by "E90M3" (e90m3)
Published 03/02/2017 at 13:00
by "E90M3" (e90m3)
Published 03/02/2017 at 13:00
Tags: Life lessons with E90M3
STARS: 31
So before we get to that, I guess we should talk about why I was unemployed in the first place. I was a stimulation field engineer for a large oilfield service company, and thanks to the collapse in oil prices in the end of 2014 and the following industry downturn meant my company went from 15 24-hour frac crews in late 2014, to 3 when I was laid off. My crew was dropped by 2 different clients in about 3 months before I was put on a different crew. One of the clients shut down their entire Eagle Ford operations, hence why we got dropped. I got put onto what should have been a pretty safe crew. However, that crew got dropped after the client choose to retain the other company they also had pumping for them, despite I believe us safely pumping more stages then then other company. Oh well.
I figured I was just going to go to another crew, which was the plan until I got a text from my boss on April 6. He simply said to come to the yard for a “quick meeting.” I figured by the end of April 7, I wouldn’t have a job, either because they were going to be transferring me somewhere and I would be tendering my resignation, or I was going to get laid off. The latter happened. The decision apparently got made by people I never even met, and they couldn’t or wouldn’t tell me why I’d been picked. That’s fine, I needed to get away from that job. For a while I was severely depressed and I was drinking a lot, when I wasn’t working. So it really was for the best. My plan at the beginning of the 2016 was to pay off my 128i and try and save up another 20k, then quit in October. Obviously that didn’t happen, but I did find myself without a job, for a lot longer than I thought, because of that I learned a lot of things.
It’s a numbers game
I have no idea how many applications I sent out, I’m sure I at least averaged one a day, so we can safely assume that I applied for over 300 jobs. There were days I sent out 10 applications and there were days I sent out 0. Basically, I looked online and if the job sounded like something I might be interested in, I applied. The worse that they’re going to say is no. I had one resume and one cover letter and that was it. So it took me like 5 minutes to apply to a job. In the final months of my job search, I didn’t even submit the cover letter. I eventually figured out what type of jobs were interested in my skill set, which seemed to be companies looking for process engineers. Eventually those were pretty much the only jobs I was applying to. That’s when I started getting real results. However, it took a lot of applications, and even then I had something like 15 companies show any interest in me. In the end, I had 3 companies that were very interested, 2 offered me jobs and the other one wanted me to come to the plant after 2 phone interviews and an in person. So 3 quality leads out of something like 300 applications? 1%, maybe you’ll have better luck in your job search, but with the prevalence of computers and scanning tools, it’s a numbers game.
You don’t have to write cover letters, but you probably should.
I wrote something like 4 cover letters during my entire 10 month job search. Yeah you heard me right, 4. I know professionals (career coaches) who help people find jobs for a living tell you to write cover letters, but I didn’t. It’s possible to find a job without one. I have no idea if this hindered my search. I would suggest if you think you have a legitimate shot at the job, you might want to write a cover letter. If this is one of those “if they call me great, if not I won’t be surprised” maybe don’t worry about it. While I didn’t write a cover letters, you might want to.
You don’t have to tailor your resume to every job you apply for, but you probably should.
Another thing “career coaches” will tell you is to tailor your resume to each job you apply for. Especially with the prevalence of scanners that check your resume for key words before it’s even seen by a human your odds are better if you tailor your resume to that job. I’m sure in some cases that helps, hell maybe that’s what I should have been doing since day 1. I didn’t, I had one resume and used it to apply to everything. That resume got drastically reformatted during my job search and after that, my job search kind of took off. I will say there were jobs that I was prefect for and my resume had key words like “slickwater” and “frac” and I still didn’t have any luck with those jobs. So like with cover letters, I didn’t tailor my resume to each job. I thought of it as a numbers game and I don’t have time for that shit. You’re either going to want me or you’re not, I’m not spending 30 minutes editing a resume that won’t get past your computer anyways. That was my thought at least, no idea if it actually hindered my job search at all.
