Since last time, we have spent nights in:
- Elizabethtown, Kentucky
- Blairsville, Georgia
- Montgomery, Alabama
- Smithville, Tennessee
- Louisville, Kentucky
Along the way, we played two pianos (thoughts on those coming later) and drove around suburban Nashville, pretty much convincing ourselves we'd like to move there someday. This week, I'm back in the saddle with work, and will spend most of the week in Indianapolis.
Thanks everyone for your comments on the piano touch post.
Anthony, can you send me a link or some information on Einaudi's Milwaukee date?
- Aw2pp, whose Odyssey is 2,514 miles closer to the end of its journey
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Monday, July 12, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
Strange days indeed
Changes afoot at work.You may remember Jeff, the fellow we visited just prior to Christmas... he of the piano, he who wasn't sure if it was a grand or an upright, but it turned out to be a wonderful little Charles Walter 1500? Jeff had been a Sales Manager prior to joining my little Canadian Software company, and though he had lots of fun palling around the Midwest with me, he concluded it was time to move on, and go back to managing sales people. Today is my first day out on the territory by my lonesome self. (Anybody know any good software sales reps looking for a job?)
Which is good news and bad news. The good news is that Jeff left some high-quality bidness on the table, and if I can get some of that closed this month, hey, I get the compensation for it! Woo-hoo! What's more, doing so would demonstrate some serious value to my new employer, who seems to like me quite a bit as it is. Maybe I can land some fancy new stock options or something before someone like HP or IBM buys us out.
The bad news is that this changes my work patterns quite considerably. I was never in charge of boring things like calling potential customers, qualifying inbound marketing leads, or cold-calling. No, my work began after that point in the process, when a lead has been properly identified as something worth pursuing. It was then my job to impress the people such that they'd be willing to sit down and discuss more boring things, like contract terms and conditions. At which point, I'd eject from the picture and move on to the next opportunity. Now? I have to do the fun stuff and boring stuff, too. Heck, I even have to call conference and trade show people to talk about setting up booths. Yick.
But I guess that's why the people who do this sort of thing make lots of money.
Ironic, then, that this is happening now. It was a little more than a year ago when IBM decided they could do without me and about 16,000 of my colleagues... I guess when you are a 380,000 person company, a couple ten thousand here and there don't really make much difference. But now I am in the midst of new upheaval, of a different sort. And it's kinda exciting. And frightening. Simultaneously.
But it doesn't leave much room for bench time. Not sure if I am going to have that recital piece ready in two weeks or not.
- Aw2pp, who is progressing 31 qualified leads and opportunities.
Which is good news and bad news. The good news is that Jeff left some high-quality bidness on the table, and if I can get some of that closed this month, hey, I get the compensation for it! Woo-hoo! What's more, doing so would demonstrate some serious value to my new employer, who seems to like me quite a bit as it is. Maybe I can land some fancy new stock options or something before someone like HP or IBM buys us out.
The bad news is that this changes my work patterns quite considerably. I was never in charge of boring things like calling potential customers, qualifying inbound marketing leads, or cold-calling. No, my work began after that point in the process, when a lead has been properly identified as something worth pursuing. It was then my job to impress the people such that they'd be willing to sit down and discuss more boring things, like contract terms and conditions. At which point, I'd eject from the picture and move on to the next opportunity. Now? I have to do the fun stuff and boring stuff, too. Heck, I even have to call conference and trade show people to talk about setting up booths. Yick.
But I guess that's why the people who do this sort of thing make lots of money.
Ironic, then, that this is happening now. It was a little more than a year ago when IBM decided they could do without me and about 16,000 of my colleagues... I guess when you are a 380,000 person company, a couple ten thousand here and there don't really make much difference. But now I am in the midst of new upheaval, of a different sort. And it's kinda exciting. And frightening. Simultaneously.
But it doesn't leave much room for bench time. Not sure if I am going to have that recital piece ready in two weeks or not.
- Aw2pp, who is progressing 31 qualified leads and opportunities.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
As I was saying...
Once in awhile, when PBS is trying to raise money or something, they'll put interesting programming on.* One of their staples during these times** is a series of documentaries about TV in the early days. I try to watch these each time they come on, even if I have seen the particular installment before. I enjoy trying to imagine what it must have been like. Today, we have several hundred channels to choose from... back in the day, folks would gather the family at the giant TV and gaze at a test pattern, marveling that the annoying tone and concentric circles were being broadcast all the way from downtown.
* - I kid, of course. I'm a fan. The Ken Burns National Parks Series last week was phenomenal.
** - "Pledge Drives", they call them. But I know you pretty well by now, and I suspect I didn't need to tell you that.
One of the things that I learned from watching these documentaries is that, in the early days, late night TV had some real geniuses. One of them, Jack Paar, got himself into an argument with his network TV hosts, and as such, left the airways for a spell. I don't recall any of the specifics, and, natch, I am too lazy to look them up. But I do recall that there was some doubt as to whether he would be coming back. And during the interim, since this was before The Daily Show, Nightline, or QVC, folks, either watched their local test pattern, or, heaven forbid, turned the TV off at night and turned in early. Or something.
