Since our last episode...

... we've hit the following developmental milestones:

- Jillian sight-read her first piece without having written in the note names first.
- Jason scored his first (and, this past Saturday, second) goal in a real soccer game.
- Rowan busted out a Caddyshack line on us.
- Joey spoke his first word: "Uh-oh."
- I got my first job offer since this mess started in January. Sort of.
- I have played very, very little piano.

If I were a full time blogger (heh, I may as well be, I've got some time on my hands), each of these would warrant their own lengthy posts. But let's just pick one: Rowan.

It started about, losh sakes, 3 weeks ago now. I was preparing for an interview with an IT Consulting Services Company. You may recall I had some reservations about this position, mainly because I have never sold consulting services. The recruiter who brokered this opportunity gave me a last second "Go get 'em!" call as I was headed out the door. He hung up after dropping these three words: "Be the ball!"

I said to Sue, "I can't believe he just told me to be the ball." She laughed, and said, "Well, be the ball then!" I must have been somewhat ball-like, because the company decided they liked me, just not enough to hire me in their present circumstances. You knew that already.

So about a week ago, over lunch, I was complaining about how annoying it was to be without a job, and have so many things on the cusp of closure, just to have them disintegrate in the 11th hour. Sue was doing her optimistic best to focus on the possibilities, and what we could do to make them happen. Ro was still at her lunch, not seeming to pay attention to what should have been, for a two year old, a very boring adult conversation. So I wasn't sure I heard her right when, from out of the blue, she said "Be the ball."

Long pause. "Rowan, did you just say 'Be the ball?'"

"Yep. Be the ball."

Sue and I look at each other, thunderstruck. She didn't believe what she was hearing, either. We look at Rowan, who is not looking at us... she's back to eating. After gaining some composure (no mean feat), Sue asks, "Why do you want daddy to be the ball?"

Now Ro looks up. "Well, because when daddy go to work, you say to him, 'Be the ball.' So I say, 'Be the ball!'" Yes, our two-year-old is quoting Caddyshack. Appropriately, no less. It has been sort of a mantra for us ever since. I'd embed it here, but the only clips I can find of this Caddyshack scene contain some Pg-13 type unrelated dialog, and that won't do, this is a family show here.

Latest on the job front is that a company is nearing decision time (today? tomorrow?) on a position for which I did a couple of interviews. There are three finalists for the position, and my recruiter (of course) tells me I am the best fit. If it falls through, I do have an offer from a small* IT company that wants me to be a salesperson. The catch is they cannot pay me a salary.

* - By "small" I mean 2 people. An elder at my church who runs this business, literally, out of his garage. And his wife, the company VP, who does the books. And oh, by the way, she is also our piano teacher.

- Aw2pp, who is the ball.

Stop me if you've heard this one before

I had three (3!) interviews yesterday. (Yes, I slept well last night, thanks for asking.) All went great. Two of them were for consulting services sales positions (don't laugh), and one was for a Director of Pre-Sales position at a small Supply Chain Management vendor. I just got off the phone with Bob, the recruiter who had been lining up interviews with these IT Consultancies. Poor guy. He has been working his tail off for me. It's not easy. These IT Consulting Services sales positions are highly lucrative, and the hiring managers expect that you have a significant track record, 5, 10 years long, of success in the role. Me? I have none. I sold software, and sometimes services came with the deal. So the interviews have been uphill struggles, and I've had to work very hard to demonstrate I have what they're looking for, despite my utter lack of experience. Bob has been very helpful in this regard; so I could hear the pain in his voice.

"Aw2pp, they like you a lot. You've convinced them that you are what they are looking for, and that you fit the profile of successful people in their company. In fact..."

(Get ready, here it comes)

"... a month ago, they'd be working on putting together your offer at this point. And maybe a month from now, they'll be working on your offer. But they just promoted their Sales Manager to Branch Manager. And right now, without a sales manager in place, they don't think they can give you the support, the resources you need to be successful."

Thoughtful pause on my end. Then, "So, Bob, how you doing working on getting them a Sales Manager? Anything I can do to help?"

I have mixed feelings on this. I would like to make the kind of money these positions supposedly command, and of course would highly prefer an offer over any other outcome. But I never sufficiently overcame my own doubts about whether I could make this kind of transition. Clearly I did a fair job of stifling those doubts, since I got (yet another) almost-but-not-quite offer. So although I would rather be evaluating an offer at this point, there is a small sense of satisfaction at having overcome their initial, highly significant doubts about me. Either way, poor Bob is working the phones with the next IT Consultancy on his list, with whom we'll restart the whole exercise possibly as soon as tomorrow.