Don’t do it alone
I had a firm that helped people find new jobs included in my severance package. At first I didn’t use it. After about 2 months of not getting anything, I decided that I should probably use that. Well, truth be told the career coach I got assigned wasn’t very helpful at all. Maybe I didn’t listen to enough of her advice or something. I don’t know, I didn’t find her helpful at all, so I sort of just ignored her.
Wait, you said don’t do it alone. Enter one of my mom’s friend. Her side job is to help people get into college or find a new job. I think she does it for fun, because I’m pretty sure she doesn’t need the money. Well she offered her services to me for no charge. We completely reworked my resume. Then I met with her a couple times and we went over interview questions and the big one, my transferable skills. The latter was extremely important as I was changing industries. Armed with a new resume and behavioral stories, I was able to not only get interviews but impress the people I was talking to. One of the people that interviewed me at the company I took my job with finished interviewing me and was basically like, you’re exactly what we’re looking for. You don’t have experience managing 50 people, but I’m sure you’ll learn that and you have literally everything else.
My dad tried to help me, but for whatever reason I find him hard to work with on this and didn’t like it when I didn’t take his advice. So find someone besides a family member to help you. Your search will benefit enormously. The amount this woman helped me with my job search is immeasurable. Seriously, even if you have to pay someone, I highly recommend it. While she didn’t want me to pay her, I’m going to get her something to say thanks.
Yes you can find a job online
That’s right, you can find a job online. That’s how I found my job. There is the saying, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know; that’s true, but it’s not the be all end all. Everything is done online, including job searches. I had exhausted my contacts, I did get two interviews thanks to people I knew, nothing came to fruition. So I had to find my job myself. I tried to network but it didn’t work. I’ve heard you’re not supposed to spend all day in front of a computer, but I couldn’t figure out what else to do.
I went to a Georgia Tech alumni lunch, Georgia Tech alumni career fair, a networking event at a local church. And on that note the church, if you’re unemployed and living in Roswell GA, the Roswell United Methodist Church, puts on a pretty good program, and it’s free to attend and you don’t have to be a member of the church, I’m not. That said, networking with other unemployed people is pretty much useless.
So what’s left, the internet. We’ve already talked about how it’s a numbers game, so I just applied to everything. These last 3 jobs that I was on track to get all came from me applying online. Whoever says you can’t find a job online is flat out lying.
Work with a recruiter, if you can find one.
On the theme of don’t do it alone, if you can find a recruiter, it’s a great way to get around the business of applying online. Getting an actual human to look at your resume is step in the right direction, it’s almost a foot in the door. They also get paid by the company to find people to fill their vacancies, so it doesn’t cost you anything.
The company I got my job with, had a recruiter do the prescreening and he was able to talk me up to the company. I didn’t work with him before that. The firm posted the job and I applied to it. A week later or so I got a call and he said he was going to submit my resume to the company and that he thought I’d be a great fit. He just wanted to talk with my first so he had some ammo to talk me up. It worked out great and they were very very interested in me before they had even met me.
So if you can find someone who gets paid to find people jobs, get some help. I tired going through the same recruiter that one of my really good friends used, but they didn’t need an ChemEs. If you can, find a recruiter. They want to find you a job, because that’s how they get paid. It’s a great resource to use if you can find one.
You will get better at job hunting/interviewing as time goes by
I was shit at interviewing when I started; it had been 3.5 years since I had to do that. I didn’t know what I was doing. I got better at it as I went along, but the more help you get the faster you get there. By the end, I was very good at talking myself up. I had my stories nailed down and when they asked a question, I had a behavioral response ready.
I also got a lot better at knowing what to apply for. I knew what jobs I had a real chance of getting and which ones that was just part of the numbers game. Ironically I remember applying to job I got and thinking there is no way they’re going to be interested. Even if it says you need 2-3 years of something and you don’t have that, it might not be a deal breaker. No fracking is nothing like making chemicals, but when you talk about it as a process it’s a lot more similar than you’d think. I got good at explaining that.
I’m not getting any interest, nothing. What’s wrong with me?
What’s wrong with you? You’re doing something wrong. You’re either applying to the wrong jobs or you’re not saying the right things in interviews. You need to change something. Also don’t think there is something wrong with you. At times I’d be like what’s wrong with me. I’m a frac engineer trying to get a job as a chemical engineer and I haven’t done a good enough of a job convincing companies I have transferable skills. That’s where your help comes in and redirects your job search.