Anyway, returning to what I DO recall from this story, Jack DID return. His studio audience applauded him wildly as the show opened, for some time, several minutes even. The applause died down, and then Jack paused. There was some tension in the studio. Would he acknowledge the "recent unpleasantness"? Would he take a moment to say bad things about NBC (I think it was NBC, but don't hold me to it)? Or would he go on as if nothing had happened, thereby creating the possibility that the tension would forever be unresolved?
He did none of those things. Or all of them, depending on your point of view. The first words out of his mouth were... "As I was saying..."
Laughter ensued, tension was broken, brief hiatus was simultaneously recognized and dismissed, and the world returned to normal.
What relevance does this have? Pretty much none. I am nowhere near as interesting as Jack Paar, I have not gone on hiatus because of some feud with Google, and, by all accounts, you've probably not noticed that it has been a couple weeks since my last post. And besides, even if all that were true, I totally forgot what we were talking about. Instead of "As I was saying," "Where were we?" is probably the more appropriate question.
Work has been very busy. I've spent various parts of the last two weeks in beautiful Appleton, Wisconsin and Holland, Michigan. There is talk of paying a visit to St. Louis next week. Remember, now, I am in software sales. And remember also (or perhaps you didn't know, since you weren't with us then, I'm looking at you, Moriarty) that July and August were disconcertingly slow. I had a lot to say then, and lots of bench / piano time. Today, not so much. But regard this as a good thing... salespeople like it when they are in the weeds.*
* Waiter term. Look it up. And it doesn't mean what you think. Shame on you.
The bad news, at least for our purposes, is that this pace results in a lighter posting schedule. I'll work on it, but no promises. Briefly, if I had been posting, I would be saying any or all of the following:
- Jillian continues to progress well in her lessons. And practice pretty much without being asked, although I think she over-reports her practice times to her teacher.
- I have missed two weeks in a row of lessons. Not to worry, Jillian has taken my time slots instead, and seems to be getting quite a lot out of the extra 30 minutes.
- Nevertheless, 10 minutes here, 30 there, I try to make progress on my own. I am almost ready to record a couple of Alfred's pieces for you. But I am growing concerned about my lack of progress on the Clementi Sonatina. That needs to be recital-ready in a month.
- I am finding myself reading a lot of "I just got my new piano" threads on PianoWorld. Which I really shouldn't be doing.
And, as you've come to expect, you'd see some kid pics. Sorry, not today.
I have to get back to work. I have to create a presentation explaining a prospective customer's pain points. You know, to show that I understand their problems, and how my company's software will help. Gripping stuff.
- Aw2pp, who knows how to improve the quality and outcome of business stakeholder reviews. No really, he does.
* - I kid, of course. I'm a fan. The Ken Burns National Parks Series last week was phenomenal.
** - "Pledge Drives", they call them. But I know you pretty well by now, and I suspect I didn't need to tell you that.
One of the things that I learned from watching these documentaries is that, in the early days, late night TV had some real geniuses. One of them, Jack Paar, got himself into an argument with his network TV hosts, and as such, left the airways for a spell. I don't recall any of the specifics, and, natch, I am too lazy to look them up. But I do recall that there was some doubt as to whether he would be coming back. And during the interim, since this was before The Daily Show, Nightline, or QVC, folks, either watched their local test pattern, or, heaven forbid, turned the TV off at night and turned in early. Or something.
Anyway, returning to what I DO recall from this story, Jack DID return. His studio audience applauded him wildly as the show opened, for some time, several minutes even. The applause died down, and then Jack paused. There was some tension in the studio. Would he acknowledge the "recent unpleasantness"? Would he take a moment to say bad things about NBC (I think it was NBC, but don't hold me to it)? Or would he go on as if nothing had happened, thereby creating the possibility that the tension would forever be unresolved?
He did none of those things. Or all of them, depending on your point of view. The first words out of his mouth were... "As I was saying..."
Laughter ensued, tension was broken, brief hiatus was simultaneously recognized and dismissed, and the world returned to normal.
What relevance does this have? Pretty much none. I am nowhere near as interesting as Jack Paar, I have not gone on hiatus because of some feud with Google, and, by all accounts, you've probably not noticed that it has been a couple weeks since my last post. And besides, even if all that were true, I totally forgot what we were talking about. Instead of "As I was saying," "Where were we?" is probably the more appropriate question.
Work has been very busy. I've spent various parts of the last two weeks in beautiful Appleton, Wisconsin and Holland, Michigan. There is talk of paying a visit to St. Louis next week. Remember, now, I am in software sales. And remember also (or perhaps you didn't know, since you weren't with us then, I'm looking at you, Moriarty) that July and August were disconcertingly slow. I had a lot to say then, and lots of bench / piano time. Today, not so much. But regard this as a good thing... salespeople like it when they are in the weeds.*
* Waiter term. Look it up. And it doesn't mean what you think. Shame on you.