The good news here is that the third position I interviewed for yesterday, the Pre-Sales Director position is a much closer fit to my profile. The company is comfortable with my sales and technology background, but (here it comes) has some reservations about how little SCM work I have done. So, for now, they are going to continue their conversations with two other candidates. Nevertheless, the inside scoop suggests I might be a better fit than those guys. We'll see. This should conclude quickly, possibly as soon as this week.

With all this going on, I've not had any time to sit at the piano. I made very little progress either on Le Onde as my recital piece, or assignments in Alfred's. And based on this, I admitted to the piano teacher that I didn't think I was going to have Le Onde ready in six weeks. I might be able to struggle through it by that point, if I did nothing else in the meantime. But I think it would be highly unlikely, in that case, that I would be far enough along with it to perform in front of, you know, actual people. For this reason, I Due Fiumi is now my recital piece. Expect a Youtube clip sometime after the June recital.

If I can get Le Onde presentable, I'll let you hear it. Sometime before Labor Day, perhaps. Thanksgiving maybe. Almost certainly in time for recital day, June, 2010.

- Aw2pp, whose cold calling skills are getting a real workout in this jobless period.

This is a new one

Hyatt finally got back to me. After a week trying to decide between me and the other finalist for their Enterprise Architect position, they reached a conclusion: they would not be extending offers to either of us, and in fact, will not hire anyone for the position right now. Maybe they will revisit in 6 months.

Rejection has taken on many forms over these last two months. "We like you, you're perfect in fact, but..."

"... Sales pipeline fell through, and we can't afford to bring anyone on."

"... We're concerned that what you did at IBM is not relevant to our business model."

"... You're too tall, and would intimidate our customers, since they are mostly short."

(Yeah, I made that last one up.)

So I move on. In fact, I had a first interview yesterday with a small-ish ($100M) company that has been in business for 9 years and yet... get this... has never had any sales person. Literally, their product (a suite of Supply Chain Management solutions) has sold itself for 9 years. Of course, they figure it would sell even better if they had some people to, you know, sell it, hence my interview. Went well. Hoping for a follow-on next week.

I also have some interviews set up for later this week for Business Development positions selling IT services. I am getting some conflicting messages on whether this would be a good move, but as time passes, I'm finding less room to picky.

- Aw2pp, who re-certified for unemployment benefits early this morning.

Hmm, still unemployed (I think)

Remember that Hotel and Hospitality Provider? The one who was considering me as one of two finalists for their Enterprise Architect position, in charge of defining company-wide IT strategy? It's interesting, 8 of the first 10 people I met at this company offered me something to drink. That includes 4 of the 5 people who interviewed me on that first whirlwind day of interviews, several admins, and someone I met on the elevator. I later learned that this is part of the corporate culture: a service-minded approach to doing everything, because hospitality starts at the top.

Apparently, it doesn't extend all the way to the HR department, who told me on Wednesday that they would get back to me on Friday with a final decision. Friday came and went. No word from them. I'll call tomorrow.

- Aw2pp, whose LinkedIn profile is up to 140 contacts (and Nicaraguan contingent, why aren't you there?)

You know the job search is getting old when...

... corporate job boards (hello, Hewlett-Packard) are telling you your profile password has expired*, and you need a new one.

* - How funny. I have typed the "experienced" so much lately, it naturally flowed out as I typed the first few letters of "expired". Maybe that is a suggestion that I am using this word too much.

Remember those five strong opportunities I had a month ago? Let's review them.

- (Large pharmacy / retailer) interviewed me three times for an SOA Architect position. After the third visit, I got the sense this was not something I wanted to do, since it seemed all the interesting work had been done.

- (Small vendor of contact center / CRM software) interviewed me three times for a Sales Engineer position. They decided they liked me, but their sales pipeline disintegrated about that same time, and could not afford me.

- (Small vendor of SOA Governance and Virtualization software) interviewed me three times, then flew me to Dallas to meet with the executive team. They all "loved" (their word, not mine) me. But they concluded that my pre-sales experience with IBM was not relevant to their sales model, since they are so small and emerging, and can't rely on established sales channels. This one hurt, as I was surprised by it, and was sort of counting on this opportunity coming through. What's telling, though, is that they had three or four candidates prioritized behind me, and now that they told me "No", they have not restarted talks with them, either. Methinks they weren't in quite the hurry I thought they were.