So don’t think of it as “what’s wrong with me” think of it as “what’s wrong with my job search.” Maybe you’re targeting the wrong companies or you wore a track suit to an interview. Regardless, if you’re not getting results something needs to change.
Job searching is about the worst thing ever
It sucks, you’re probably going to get really discouraged, especially if it drags on for months on end like mine did. You’re going to feel hopeless and hapless. What the actual fuck am I going to do. You might have to find a job or you have no idea where next months rent is going to come from or how you’re going to feed yourself.
Yeah, it’s fucking terrible, trust me on this one and I didn’t even have money issues. Just know that others have gone through similar things and have survived. I know it sucks, but you’re going to be alright. It might feel like it’s never going to end, but it must have a terminus. You can do this, even if you have to walk through hell to get to the other side.
I know why people just stop looking
After 9 months I wanted to give up. You start thinking what the hell is wrong with me, why does no one want to hire me. You start to feel like no one is going to hire you. I get that. I have a chemical engineer degree from Georgia Tech and worked for a large oil field service company, I should have no problem finding a job. Not true. You know how hard it is to change industries? Incredibly hard. Why doesn’t anyone want to hire me?
You start to feel like you’re almost unemployable. You just want to give up. After a while you become hopeless. In late January I wanted to give up, just be like I’m done I’m never going to find a job. No one wants to hire me. It’s really hard to be positive, I know understand why people just say to hell with it and give up.
Oppo is great place to vent
Fuck job searching, it is the worst. That said, you need to get the negativity out, don’t hold it in. You can’t keep projecting that toward friends and family, it wears on them too. Oppo is a prefect place for that. Why? Because you can get your frustrations out without being super negative to those around you. The great part about this community is that we have a lot of diverse backgrounds and chances are someone knows exactly how you’re feeling and can at least try and encourage you even if you have no idea what their real name is.
I always got a lot of support when I posted something about my job search. It’s much better to get it out then hold it in. Vent, we want to hear. If you hold it in, you become a very negative person and it ruins friendships and makes you bitter. Ask the fall 2015 version of myself, he’ll confirm that it’s true. So unleash it on oppo, if nowhere else, we can handle your negativity.
Don’t forget to be a human
You still have to live. If money isn’t tight, enjoy yourself. Don’t forget you have to do other things than job search. Even if that other thing is a 30 minute drive. Sometimes I’d be hating everything, so I’d go for a drive and nail it in 2nd and be like I guess everything isn’t so bad. Do what cheers you up. Being unemployed eats at you and sometimes you have to get away from that, even if it’s just a 30 minute drive.
If money is tight, do something cheap. Read a book, play some video games, go for a walk. Anything, just do something besides job searching. You need an outlet. I read something like 25 books between April and December. Reading is a great escape.
Just don’t turn to alcohol. Yeah you can drink if you’d like. There were times I’d be like fuck this, I’m drinking, getting day drunk on a Thursday afternoon isn’t that bad. If you want to drink, fine. Just don’t turn it into your only escape. That’s not good. You might feel good while consuming but feel like shit afterwards. Be careful, alcohol is a slippery slope.
You’re going to think worst case scenario
I feel like it’s human nature to picture the worst possible outcome. I did that. My worst case was having to sell the M3 because I exhausted all my resources. As soon as I decided I’d rather be in Georgia, moving back in with my parents became somewhat of a eventuality as opposed to a worst case. It’s really hard to stay positive, and not think worst case. Just know at the end of this, you’re going to be alright.
I was unemployed for 10 months and still have my E90, so hopefully you don’t reach your worst case.
It has an end
Don’t forget, this time isn’t going to last forever. It has an end point; the problem is, you have no idea when that end point is. It took me 309 days from getting laid off to getting an offer letter. It’s going to be close to a year from when I got laid off to starting my new job. A fucking year. While that’s a long time, it still had an end point. While you’re going to be miserable at times and it’s shit, it really is, at some point you’re going to find a job.