The bad news, at least for our purposes, is that this pace results in a lighter posting schedule. I'll work on it, but no promises. Briefly, if I had been posting, I would be saying any or all of the following:
- Jillian continues to progress well in her lessons. And practice pretty much without being asked, although I think she over-reports her practice times to her teacher.
- I have missed two weeks in a row of lessons. Not to worry, Jillian has taken my time slots instead, and seems to be getting quite a lot out of the extra 30 minutes.
- Nevertheless, 10 minutes here, 30 there, I try to make progress on my own. I am almost ready to record a couple of Alfred's pieces for you. But I am growing concerned about my lack of progress on the Clementi Sonatina. That needs to be recital-ready in a month.
- I am finding myself reading a lot of "I just got my new piano" threads on PianoWorld. Which I really shouldn't be doing.
And, as you've come to expect, you'd see some kid pics. Sorry, not today.
I have to get back to work. I have to create a presentation explaining a prospective customer's pain points. You know, to show that I understand their problems, and how my company's software will help. Gripping stuff.
- Aw2pp, who knows how to improve the quality and outcome of business stakeholder reviews. No really, he does.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Slow week here
I am spending all week on site at a customer. Early mornings, late nights. More later.
- Aw2pp, who Facebooks vicariously through his wife
- Aw2pp, who Facebooks vicariously through his wife
Saturday, May 16, 2009
YYZ Mega-Lengthy Post
Hello from YYZ, the TLA* representing Toronto's Pearson International Airport. If you've been with us for awhile, you know nothing brings out the long, wordy posts in me like a few hours in an airport. To celebrate, let's hear Rush's song by that time. I am told that this instrumental is a series of variations on the Morse Code representation of YYZ, that beeps endlessly on those radio frequencies pilots use. Does anyone even speak Morse code anymore?
YYZ - Rush
* - Three Letter Acronym. Stay with us now, we covered this months ago.
After 50 hours of training, and more fancy dinners in four days than I have had in, mercy, a year, I finally have a moment to let my brain do nothing. I will now forgo that opportunity, and catch you up a little on details of how I came to be here.
As you recall, I got word that IBM figured they could do without me on January 24, one day after the Inauguration. I spent most of that first month of February lining up five really strong opportunities, all of which eventually, surprisingly, and disappointingly fell through. Of the approximately 400 jobs I have since applied for, 40 or so were with IBM. Of those 40, I secured interviews for exactly none of them. I worked with about 10 recruiters, some of whom submitted me for positions for which I was completely unsuited. Counting recruiter conversations, I did between 50 and 60 interviews, mostly over the phone. I'll advise my accountant that, in my job search, I drove approximately 1350 miles for interviews, and spend $68 on train tickets downtown. During those months, there were 4 positions that I was sure would turn into offers, and each of those disintegrated in the 11th hour for various reasons. Most of which were out of my control.
[begin tangential rant on meaning of life questions...]
A word on "control"... I've been giving a lot of thought these months to "meaning" or "purpose"... by that, I mean that thing that gets you out of bed in the morning. What's the meaning of your life? Jesus says the meaning of life is to love God and serve others. Nietzche claimed life has no meaning at all, a belief that led him to some startling conclusions. Literally, if meaning is "what gets you out of bed in the morning?" I would have to say these last few months, my children have been my meaning... they have come in earlier than they should, and drug me (and Sue) out of bed well before we needed to be. Of course, over time, the final meaning of my life will be partially defined by what my children become. But not completely. There is a danger there... while I'd like to think I have some impact on the final outcome of my children's development, I have to admit that my four independently-minded children are also their own creatures. There are aspects of their development that are out of my control, and who they become (if Sue and I do our jobs correctly) will be largely determined by them, provided we give them the guidance, resources, and opportunities they need to discover and maximize who they were meant to be. My purpose, then, is to provide them the tools they need. But in the end, the final outcome will be up to them.
* - YMMV, but that is my reading of Matthew 22:36-40.
Finding meaning in someone or something that is outside your control... that's a dangerous prospect. Here's another example... I am about to get on an airplane. I will derive no satisfaction, no sense of a job well done, if / when the airplane touches down at O'Hare. Will I be glad? Of course! But because the successful completion of this flight is completely and utterly out of my control, it will give me no satisfaction... no meaning.
So what else is there? Not to get all CS Lewis on you here, but Ecclesiastes suggests that it is a good thing to find meaning in ones work. And I admit, there is a lot of that in me. This can be a good thing, because, unless you are a... oh, let's pick a good one... Clown at the Goat Rodeo... you have some measure of control over the quality and perhaps even outcome of your work. You control how hard you work. You control how well you do your work. You may not always have direct control over the outcome, especially when you have to rely on colleagues or customers, but if you keep the focus on factors under your immediate control, this makes negative outcomes easier to handle.
[end tangential rant on meaning of life questions...]