- (A global hotel and hospitality chain) has interviewed me twice (well, six times, since once was a rapid-fire series of interviews) for an IT Strategy position. All along, dating back to January 26 when I first applied for this position, I regarded this as the most interesting job I could realistically compete for. Good thing, because it's the only opportunity that is still alive. I am told the hiring manager and team like me a lot, and have probably concluded I would be great in the role. Problem is, they said they feel the same way about "the other finalist". Decision due tomorrow (April 3). Here's hoping it comes through.

In the meantime, I have been laying the groundwork for backup opportunities, which I hope to not need. I must be over 200 applications by now.

- Aw2pp, who thanks you for considering his candidacy for your software presales engineer role...

Still jobless

I've now had three companies tell me, "We like you, we think you'd be great in the role, but..."

In the first instance, a small company had created a Sales Engineer position specifically for me. BUT sales pipeline had fallen apart, and they company was too small to withstand the risk of decreased revenue projections. "We'll get you an offer when things improve. Could be six weeks, could be six months."

In the second, my largest and most annoying competitor would have been happy, even enthusiastic about taking me on, and they even had open headcount. BUT they are in a hiring freeze, and may not have the open position released until June, at the earliest.

In the third, a small but highly intriguing company flew me to Dallas a few weeks ago to meet with all of their CxO type people. It went great. They all loved me, and I was the preferred (and insofar as I know, only remaining) candidate for a pre-sales opening in the Midwest, which is a new territory for them. BUT they are concerned that, coming from IBM, I simply hadn't had enough field sales experience, opportunities where my pre-sales expertise made the difference in a win. In response, I provided a document showing them the 22 opportunities I helped win in the last three years. I think there is an outside shot they'll say, "Oh, yeah, wow, that works for us, forget what we said earlier, and welcome aboard..." Realistically, the more likely outcome is that this is an opportunity missed.

So the strongest, and pretty much only remaining option, is a position with one of my customers, a large hotel and hospitality chain. Had a great second (final?) interview with them last Friday. I am one of two remaining finalists, and would happily accept an offer. Of course, that means this REALLY needs to come through, because if not, then what? To answer that question, I have re-stoked applications I let go fallow, and I have begun a fresh wave of new applications I hope to not need. But you never know.

- Aw2pp, who has built an impressive Mariokart wii license in the last few weeks. Boy howdy.

Job Search Update, yet again

As I go through this process, I am struck by the parallels between searching for a new job and selling software. The steps are almost identical:

1. Use your resources to identify opportunities.
2. Qualify the best of those, so you know where to spend your time.
3. Identify requirements, and ascertain if you meet those.
4. If so, demonstrate your unique value.
5. Identify and address inhibitors.
6. Close the deal.

All the while, you are identifying risks, evaluating what the next step is, determining if it is in your (or the client's) best interests to go on to that next step, and working towards closure. The main difference between what I am doing now and selling software (heck, selling anything) is that when you sell, you want to close as many things as possible. In this case, while I'd be happy with multiple offers, time and financial circumstances dictate that I am probably going to have to take the first reasonable offer that comes. Thankfully, the most promising opportunity is also the furthest along.

I met with the gentleman who would be my manager if I took a presales position with a small vendor of SOA Testing and Governance Software. After an hour of asking questions he'd already asked me before, and talking about things we'd already covered in earlier interviews, he admitted: "Look, I didn't really have any questions for you today. The purpose of our meeting here was to meet face-to-face, and validate that you are the same strong candidate in person as you presented yourself to be over the phone. You are, and I think you would be a great fit on my team."

I broke the brief, uncomfortable pause with, "So, you brought my offer with you, then?" He laughed, and then began enumerating the short list of things that have to be done before an offer comes. Basically, I have to fly to Dallas and let someone on the executive team buy me lunch. So I will let you know when that goes down.

In the meantime, I have to continue progressing other opportunities, just to be safe. So I had nother interview today, and more tomorrow, Friday, and Tuesday, to convince people to extend me job offers I hope to not need. It's a strange dance, and in feels a little disingenuous of me, but it's got to be done. Heaven help us if I put my faith in this one, strong, compelling opportunity, and it falls through.