I really hope this helps someone
One thing I learned was a lot of people have been unemployed at some point and they’re fine now. It sucks, it really does. Hopefully if you lose your job, you have a job searching experience better than me. I wouldn’t wish this upon anyone.
"Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever" (superchan7)
03/02/2017 at 13:16, STARS: 0
Great pep talk for those who are having trouble finding employment. Job searching is indeed a numbers game—blast it out there and see what bounces back.
"JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t" (jawzx2)
03/02/2017 at 13:19, STARS: 0
Good Advice. I’m currently unemployed by choice, and I’m a little nervous about getting a job again once I’m ready/really need to, but I’ve done it before (thanks 2008!) and I know it’ll eventually pull through. Right now I’m enjoying NOT going to a soul-sucking job and helping with the sheep (full time shepherd is one of my career options, if we can make the land purchase work...) good to hear you made it through and remembered to learn from it ;)
"gawdzillla" (gawdzillla)
03/02/2017 at 13:20, STARS: 0
can you share your recruiter’s info please
"Roadster Man" (roadsterman)
03/02/2017 at 13:32, STARS: 0
Great story. The stresses of job searching is one of the many reasons I am self-employed.
"OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars" (jakeauern)
03/02/2017 at 13:33, STARS: 1
It really is a numbers game. I was getting pretty down about nothing happening. I would talk to a friend who has a friend and then... nothing... I ended up convincing myself the only person who could get me the job is me. Went to the career fair at school, talked to companies, and then the night after decided to start applying online. Found the perfect job I was looking for and am on the 2nd phone interview and feeling better about it all the time.
"Meatcoma" (mastapoof)
03/02/2017 at 13:37, STARS: 1
I changed careers in 2005. I did the same thing, sent resume after resume to companies. I got some interviews but not nearly as many as I should have. I applied for a job that was listed by a headhunter(recruiter). She told me that I didn’t qualify for that job or any she had listed, but she did help me rework my resume and gave me some information about how to prepare for an interview. I actually started getting a lot of interviews after that and got a nice job offer soon thereafter.
Linda Coe was/is her name and I can’t thank her enough for the free critique/help.
"Nothing" (nothingatalluseful)
03/02/2017 at 13:49, STARS: 4
When you’re job searching, your job is job searching. Treat it as such. After a few months of no success for me, that was one of the best tips I got. Get up, and prepare yourself for your work day. Your work day is to find jobs. Sure it may seem silly to put office clothes on and job surf, but if that’s what is required to get you in that mind set, do it. I wouldn’t do my job sitting on the couch, watching TV, eating Pop Tarts and drinking milk from the carton, so I shouldn’t be searching for jobs like that, either. Remember that that work day ends.
Doing IT contract work for quite a while, I was pretty good at the interview thing, and tailoring my resume accordingly. I had multiple versions of my resume for specific fields within IT that were ready to go. The Cover letter was specific for the company/available position. I also followed up after each interview with a thank you/follow up letter.
"Azrek" (azrek)
03/02/2017 at 14:03, STARS: 1
I had my 6 month sabbatical a few years ago and had a lot of the same thoughts and feelings. I paced myself and would get up every day and try to apply for at least 5 jobs a day with different resumes and cover letters. I’d surf all the websites, had RSS feeds and kept going usually from when I woke up to around 4pm.
After 4pm, I’d goto the gym, run around the block or meet friends in town. I’d stay busy as I knew the recruiters were already off the clock after 4pm.
I got creative with my free time. I found a beer from New Zealand called MOA which had a “Breakfast” style. So one day at 9am before I started applying, I made a big country breakfast and had Breakfast beers...because I could. I had fun applying that day.
I learned new hobbies such as chainmail. I would sit there and make bracelets to trade for beer in town or just to keep my mind active. The rings were a few dollars (like 3) for 500 rings or so. It was fun.
I practiced all my questions off of behavior topics. If I got an interview, I was always a top candidate for the position. I usually lost to someone older and more experienced than me.
I also used the GIBill to supplement my severance package. So I was making around $2k a month to goto class (I rode my bike or walked there saving on gas) and worked towards a 4th degree.
Later I landed a job with the Marines, which I left for a solid job I could retire in, but it took me to Maryland...we know how that ended.