All of this leads me back to these last (counts them...) 76 days. I was able to control the number and quality of applications and outreaches I made. And for awhile, I derived some sense of accomplishment from those days when I placed a large number of seemingly relevant applications. Thing is, I had absolutely no control over how, or even whether, the prospective employer would respond. Hyatt, iTKO, JPMorgan Chase, CNA, Riverstar, ArrowStream, they thought about me, many interviewed me, some should have hired me, but none did. Dozens of others never even responded to my application... many of those, too, should have hired me. It would have been better for all of us... me, them, and even you, we all would have been better off had they hired me as soon as they had the chance. They chose not to, for reasons that were absolutely and completely out of my control.
And this drove me batty.
So you'll never guess what I did. I undertook a project over which I had complete and absolute control. I cleared brush off our yard.
Wait... don't laugh. And don't leave. Seriously, think about this for a moment. Growing increasingly frustrated with how things were proceeding, not to mention taking some pride in all the money I was saving us by not having to pay $33 an hour for a yard crew to do the work for us*, I went out and started clearing this mess of a yard of ours. And believe it or not, I felt great peace and satisfaction at the results.
* - No lie, that was the quote. For that price, I would hope the crew would have thrown in some SAP consulting services while they were at it.
See for yourself. Mind you, it's now a group project (any volunteers?), and we are not even halfway done.
Before
After - No livestock or power tools were used in the clearing of this land. Which is a real shame, because I bet it would have been much easier that way. Maybe not both at the same time (livestock using power tools), but certainly one or the other.
Me, and my trusty clippers. You'd be amazed at what they can cut through.
Then what happened? Just about this time, I began a fresh round of applications to employers that, for the most part, neither you nor I had ever heard of. Perhaps it was a coincidence (Gramma MA would say there are no such things), it was just that the timing was right, first signs of the economy improving... or perhaps these afternoons in the yard allowed me to approach this job search thing with a clean mind and sense of purpose... But for whatever reason, these applications resonated with the companies and hiring managers who received them. As of a week ago Monday, I had six things cooking warmly on the front burner, and felt good about almost all of them. I was ecstatic about one or two of them. I have since come to learn that I was a real candidate for most of them. Then, innocently, without much thought, on Monday morning, I applied for yet another position I saw, this time on Linkedin. This application was just another backup for these primary opportunities. I was sure I wouldn't need it, because I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that these other things were going to result in several offers in the next few weeks. But I applied anyway. You can never have too many contingency plans.
Tuesday the hiring manager wrote back, asking to speak with me.
Wednesday, our scheduled 30 minute call ran over by 60 minutes.
Thursday, I had lunch with the local Sales Director. Upon completion of that meeting, he called his colleagues, asked them to circumvent their usual hiring process, and extend me an offer immediately. By the time I got home, I had it.
Friday, I accepted it.
I went from never having heard of the company, to working for them, in 72 hours. And now here I am in Toronto, having put in five days of boot camp training with my new team. It's ironic that, of all the customers I spoke with, all the recruiters who reached out to me and submitted me for jobs (some relevant to my skill set, some not), all the Ladders* openings I applied to... in the end, all of those activities amounted to nothing... they were merely preparatory exercises for the one opportunity that finally, and very quickly, came together. No recruiter was involved, no friends or friends of friends brokered the opportunity. Right place, right time.
* - Note to self... cancel that Ladders premium membership ASAP.
It only takes one.
Live, in-person recital countdown clock: 21 days, and counting.
- Aw2pp, who spent an entire week in Canada, and never once heard someone finish a sentence with "eh". Do they not talk like that anymore?
YYZ - Rush
* - Three Letter Acronym. Stay with us now, we covered this months ago.
After 50 hours of training, and more fancy dinners in four days than I have had in, mercy, a year, I finally have a moment to let my brain do nothing. I will now forgo that opportunity, and catch you up a little on details of how I came to be here.
As you recall, I got word that IBM figured they could do without me on January 24, one day after the Inauguration. I spent most of that first month of February lining up five really strong opportunities, all of which eventually, surprisingly, and disappointingly fell through. Of the approximately 400 jobs I have since applied for, 40 or so were with IBM. Of those 40, I secured interviews for exactly none of them. I worked with about 10 recruiters, some of whom submitted me for positions for which I was completely unsuited. Counting recruiter conversations, I did between 50 and 60 interviews, mostly over the phone. I'll advise my accountant that, in my job search, I drove approximately 1350 miles for interviews, and spend $68 on train tickets downtown. During those months, there were 4 positions that I was sure would turn into offers, and each of those disintegrated in the 11th hour for various reasons. Most of which were out of my control.
[begin tangential rant on meaning of life questions...]