Make it four

When last we talked, I had resolved to focus my attention on three strong possibilities. Late Friday afternoon, a fourth entered the picture. So my interview schedule looks like this over the first part of this week:

Monday morning - Goodbye IBM. (Exit interview.)
Monday afternoon - Interview #2 with largest competitor.
Tuesday morning - Interview #2 with tiny but thriving company.
Tuesday afternoon - Interview #1 with very large customer.
Wednesday morning - Interview #1 with a medium-sized customer.

At this point, all four opportunities are strong. In 2 cases, I have already talked to the hiring manager on the phone and they seemed to like me. In the others, the hiring manager told their corporate recruiter "This is the first guy I want to talk to." Ya gotta think (I do, that's for sure) that, of these four, an offer is going to come from one of them. If not... I gotta brush up on my interview skills, I guess.

So consider this a heads up... light blogging until maybe Wednesday afternoon.

- Aw2pp, who, in all the commotion, failed to notice that pitchers and catchers reported.

The Highs and the Lows

I'm pretty even keeled. Typically not too excitable either way. Years ago, when I was a high school volleyball coach (would you believe that?), I preached this: things are never as bad, nor as good, as they seem. Words to live by, and I do my best.

To illustrate, think of a number, between 0 and 100, that describes your emotional state right now. 100 is deliriously happy, 0 is incapacitating despondency. For added fun, put that number in the comments right now. I'll wait.

For me, I typically stay between, say, 45 and 55.* Lately, it's been difficult to stay within, as Data from STTNG** might say, "Normal operating parameters."

* - I'm told Zoloft does this to you. Not that I have any first-hand experience, mind you.
** - Google it, if you must.


Let's say I walked in to work on January 21 sporting a nice round 50. Upon hearing that IBM has decided to move on without me and 16,000 of my closest colleagues, I plummeted immediately to, say, a 5. Couldn't put two words together as I tried to call Sue on the way home. I'm sure that was a little unsettling for her. By the time I got home, I had improved to, say, 25.

Over the next day or two, this number continued to climb, even getting up into the 60's or so as I discovered the breadth of opportunities out there. Of course, I had, at the time, a poor sense of how to identify the best options, and got some quick rejections. And that is really the whole point of this post. The last month has been that way.

Aw2pp: "IBM needs a Telelogic Rep? I could sell Telelogic! Interview me!" 65
IBM: "True, the posting went up just this morning, but we already filled the position." 35

Aw2pp: "Wow, AON needs a Director of IT Infrastructure. I could do that!" 75
AON: "Call us back in ten years." 30

Aw2pp: "Hey, IBM is hiring a Sales Leader for the Distribution Sector!" 80
IBM: "If you have to look up what 'Distribution Sector' means, you're probably not the right one for the job." 25

Yes, all the above has happened. I have another half dozen just like these. And yes, in each case I truly, naively, was excited about the opportunity; and in each case, I crashed to Earth upon the rejection. Why do I tell you this? They say admitting you have a problem is the first step. I admit I need to get a grip on myself. And today is a good day to do it, because I had an exceptionally positive interview with a small software vendor, which could lead to a potentially lucrative offer some time in March. I have an interview with our #1 competitor on Monday, and they are very interested in me. My #1 customer target called today, and scheduled an interview for Tuesday. They have four openings in my skill set, and the recruiter told me I was the hiring team's first prospect they want to talk to . Heck, it was even breakfast for dinner tonight... does it get better than that?

Everything's coming up Millhouse for Aw2pp, so the temptation is staring me in the face to climb back up the scale again. So, consider this post my attempt at getting a grip, to remind myself that the most likely scenario is that, on Monday morning, I am still going to be jobless. And the job search count still shows a goosegg in the "offers" column. Here, I'll show you:

Applications: 122
Rejections: 24
Interviews: 9
Offers: 0

Still, breakfast for dinner is pretty nice.

- Aw2pp, who has yet to find a reasonable wine match for pancakes.

3 interviews queued up

You throw enough gunk at the wall, eventually something will stick.

I have three interviews lined up at the moment. The first is tomorrow morning at 9 AM. This position is an internal IBM job, as a sales rep for... something. Nobody seems to know what this particular job is supposed to be selling. But the hiring manager wants to talk to me about it, and who am I to say no to that?

Then, tomorrow afternoon, a small BPM vendor wants to talk.