But I was more prepared than many of my peers. I used to be on the hiring board for my company. I knew how to interview, what we looked for and the type of questions we did to provoke a response. I was brutal interviewing folks.
My friends used me to practice, but I warned them that for that brief time we are practicing, I am no longer their Guinness drinking friend. I am someone they have to impress and have a slight fear of. Most were amazed at how brutal and interview could be or how to ensure they weren’t falling into well scripted traps. I earned a lot of free beer this way!
Good luck in the new career.
"Chuckles" (chucklesw37)
03/02/2017 at 14:09, STARS: 0
This was a great write up. I agree with everything that you said here, especially about getting a recruiter involved. For my current job, I applied online and was contacted by a recruiter. She was instrumental in getting me this job. She talked me through the phone interviews and helped calm my nerves. I don’t think I’d have a job right now if it wasn’t for her.
My biggest obstacle was complacency. I wasn’t unemployed, but I was pretty miserable working 10-12 hours a day and only getting paid for 8. The joys of a salaried job. It sucked, but it was still a paycheck and it sucked up most of my waking hours.
I’d love to hear your opinions about the state of fracking in 2017. As a chemist, I find the process fascinating and as a citizen of Pennsylvania I’d like to be better informed. Of course I’ve seen that documentary that everyone always talks about, but that’s just one side of the story.
Oh, and congrats on the new job.
"just-a-scratch" (just-a-scratch)
03/02/2017 at 14:14, STARS: 0
I’ve done the unemployed job searching thing more times than I care to admit. Temping, contracting, and startups will do that.
I’m not sure if there is a best way to search for a new job. My search always limited me to local stuff. Given my background, it means the pool of options gets much more limited.
The best thing I ever did when unemployed was get inspired to do something not work related to prove something to myself. I was sitting around a lot and needed an outlet. I saw all these people on TV doing Ironman triathlons. If some of these oldsters and chubbies can do that, I can at least to a shorter event. I started training for a sprint race and it was really helpful. Sure physically I got in better shape, but mentally I was less stressed and a nicer person. So, if you’re unemployed a while FIND SOMETHING HELPFUL YOU CAN DO FOR YOURSELF THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH A JOB.
"uofime-2" (uofime-2)
03/02/2017 at 14:20, STARS: 0
Similar thing happened to me last May, I was lucky and found a job by August though.
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
03/02/2017 at 14:32, STARS: 0
Good of you to write all this up. I’m sure it will be helpful to people. Save a not-OPPO specific version as a Word doc to share with friends and acquaintances in the future.
Selling your M3 was your worst-case scenario? LOL - #FirstWorldProbs =)
"Mr. Plastics powered by GreyGoose" (greygoose)
03/02/2017 at 15:38, STARS: 0
Congratulations on finding something. I must have been really lucky in my Job searches. When I was a co-op, I got 2 offers out of 5 interviews that I did. I think my first job out of college, I took a position after maybe 3 interviews at different companies. Finally ended up in the auto industry right now, and I was 1/1 on the applications.
I consider myself very lucky, and I contemplated going to GT for undergrad as well!
I wish I would have known, as we have a referral bonus if someone we refer gets a job, haha. Best of luck in your new position.
"Jonathan Harper" (jbh)
03/02/2017 at 16:09, STARS: 0
I just had a second interview with a major manufacturer for a photographer position. Found the listing online.
"Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif" (lumpy44)
03/02/2017 at 16:14, STARS: 0
100% on the mark with a lot of this. Except most jobs I apply for make you enter all the info that is on your resume into little boxes which makes the job search very painful.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/02/2017 at 16:25, STARS: 0
Thanks. I mean you might as well, worse that happens is you don’t hear anything back. If you hear something great, if not it’s not the end of the world.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/02/2017 at 16:27, STARS: 0
It sounded like your old job was pretty terrible, hopefully your search goes a little better than mine. Best of luck either way, whether you become a shepherd or go job hunting.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/02/2017 at 16:28, STARS: 0
Send me an email at e90m3oppo@gmail.com
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/02/2017 at 16:28, STARS: 1
After going through this, I don’t blame you.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/02/2017 at 16:30, STARS: 0
For sure you’re the one that’s going to get you a job. Unless you know someone who works at a certain company, friends aren’t the best people to job search though. It doesn’t hurt to get their help, but I didn’t find it to be the most effective route.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/02/2017 at 16:31, STARS: 1
That’s pretty awesome she decided to help you. It seems there are people out there that don’t want to get paid for it, they just want to see others succeed.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/02/2017 at 16:36, STARS: 1
I don’t know why I didn’t include that point, you’re correct it is a full time job. For the most part I did at least one job related activity each day, whether that be apply to jobs, prepare for an interview, conduct an interview or something else. I wore pajamas all the time, but I would wake up eat and then shower and put a fresh pair on each day, so I at least didn’t feel discussing. I also used to wear coveralls to work, and I only kept one pair.