A word on "control"... I've been giving a lot of thought these months to "meaning" or "purpose"... by that, I mean that thing that gets you out of bed in the morning. What's the meaning of your life? Jesus says the meaning of life is to love God and serve others. Nietzche claimed life has no meaning at all, a belief that led him to some startling conclusions. Literally, if meaning is "what gets you out of bed in the morning?" I would have to say these last few months, my children have been my meaning... they have come in earlier than they should, and drug me (and Sue) out of bed well before we needed to be. Of course, over time, the final meaning of my life will be partially defined by what my children become. But not completely. There is a danger there... while I'd like to think I have some impact on the final outcome of my children's development, I have to admit that my four independently-minded children are also their own creatures. There are aspects of their development that are out of my control, and who they become (if Sue and I do our jobs correctly) will be largely determined by them, provided we give them the guidance, resources, and opportunities they need to discover and maximize who they were meant to be. My purpose, then, is to provide them the tools they need. But in the end, the final outcome will be up to them.
* - YMMV, but that is my reading of Matthew 22:36-40.
Finding meaning in someone or something that is outside your control... that's a dangerous prospect. Here's another example... I am about to get on an airplane. I will derive no satisfaction, no sense of a job well done, if / when the airplane touches down at O'Hare. Will I be glad? Of course! But because the successful completion of this flight is completely and utterly out of my control, it will give me no satisfaction... no meaning.
So what else is there? Not to get all CS Lewis on you here, but Ecclesiastes suggests that it is a good thing to find meaning in ones work. And I admit, there is a lot of that in me. This can be a good thing, because, unless you are a... oh, let's pick a good one... Clown at the Goat Rodeo... you have some measure of control over the quality and perhaps even outcome of your work. You control how hard you work. You control how well you do your work. You may not always have direct control over the outcome, especially when you have to rely on colleagues or customers, but if you keep the focus on factors under your immediate control, this makes negative outcomes easier to handle.
[end tangential rant on meaning of life questions...]
All of this leads me back to these last (counts them...) 76 days. I was able to control the number and quality of applications and outreaches I made. And for awhile, I derived some sense of accomplishment from those days when I placed a large number of seemingly relevant applications. Thing is, I had absolutely no control over how, or even whether, the prospective employer would respond. Hyatt, iTKO, JPMorgan Chase, CNA, Riverstar, ArrowStream, they thought about me, many interviewed me, some should have hired me, but none did. Dozens of others never even responded to my application... many of those, too, should have hired me. It would have been better for all of us... me, them, and even you, we all would have been better off had they hired me as soon as they had the chance. They chose not to, for reasons that were absolutely and completely out of my control.
And this drove me batty.
So you'll never guess what I did. I undertook a project over which I had complete and absolute control. I cleared brush off our yard.
Wait... don't laugh. And don't leave. Seriously, think about this for a moment. Growing increasingly frustrated with how things were proceeding, not to mention taking some pride in all the money I was saving us by not having to pay $33 an hour for a yard crew to do the work for us*, I went out and started clearing this mess of a yard of ours. And believe it or not, I felt great peace and satisfaction at the results.
* - No lie, that was the quote. For that price, I would hope the crew would have thrown in some SAP consulting services while they were at it.
See for yourself. Mind you, it's now a group project (any volunteers?), and we are not even halfway done.
Before
After - No livestock or power tools were used in the clearing of this land. Which is a real shame, because I bet it would have been much easier that way. Maybe not both at the same time (livestock using power tools), but certainly one or the other.
Me, and my trusty clippers. You'd be amazed at what they can cut through.
Then what happened? Just about this time, I began a fresh round of applications to employers that, for the most part, neither you nor I had ever heard of. Perhaps it was a coincidence (Gramma MA would say there are no such things), it was just that the timing was right, first signs of the economy improving... or perhaps these afternoons in the yard allowed me to approach this job search thing with a clean mind and sense of purpose... But for whatever reason, these applications resonated with the companies and hiring managers who received them. As of a week ago Monday, I had six things cooking warmly on the front burner, and felt good about almost all of them. I was ecstatic about one or two of them. I have since come to learn that I was a real candidate for most of them. Then, innocently, without much thought, on Monday morning, I applied for yet another position I saw, this time on Linkedin. This application was just another backup for these primary opportunities. I was sure I wouldn't need it, because I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that these other things were going to result in several offers in the next few weeks. But I applied anyway. You can never have too many contingency plans.
Tuesday the hiring manager wrote back, asking to speak with me.
Wednesday, our scheduled 30 minute call ran over by 60 minutes.
Thursday, I had lunch with the local Sales Director. Upon completion of that meeting, he called his colleagues, asked them to circumvent their usual hiring process, and extend me an offer immediately. By the time I got home, I had it.
Friday, I accepted it.
I went from never having heard of the company, to working for them, in 72 hours. And now here I am in Toronto, having put in five days of boot camp training with my new team. It's ironic that, of all the customers I spoke with, all the recruiters who reached out to me and submitted me for jobs (some relevant to my skill set, some not), all the Ladders* openings I applied to... in the end, all of those activities amounted to nothing... they were merely preparatory exercises for the one opportunity that finally, and very quickly, came together. No recruiter was involved, no friends or friends of friends brokered the opportunity. Right place, right time.
* - Note to self... cancel that Ladders premium membership ASAP.
It only takes one.
Live, in-person recital countdown clock: 21 days, and counting.
