suck it up and deal.

Such is life I guess.

Going back to work

So after having 11 days off from my primary employment, I had to go back to work last night. Surprisingly, however, it was a relatively painless experience.

I will say that it makes me feel good that nearly everyone who had anything to do with my area while I was gone expressed to me their gratitude in having me back. From nearly every employee in my area, to the coverage sup, to the Full-Time sup. It's definitely a boost when someone tells you that they don't know how you run the area without serious problems (questionable competency of the coverage sup not withstanding, she's not that bad to be honest so it's still a compliment.)

On top of the warm and fuzzies from that, I came in to find my area now somewhat OVER staffed, after dealing for almost 10 months with a chronic lack of employees to run with. 11 total employees when literally 2 months ago I was rocking out with 5. No one having to worry about multiple destinations and my heaviest locations get 2 people to pick off and load.

I was definitely a lot more energetic than I have been in recent weeks, thanks to that aforementioned long vacation and I'm definitely ready for the grueling hours that I'm sure to be putting in over the next two months. I signed up for extra time (after the night sort, starting at around 4 and running until 7-9am) on top of the additional time I'm likely to be putting in at my other job. Hopefully this translates into a lucrative holiday season.

An idea

So I've been writing for almost 15 years now. It started as a hobby around the time that we moved from the nearest largish city to the middle of nowhere in the country. I had already been homeschooled for several years, but moving out to the country with no evident method of interaction left me feeling kind of lonely.

So, I started writing.

And I'm going to admit, the first few years were absolute rubbish. Most of it was ideas taken from books or tv shows or games that I was playing and thinly adjusted to meet my story. I still have these "books", handwritten on stacks of notebooks, in my closet, just in case I ever want to read how absolutely terrible I was at it.

Anywho, over the past 15 years I feel that my work has improved greatly. Before I picked up my 2nd job I was working on tweaking what had been a short-ish story into a full blown novel, but without the time to work on it, that has really taken a backseat. I want to get back to tweaking it and finally get it out to publishers, but at this point I'm going to have to wait until next year.

Now, the reason for this post. Once in a while I have ideas float through my head that sound like they would make for a solid story. Sometimes they just float on by, unrecorded, but other times they like to stick around until I get at least the core of an idea written down.

While the wife and I were on vacation, I had one of these seeds land in my brain and stick there. It wasn't anything near a fully formed idea, with barely a plot and just the most basic of character ideas, but it stuck. And sat there for about a week, just rolling around and causing irritation. Until last night.

While watching TV, this nugget of an idea seemed to grab some extra parts as I watched a new TV show and seemed to sprout enough extra material for at least a general plot outline. It's still nowhere near a fully formed plot, but now this idea has some solid mass to it and hopefully I'll get some time to at least write down an outline and some characters so that when I do have time, I can fully flesh this idea out.