Ah, the thank you letter. I’m not sure if that helped or not. I really don’t know to be honest. This company I got my job with didn’t seem to mind one way or another. I didn’t send thank yous at first, but started after a while.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/02/2017 at 16:39, STARS: 0
Sounds you had a pretty good system down. There’s also nothing wrong with a few breakfast beers. There were a couple days where I was like, well it’s 1PM on a Thursday, might as well have a few. That wasn’t every Thursday though, I tried to limit my drinking to the weekend.
Thanks, I’m pretty excited to be starting a new career.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/02/2017 at 16:45, STARS: 1
Basically the same thing happened to me, except whatever he said made them skip the phone interview and bring me in. He helped me prepare a little, but not as much as my career coach did.
I worked 12 hour shifts, and was on salary it sucked. No overtime. We got a day rate when we were in the field so that was nice.
I thought I heard gas land was largely proven to be bullshit, I haven’t watched it. However, I’m a little leery to believe things from someone who hasn’t actually fracked. It’s a fascinating technology and is pretty much the reason that the US became a major oil producer. We’re getting oil out of rocks that a few years ago, it would not have been possible. We’ve been fracking since the 50s, but it’s the horizontal wells that were the game changer.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/02/2017 at 16:46, STARS: 0
I agree with that, you need to get away from the search or it’s going to wear you down.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/02/2017 at 16:47, STARS: 0
I didn’t anticipate it taking this long. It was about 2 months before I really starting taking my search seriously.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
03/02/2017 at 16:47, STARS: 0
I hope to never have to use this advice, but thank you for writing it. I’m really happy that you finally got a gig.
"OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars" (jakeauern)
03/02/2017 at 16:47, STARS: 1
Yeah I have lots of friends that have connections and they would make the connections and then silence. So. Annoying.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/02/2017 at 16:48, STARS: 1
That’s a good idea, I’ll have to do that.
It would have just been such a big mental defeat that I know it would have pretty much broken me. I know it’s just a car, but I worked so hard to get there and then to lose it all would have been so disheartening.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/02/2017 at 16:51, STARS: 0
I had a shit GPA in college, so my job search didn’t go much better in college. Luckily for me, an oil field service company just needed people and who else is going to offer the people with 2.6s jobs? They were the only ones to interview me and then to subsequently offer me a job.
I didn’t really want to go to the auto industry, I was trying to actually use my chemical engineering degree for once. Think I might be able to at this new place.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/02/2017 at 16:51, STARS: 1
Everything is online these days, even job searching.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/02/2017 at 16:52, STARS: 1
It seemed to be 50/50 where you had to reenter it. Some companies made you manually enter it, while others pulled from your resume and you just had to look it over to make sure it was good. I liked when you could apply on indeed, and just submit a resume. Super easy.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/02/2017 at 16:56, STARS: 0
Hopefully you don’t, this wasn’t really any fun and wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
I’m pretty damn happy about everything right now, that and relieved.
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
03/02/2017 at 16:57, STARS: 1
I hear you. I’m very glad it didn’t have to come to that.
"Chuckles" (chucklesw37)
03/02/2017 at 17:02, STARS: 0
For me, I was living in North Carolina and trying to find a job in Pennsylvania, so there was no way that I was going to be able to skip the phone interview. It had been years since I looked for a job, so having someone walk me through the process was a big help.