- Aw2pp, who spent an entire week in Canada, and never once heard someone finish a sentence with "eh". Do they not talk like that anymore?
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Hello from Toronto
Just a brief check-in to let you know that I am at the halfway point in my first week of training with my new company. During the day, we've been plowing through the material, trying to cover three days of coursework in two days. For the rest of the week, we are going to learn about the new version of the software, when we hardly know the old.
At night, it's all about meeting people and trading stories. Not much time for much else.
More later.
- Aw2pp, eh
At night, it's all about meeting people and trading stories. Not much time for much else.
More later.
- Aw2pp, eh
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Job hunt update
Applications placed: about 40
Rejections received: 10 (including 6 from internal IBM positions)
Legit opportunities I'm progressing: 3
At this point, I am working on a Sales Engineer opening at a small vendor of Contact Center software. I have a second meeting with them on Friday.
In the meantime, I am hedging my bets by dropping off applications for openings I helped create. "Hi, I see you are hiring a Business Technology Architect. I was part of the team that defined that need, and scoped the solution this person is supposed to implement. Can we talk about you hiring me?" There are two such openings at different WebSphere customers in the Chicago area, and I am spending my time looking for more.
And if all that fails, IBM has graciously provided a list of countries they'd be happy to transfer me to. "Sue, any thoughts about moving to Turkey? How about Slovenia? Or Nigeria? Their Winters aren't nearly as bad as ours, I hear."
Jillian has piano lessons tonight. She was off last week (MLK Holiday). I am going to talk to the teacher about taking the 7:00 PM slot, immediately following Jillian's lesson.
- Aw2pp, a driven, talented, and highly experienced professional with 13 years experience working with and managing large, geographically disbursed teams on enterprise-scale software development and implementation projects.
Rejections received: 10 (including 6 from internal IBM positions)
Legit opportunities I'm progressing: 3
At this point, I am working on a Sales Engineer opening at a small vendor of Contact Center software. I have a second meeting with them on Friday.
In the meantime, I am hedging my bets by dropping off applications for openings I helped create. "Hi, I see you are hiring a Business Technology Architect. I was part of the team that defined that need, and scoped the solution this person is supposed to implement. Can we talk about you hiring me?" There are two such openings at different WebSphere customers in the Chicago area, and I am spending my time looking for more.
And if all that fails, IBM has graciously provided a list of countries they'd be happy to transfer me to. "Sue, any thoughts about moving to Turkey? How about Slovenia? Or Nigeria? Their Winters aren't nearly as bad as ours, I hear."
Jillian has piano lessons tonight. She was off last week (MLK Holiday). I am going to talk to the teacher about taking the 7:00 PM slot, immediately following Jillian's lesson.
- Aw2pp, a driven, talented, and highly experienced professional with 13 years experience working with and managing large, geographically disbursed teams on enterprise-scale software development and implementation projects.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
And we're off!
Thanks everyone for the well-wishes. After the first full day of joblessness*, here are the stats:
- 1 interview in the books
- 1 2nd interview scheduled for next week
- 1 recruiter conversation down, another scheduled
- 10 applications dropped onto customer career portals
- 2 rejections already tendered (thanks anyway CNA and HSBC)
- 0 minutes of piano playing
* - Technically, I am not jobless. I remain employed by IBM for another month. But you know what I mean.
At this point, there is already a front-runner in the "Where will Aw2pp be employed on February 24?" Sweepstakes. Not much else to say on that yet; let's see where it shakes out. But two things are clear:
1. My time with IBM is over... IBM ain't hiring, and they may not be done reducing headcount.
2. Otherwise, the market is not the desolate wasteland that I had feared. There are opportunities out there.
More later.
- 1 interview in the books
- 1 2nd interview scheduled for next week
- 1 recruiter conversation down, another scheduled
- 10 applications dropped onto customer career portals
- 2 rejections already tendered (thanks anyway CNA and HSBC)
- 0 minutes of piano playing
* - Technically, I am not jobless. I remain employed by IBM for another month. But you know what I mean.
At this point, there is already a front-runner in the "Where will Aw2pp be employed on February 24?" Sweepstakes. Not much else to say on that yet; let's see where it shakes out. But two things are clear:
1. My time with IBM is over... IBM ain't hiring, and they may not be done reducing headcount.
2. Otherwise, the market is not the desolate wasteland that I had feared. There are opportunities out there.
More later.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Good news, bad news
The good news:
- For 2008, I met my target quota.
- My company (IBM) surpassed Wall Street expectations, and issued strong guidance for 2009. Stock is up $9 today.
- For 2009, I have a healthy pipeline in my accounts, and I am well-positioned to continue, if not extend my 2008 success. Strong words in this economy.
The bad news:
- None of the above was positive enough to keep me and many hundreds of my colleagues from losing their jobs. I (we) have until February 23 to find new jobs within IBM, or accept IBM's gracious severance package, and some well-wishes.
Bummer. I'm not happy about this.
I'll keep you updated. For now, I have already applied for 9 openings I found at my customers, working on projects whose underlying software I was instrumental in selling. That could be interesting.