Finally, Monday afternoon (you know, the day which is supposed to be my last day at IBM, unless I score something else in the meantime), I meet with our #1 competitor. The person I meet with, in fact, has been involved in some of the opportunities I have won against this competitor in the last year. When I had my initial phone interview with him yesterday, at one point he said something along the lines of this: "Oh, you were the one who worked that opportunity? Yeah, we were surprised to lose it."

Applications: 110
Rejections: 20
Interviews: 7
Offers: 0

- Aw2pp, who still has to write the names of notes that are more than a line above or below the staff. Then again, who among us doesn't?

100 applications, and counting

This morning, at 8:45 AM, I applied for a Senior Sales Consultant position at Informatica. This was a fairly unremarkable event in most ways. The opening was one I felt I could do, based out of the Chicago area. In placing my application, I felt confident that I would want to talk to me about it, if I were the hiring manager. This has been the case for many of the applications I've placed lately. Once I gave myself permission to apply for openings at IBM competitors, that really opened Pandora's Box... let's face it, EVERYBODY competes with IBM.

Anyway, what was remarkable about this application was that it was #100. In the two hours since, I have placed an additional five applications, bringing our count to:

Applications placed: 105
Rejections: 17*
Interviews: 6
Offers: 0

* - I gave myself credit for another half rejection. There was an IBM internal opening that popped up on the career portal Sunday evening. I was all over it. Applied, wrote a fancy "You need me now" letter, found the hiring manager, and contacted her. "I'm sorry, I know the position was just posted, but we've already filled it. If something else comes up, we'll let you know."

There is good news, however. Namely, it turns out that our competitors, especially our big competitors, want to talk to me. And are hiring. More later.

Oh, and I have started earnestly working on Alfred's Book II. Guantanamera is HARD.

Job search continues

I hope you are halfway interested in job searching. It appears, for the time being, that it's going to continue.

The good news: a small software concluded I was the right person for a need they have.

The bad news: a deal fell through at said small software company, and now their sales pipeline is too weak to justify bringing me (or anyone else) on board. "You are what we are looking for. When the pipeline gets healthy again, you are the first call we are going to make, and we're going to extend you an offer. Could be next week. Could be six weeks. Could be six months."

"Thank you sir, may I have another?"

We'll only give that credit for a half rejection. Therefore, the updated count is:

79 applications placed
13 and a half rejections
1 legit opportunity I am progressing
3 opportunities could become legit if the company gets back to me*
0 offers

* - Which, of course, I think they should. (I'm looking in your direction, JPMorgan. It is in your best interests to interview me.)

Having saturated my customers with applications, I have now turned to (gasp) competitors to see which of them are hiring. Turns out, some are hiring. This is not easy... over the years, some competitors* have engaged in deceitful sales practices in competitive opportunities I've been on. For example, I was in the room with a customer, on a conference call with a competitor / business partner that, on this opportunity, was supposed to be our ally. As we were talking about a schedule for some project deliverables, the business partner on the phone forgot I was in the room, and said "Of course, it's IBM we're talking about, and you know you can't trust those guys for anything." I mean, WHOA, cowboy! I would NEVER say that about a competitor... even if I believed it.**

* - I refuse to name names here... after all, I may be working for one of them before long.

** - And in some cases, I do.

But that is the modus operandi in some sales organizations: win at all costs. And now I have submitted applications into some of those organizations. Who'da thunkit?


- Aw2pp, whose transformation to the Dark Side is nearly complete...

Missing out on recital #.. (what number are we up to?)

I had hoped, a month or so ago, to have progressed far enough with Melodia Africana II to submit it as a recital entry. Failing that, I knew I could have I Due Fiumi ready as a backup. Wrong on both counts. I finally have reached a level with MA2 to where you could maybe, if you squinted really hard and used your imagination, discern bits and pieces of correct music from page 3. But recital-worthy? Heavens no.

And with IDF, PT had some compelling arguments* about why some of the LH broken chords should be 5-3-1, and others should be 5-2-1. I was playing some 5-3-1, and others, I hate to admit, 5-4-1. Apparently that is incorrect. She tells me there is long-term value in trying to do it as she suggests, so, in the spirit of humility and trying to do what I'm told, I am doing my best to adapt. It's ugly right now. I am not playing it very well. Hence, no recital piece for me.

* - All of which elude me at the moment. Clearly I am not paying close enough attention.