As for gasland, I watched it maybe a month ago after hearing about it for years. There are a lot of personal stories and anecdotes in there, but there’s also a lot of serious allegations about the industry in general. One major topic is the use of proprietary additives on the water that’s being pumped into the ground. The documentary makes it seem like pretty nasty stuff, which is then usually left to evaporate from open retention ponds or stored in large tanks until it’s transported.
"Nothing" (nothingatalluseful)
03/02/2017 at 17:06, STARS: 2
I only mention the Thank You letter because twice the response was “You know you get the job, right?”
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
03/02/2017 at 17:08, STARS: 1
I can only imagine the relief you’re feeling these days.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/02/2017 at 17:16, STARS: 1
I was living in Texas and trying to find a job in GA. I started using my parents address and eventually just moved back in with them. This company is about a 5 hour drive from my parents, so they did have to get a hotel for me and pay for a trip, but apparently they wanted to move fast and a phone interview wasn’t nessecary.
One major topic is the use of proprietary additives on the water that’s being pumped into the ground. The documentary makes it seem like pretty nasty stuff, which is then usually left to evaporate from open retention ponds or stored in large tanks until it’s transported.
Yeah, that’s mostly bullshit. The most common frac fluid we used was a borate based crosslinking fluid. The ingredients were guar gel, a crosslinker (boric acid mixed with a propanol or something), acetic acid (for lowering the pH of the fresh water), an activator/delay agent (sodium hydroxide for raising the pH of the final solution), some companies added in a biocide (could be either chlorine dioxide or glutaraldehyde based), clay stabilizers (basically ionic salts) and surfactants (basically soap). There is a database online where you can see every single chemical at a frac site. If you want to look yourself: https://fracfocusdata.org/DisclosureSearch/Search.aspx
The chemicals aren’t really terrible, I mean I don’t want to get NaOH on me, but it’s not like it’s some exotic chemical.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/02/2017 at 17:16, STARS: 0
That’s pretty great.
"LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com" (limitedtimeonly)
03/02/2017 at 17:31, STARS: 0
I have been unemployed in the past, and now play a role in hiring people, and I would say:
1) Cover letters rarely are looked at, and often are an annoyance to hiring managers, so most of the time are not helpful (maybe a simple “cover email” depending on the circumstances);
2) Because of #1, tailoring your resume to the job is very, very helpful.
3) Network in any way possible. If you know the area and industry you are targeting, try to find any type of professional gathering, go there, and fake being outgoing if you have to. Personal contact makes a HUGE difference in your prospects, and hearing about things that may never be advertised.
4) The “thank you” is critical - it is part of #3 in terms of building relationship, it shows you are interested in the job, and gives you another chance at contact with the company which may shake loose more information. I often included a question about the status or timeline if I didn’t cover that in the interview or it benefited from follow up, and that sometimes resulted in responses that were helpful to know where I stood and if there was anything more I could do.
Glad you are employed again. Hope you found a nice place in Savannah.
"Chuckles" (chucklesw37)
03/02/2017 at 18:14, STARS: 1
Thanks for that link. It’s possible that when gasland was made, that information wasn’t widely available to the public so he just speculated the worst. I work in the pharma industry doing analytical testing, and I’m routinely in close proximity to plenty of chemicals that are at least that bad. I can absolutely understand why someone would be against fracking if all that they cared to know about it was from gasland.
I definitely want to endorse your recommendation of “don’t forget to be a human.” Almost 2 years ago I bought a 94 Miata (1.8L with a 5 speed), and that thing has gotten me through some dark times. I know that Oppo has a love/hate relationship with the Miata, but I just subscribe to the philosophy of “drive whatever makes you happy,” and I’m grinning every time I’m behind the wheel of this thing. Just a 20 minute drive on some twisty backroads could make me forget about all of the frustration of the job hunt, or the stress of my old shitty job.
"Roadster Man" (roadsterman)
03/02/2017 at 18:59, STARS: 1
It only took me a just a few years in the corporate world to say “screw this.” I was dumb lucky enough, and the company was desperate enough that I landed my first corporate job after my I sent out my resume for the first time. I trained like hell for the interview though. So having literally never experienced a job search, I am amazed at how terrible the experience was. I’m happy for you that your search ended.