- Aw2pp, who might have quite a bit of free time on his hands soon
- For 2008, I met my target quota.
- My company (IBM) surpassed Wall Street expectations, and issued strong guidance for 2009. Stock is up $9 today.
- For 2009, I have a healthy pipeline in my accounts, and I am well-positioned to continue, if not extend my 2008 success. Strong words in this economy.
The bad news:
- None of the above was positive enough to keep me and many hundreds of my colleagues from losing their jobs. I (we) have until February 23 to find new jobs within IBM, or accept IBM's gracious severance package, and some well-wishes.
Bummer. I'm not happy about this.
I'll keep you updated. For now, I have already applied for 9 openings I found at my customers, working on projects whose underlying software I was instrumental in selling. That could be interesting.
- Aw2pp, who might have quite a bit of free time on his hands soon
Monday, December 22, 2008
Wow, Why is Aw2pp so busy?
I promised you earlier in the year that December would be slow for me. That I would have lots of time to practice. And post lots of thoughtful, interesting and insightful things here. I’m 0 for 3 on those predictions. Work, which is usually really slow for folks in my position (pre-sales) has been as busy as ever. I’m lucky to get 20 minutes on the piano in a day. And frankly, I’m not happy with the meager amounts of bloggy goodness I’m posting here these days.
What up with all that?
Well, as I have admitted before, I get a lot of good blog work done on the train. Our new house (I mentioned we built and moved into a new house, right?) is 41 miles west of Chicago. The train trip takes about an hour 20 each way. I am, at this very moment in fact, on the train, thankful not be driving in some seriously bad wintry weather. But I have not been on the train much lately. Instead, I’ve either been working from home*, or driving to visit angry customers who purchased software that doesn’t seem to be working. And periodically driving to other customers, trying to sell some last minute software. (WebSphere Stocking Stuffers!)
* - No, really, when I work from home, I actually do work.
Maybe January will be slower.
- Aw2pp, who always yields to snowplows
What up with all that?
Well, as I have admitted before, I get a lot of good blog work done on the train. Our new house (I mentioned we built and moved into a new house, right?) is 41 miles west of Chicago. The train trip takes about an hour 20 each way. I am, at this very moment in fact, on the train, thankful not be driving in some seriously bad wintry weather. But I have not been on the train much lately. Instead, I’ve either been working from home*, or driving to visit angry customers who purchased software that doesn’t seem to be working. And periodically driving to other customers, trying to sell some last minute software. (WebSphere Stocking Stuffers!)
* - No, really, when I work from home, I actually do work.
Maybe January will be slower.
- Aw2pp, who always yields to snowplows
Monday, October 27, 2008
Meaning no offense to any Database Administrators here...
AW2PP: ...ok, we got the file adapter listener cleared up
AW2PP: trying to get update_email to work
AW2PP: it complains: "a1 Customer record for insert must have validated profile record defined"
ISSW Guy: hmm
ISSW Guy: damn...that makes no sense to me
AW2PP: ...seriously, right
AW2PP: i'm going through the email and phone maps to make sure they match up where they should
AW2PP: oh wait
AW2PP: N1
AW2PP: N1 CREDIT_HOLD has an invalid value
AW2PP: that's much clearer
ISSW Guy: that would do it
ISSW Guy: should be set to N
AW2PP: ...I had a lowercase n
AW2PP: I hate databases
ISSW Guy: ha
ISSW Guy: yep
ISSW Guy: the other day I had a failure because the "h" key is just above the "n"
AW2PP: ...and you have skinny little fingers... imagine the trouble corpulent DBA's have with this sort of thing
ISSW Guy: :)
AW2PP: ...it's enough to drive them surly
ISSW Guy: I'm cracking up here
AW2PP: ...come to think of it... most DBA's I've ever known... ah, never mind
ISSW Guy: :)
AW2PP: ...success! should I chance to update it?
ISSW Guy: awesome!
ISSW Guy: Heck no, don't touch it. It might break. hurry up and show the customer before it does!
AW2PP: trying to get update_email to work
AW2PP: it complains: "a1 Customer record for insert must have validated profile record defined"
ISSW Guy: hmm
ISSW Guy: damn...that makes no sense to me
AW2PP: ...seriously, right
AW2PP: i'm going through the email and phone maps to make sure they match up where they should
AW2PP: oh wait
AW2PP: N1
AW2PP: N1 CREDIT_HOLD has an invalid value
AW2PP: that's much clearer
ISSW Guy: that would do it
ISSW Guy: should be set to N
AW2PP: ...I had a lowercase n
AW2PP: I hate databases
ISSW Guy: ha
ISSW Guy: yep
ISSW Guy: the other day I had a failure because the "h" key is just above the "n"
AW2PP: ...and you have skinny little fingers... imagine the trouble corpulent DBA's have with this sort of thing
ISSW Guy: :)
AW2PP: ...it's enough to drive them surly
ISSW Guy: I'm cracking up here
AW2PP: ...come to think of it... most DBA's I've ever known... ah, never mind
ISSW Guy: :)
AW2PP: ...success! should I chance to update it?
