I’m currently out in New Hampshire, with my wonderful girlfriend. Things are stressful - lots of stuff to be done, taking care of the girls, taking care of life in general. I’m falling more in love each day. I love being near the person I love and finally being able to relax. When I’m only out here for a week, relaxing isn’t exactly the easiest thing in the world. When I’m out here for the summer - and likely continuing to be here through the rest of the year - it’s much better.
I’ve decided, barring some catastrophic failure to obtain employment, that I don’t particularly want to go back to Champaign in the fall. I actually made this decision quite a while ago, but now all you wonderful people get to hear it.
Still working on projects online, looking for a job out here. Applied to a couple things on Monster.com yesterday. Does anyone ever get hired through there, or is it just a big scam to get your personal info? I’ve also been looking at jobs in the paper, and submitted a couple email applications to places around here from the paper for office stuff.
It would be nice if I could get a job doing something I liked, but I know my chances around here are pretty slim. One of the jobs I applied for fits perfectly - Linux/open source knowledge plus W3C spec for an HTML design site. Although I don’t exactly have a portfolio to show off, I’d be really good at working on something like that. However, it’s not likely I’ll get it, since I’m sure there are tons of other equally or better qualified candidates for the position.
Welcome to the Real World.
Anyway, life is good. I’m enjoying being with Jess, even though it does exhaust me. Going home this weekend for Dave’s graduation and to pick up stuff (like my computer hooray!) and then leaving to come back on Memorial Day evening. Other than that, no big plans other than trying to get a job.
It's your fault.
Employment opportunities aren't too bad here in New England. I'm having difficulties not because they aren't interested (I got 2 "we're definitely interested, contact us" and one "we're full, but we'll keep your resume on file"), but because it's so hard to arrange interviews and training when I'm half a world away and will only be home for 2 months.
Your open-source work helps you a lot. Last time I applied for a job, both companies asked me if I'd done any open-source stuff. From talking online with folks in the industry, some companies won't hire anyone who doesn't do open-source, because it shows that they don't have a passion for programming. It also gives you ready-made code samples should they ask.
If you do stay up in New England, want to get together sometime in the summer/next Christmas? I think Jess is only about 30-40 minutes away from me. Plus there're so few folks to geek out at in MA. :) (Well, actually, there're zillions in the MIT area, but I don't know any.)
I've done plenty of open source stuff, and I know that's good, it's just the fact that I'm worried there isn't a lot of technical work in the area. I'm limited by the fact that we're splitting a car - and the kids have a pretty strict schedule, so nothing like, Boston area is possible.
When you get back, definitely let me know. Even if you're just around for a while here, we should hang out. I've got some friends around the Boston area (
Anyway. Thanks for the encouraging words :) I really hope I get the one job that seemed to fit me best, at http://www.wedu.com/ , but like I said... it's a pretty generic opening, and not sure if that means I'm more or less likely to get it.
Hoping for the best. Looking forward to meeting up with ou at some point. And good luck to you too.
See you and Jess this weekend! :)
if you want a quick influx of cash while waiting for a 'real job' its all about the temp love