In fact, with the job search going full tilt, I am putting in very little bench time, instead doing one of four things:

1. Following up on applications I've made.
2. Studying for an upcoming interview / technical screening.*
3. Looking for new opportunities.
4. Talking to my conscience (Sue**) about the process. She has good instincts for this sort of thing.

* - Had one of these Monday morning, in fact. In the interests of time, I decided not to brush up on a small subset of material, considering it too trivial for discussion. Bad decision on my part. As luck would have it, that very material, the topic I dismissed as too trivial, too easy to be discussed, was our first topic of conversation. And I blew it. He almost ended it right there. Later, when we got to the hard stuff, I did better, perhaps well enough to save the opportunity. But I'm annoyed that I didn't take just 30 minutes to review some very easy fundamentals on a topic I haven't thought about since my first year of grad school, 8 years ago.

** - Who, ironically enough, has a hard time saying the word "conscience." She'd tell you so. (Hi, honey!)

The current count is 67 applications made, 12 rejections, and 4 legit opportunities I am working with. (I'll know a final status on one of those by tonight.) And zero offers. I don't know how that compares with earlier reports of progress... and by now, you know me, I am too lazy to go look and see what I wrote before. But I just tallied up the spreadsheet, and those numbers are accurate. I have actually applied for 67 jobs.

Mind you, if I were the hiring manager for about 50 of them, I wouldn't interview me. Good thing I'm not.

- Aw2pp, who is pathologically incapable of leaving a FreeCell game unsolved.

Oh, that's right, The Blog!

Sorry for the paucity of bloggy goodness these days. I'm a little distracted. I'll try to make it up with higher quality posts in the next week or three. Or, failing that, I'll just overwhelm you with quantity.

I may have mentioned before about IBM suddenly, inexplicably deciding that it can go on without me, right? Did I mention that? I did? Since then, I have had a third interview with a small software vendor, and a first interview with a medium-sized software vendor. And I am playing phone tag with the VP of a tiny, tiny vendor. These companies have openings for positions similar to what I have been doing for IBM (solution architect/ pre-sales type stuff), albeit on different technology. At this point, I think the most likely outcome is that I land a position like this. If not one of these I'm currently working on, something similar at another vendor.

The next most likely outcome is that I become one of my customers. That is, I land a position with an IBM customer who is implementing technology I helped sell. I would think I would be a great fit for a position like this, and, surprisingly, given what we're told about how bad the economy is, there are many of openings for them in the Chicago area. I'd guess 60 to 80, right now. The bad news is that my resume reads awfully technical... WebSphere this, SAP developer that, Master's in Computer Science... and I am having a hard time convincing HR monkeys* to pass my information onto a hiring manager for a job that requires business comfort. I've received some surprising rejections. "What? They don't want me? I launched the project that created that position!" On the other hand, I have had a couple of customers come back to me with questionnaires indicating further interest. Given the sheer volume of applications I have sent out, I like my odds of landing something.

* - Meaning no offense to any HR monkeys who visit here, of course.

That said, becoming one of my customers is not my preferred outcome. If I did get a job like this, I would, you know, have to dress up every day and go to an office or something. Daily commutes. The horror. I live 41 miles due west of Chicago... commuting from here could get ugly. And I'd gain back those 15 pounds I lost not eating Chipotle / JimmyJohn's / Potbelly's for lunch every day.*

* - "You can always bring your lunch," you say. "Or you could make lighter choices," you say. Irrelevant. I have no discipline for that sort of thing.

So how am I spending my time? Lots of piano playing, right? HARDLY! I'm either on the phone with recruiters, completing applications (I thought I was done with those, but more positions are always coming through on the Job Search Agents), updating my LinkedIn profile, or studying up for the next interview. "Yes, EDI, I'm a guru on that. Hold on one second while I Google what EDI stands for."

On to the numbers:

- Days since IBM told me they are letting me go: 13
- Days I have to find a new job within IBM: 19
- Applications submitted: 80
- Interviews: 5
- Rejections: 12
- Legit opportunities I am currently progressing: 4
- Offers: 0

And, since this is purportedly a blog that has something to do with playing (well, learning) the piano, it's probably relevant to post a quick note about that. I had my first ever "lesson" this past Monday. Yes, it's true. I know you are very happy for me. But you are going to have to come back tomorrow to see how that went. I have to review the Model-View-Controller pattern. It's wondrous how quickly and thoroughly those skills erode when they go unused.

- Aw2pp, who voted for Pedro, and, believe it or not, all his wildest dreams came true.