ISSW Guy: awesome!
ISSW Guy: Heck no, don't touch it. It might break. hurry up and show the customer before it does!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Busy times, y'all
When December gets here...
... and you're seeing one well-thought-out, content-rich post after another...
... and I'm talking about all the progress I am making with all the piano time I am sure to have...
... and I'm even posting recordings and clips of me, and Jillian, and Jason, and (who knows?) Rowan...
... it may cause you to wonder: "Does this AW2PP guy work? What does he do all day, that allows him so much time for this kind of frivolity?"
At that point, return in your mind to right now. And know that I spent a good chunk of September, October, and perhaps even November banking that time. It's the nature of my line of work (Software Technical Sales) to be cyclical in terms of workload, which large variance between peaks and troughs. Right now, I am certainly in a peak, with what amounts to three full-time activities needing attention simultaneously. Not that I'm complaining, mind you... the last thing you want in sales is to have nothing to do. It's a good thing to be swamped, given the economic climate.
There is still no piano in the house, which perhaps is just as well. If there was one here, I'd be biting my bottom lip at not being able to put any time into it. I haven't spoken withSeptember October Santa on this topic. Maybe next post, I'll have some ideas.
... and you're seeing one well-thought-out, content-rich post after another...
... and I'm talking about all the progress I am making with all the piano time I am sure to have...
... and I'm even posting recordings and clips of me, and Jillian, and Jason, and (who knows?) Rowan...
... it may cause you to wonder: "Does this AW2PP guy work? What does he do all day, that allows him so much time for this kind of frivolity?"
At that point, return in your mind to right now. And know that I spent a good chunk of September, October, and perhaps even November banking that time. It's the nature of my line of work (Software Technical Sales) to be cyclical in terms of workload, which large variance between peaks and troughs. Right now, I am certainly in a peak, with what amounts to three full-time activities needing attention simultaneously. Not that I'm complaining, mind you... the last thing you want in sales is to have nothing to do. It's a good thing to be swamped, given the economic climate.
There is still no piano in the house, which perhaps is just as well. If there was one here, I'd be biting my bottom lip at not being able to put any time into it. I haven't spoken with
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Not much going on this week
Baby Joe (trying on new names for the boy, that's the one I am going with right now) is now two and a half weeks old. Like all of us, he wasn't born with an innate sense for day versus night. So we're still working with that. He seems to be growing, though, and that's a good thing.
The (new) house looks great. It seems to be ready for us; we're certainly ready for it. Thing is, our lender is backed up, and because of their slow processing, it appears that our target closing date (um, that would be this Friday) is going to slip. We're real happy about that, as you can guess. Still, we're packing up the current house, in preparation for moving as soon as we're allowed to.
At work, I have been assigned an entirely new set of accounts. This means I have had to gracefully hand over my old customers (a mixed bag there, to be sure, I am glad to be rid of some, sorry to see others go) and begin visiting a whole new set of customers. My new group is called, euphemistically, "General Business". These accounts used to be called SMB ("Small to Medium Business"), but it turns out that no business likes to be called small. Even those that are. And, given the size of my company, what we defined as "small" (you know, companies like, oh, Motorola) was a bit mystifying. Anyway, things have been very busy at work, which, combined with the new baby, moving out of the old house, getting ready for closing on the new one, and living day-to-day life means things seem to be going by very quickly these days.
This leaves very little time for, you know, watching the Olympics, or learning Ombre.
So, since I have very little to offer you from my own experience, let's all appreciate the #2 All Time Muppet, Beaker. I swear, I had a dentist once that was his long-lost identical twin brother.
Now if you'll excuse me, it's garbage day.
The (new) house looks great. It seems to be ready for us; we're certainly ready for it. Thing is, our lender is backed up, and because of their slow processing, it appears that our target closing date (um, that would be this Friday) is going to slip. We're real happy about that, as you can guess. Still, we're packing up the current house, in preparation for moving as soon as we're allowed to.
At work, I have been assigned an entirely new set of accounts. This means I have had to gracefully hand over my old customers (a mixed bag there, to be sure, I am glad to be rid of some, sorry to see others go) and begin visiting a whole new set of customers. My new group is called, euphemistically, "General Business". These accounts used to be called SMB ("Small to Medium Business"), but it turns out that no business likes to be called small. Even those that are. And, given the size of my company, what we defined as "small" (you know, companies like, oh, Motorola) was a bit mystifying. Anyway, things have been very busy at work, which, combined with the new baby, moving out of the old house, getting ready for closing on the new one, and living day-to-day life means things seem to be going by very quickly these days.
This leaves very little time for, you know, watching the Olympics, or learning Ombre.
So, since I have very little to offer you from my own experience, let's all appreciate the #2 All Time Muppet, Beaker. I swear, I had a dentist once that was his long-lost identical twin brother.
Now if you'll excuse me, it's garbage day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