It’s hard to be your own boss for many reasons. For instance, when you love to screw around on Oppo all day... But the upside is that you can never get fired. I also work in a field that charges hourly rates, so there’s a bit of an incentive not to screw around on Oppo all day.
"Jonathan Harper" (jbh)
03/02/2017 at 19:10, STARS: 1
Amen! Good luck!
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/02/2017 at 19:35, STARS: 1
There is a lot of misinformation about frac, it’s also hard for me to explain it all to people since it’s not simple. There are also companies that pump just friction reducer, sand, and water into their wells and nothing else. I’m actually going to working for a company that makes a friction reducer.
You still have to live, you can’t forget that. A 20 minute backroads drive can do wonders. I also like the drive what makes you happy, we all have different tastes, find what you like. At times my M3 was about the only thing that cheered me up.
"Chuckles" (chucklesw37)
03/02/2017 at 20:14, STARS: 1
I fell in love with convertibles after I helped my dad buy a Sebring. It wasn’t sporty at all, but even just going on a cruise in that thing was fun. I knew I wanted my own convertible, but it also needed to be fun to drive. That lead to the Miata. It’s old enough to buy a beer, but it’s in great shape with only about 80k miles on it. A buddy of mine from high school works at a Ford dealership, and I used to stalk his used inventory from time to time. The Miata got logged into their system as an automatic, but I could see in the picture that it was a 5 speed. No other purchase on my life has given me as much joy as that car. It might not be powerful, but it handles like a go-kart.
I’m sure it’s got to be aggravating working in an industry with a lot of misinformation out there.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/02/2017 at 22:01, STARS: 0
1. I had literally only one place ask me for a cover letter, and that was after I applied and wanted to know why I wanted to work there.
2. Makes sense, I think I pretty much had my resume tailored to the jobs I wanted even if I didn’t change it up. I’m sure it would have been beneficial to have more than one copy or change it up for jobs I really want.
3. I had a hard time networking. Most of my network would have been in oil, so that was pretty much useless. Despite most of my friends being engineers, I didn’t really have any good contacts. I did get an interview with a company that seemed really interested but then never even got back to me.
4. I think I learned the hard way that I should send thank yous. I wonder if I lost out on any jobs because I didn’t send one.
"Mr. Plastics powered by GreyGoose" (greygoose)
03/03/2017 at 08:18, STARS: 1
Auto industry uses chemical engineers too. I just happen to be in a chemical group right now, plastics, paints, sealers, fluids, etc. Anyway, I’m a ME working in a CE position haha.
"uofime-2" (uofime-2)
03/03/2017 at 09:22, STARS: 0
It would have been easy for me to do that, I was honestly pretty angry/depressed about the whole situation for quite a while. Fortunately my girlfriend kicked my ass and had me cleaning up my resume, cover letter, internet profiles and applying to jobs the Monday after I got layed off.
Your part about needing help couldn’t be more true.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/03/2017 at 09:26, STARS: 0
Well I thought it was going to be easy to find another job. That proved not to be the case. I had to go figure out how to change industries and that was a challenge. It at least worked out in the end.
I probably would have found a job without help, eventually. It would have just been a lot longer. I don’t have time to make mistakes all day. So getting help was the best thing I did.
"Meatcoma" (mastapoof)
03/06/2017 at 11:17, STARS: 0
Yea, I sent her a message on LinkedIn thanking her again. She said she the note came at a time when she needed it. Felt pretty good for me as well.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/06/2017 at 11:27, STARS: 1
I went to go visit the woman who helped me yesterday and dropped off a thank you card with a gift certificate to a local group of nice restaurants. It did feel pretty good, I know she didn’t want anything but I wanted to get her something to say thanks.
"Jamal" (tamimij)
03/14/2019 at 10:16, STARS: 1
I think the last point , this thing has an end, is very good to sink in. Though it seems an obviouise point, but hearing it from someone who is going through similar damn experience is good to absorb and keep reminding.
it has been 9 months for me now . still surviving and trying.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
03/14/2019 at 10:51, STARS: 0
Yeah, it’s a brutal time.
I’m surprised you found this post.