Trailing Geek

A Trailing Spouse’s Job Hunt: Part Two

During my job hunt I applied to four jobs. Four!  Now, I don’t believe in the shotgun approach to job hunting. I only applied to jobs for which I felt qualified. I’d say overall I found 20-30 job listings in IT in Smallville during my search (Feb-May), and from there whittled it down to the four positions focused on my area of expertise.

Honestly, that was one of the most challenging aspects of looking for a job in Smallville: not having any jobs to apply for. I wanted nothing more than to write personalized cover letters and send my resume out, but there was nowhere for me to send anything. So day after day I trolled the listings, tweaked my resume and website, and tried to stay optimistic.

Where I Looked, In Order of Helpfulness

1. Pleasant U’s Employment Page – Pleasant U actually had a very thorough employment page. They had a nice service where you could sign up for an email subscription of job listings. I found both Job Opening #1 and Job Opening #2 directly through the university’s listings.
2. Craigslist – Though not nearly as active as the Metropolis Craigslist job listings, a few times a week there’d be one or two full time positions. I applied for Job Opening #3 from Craigslist.
3. Dice.com – Dice.com is focused on tech jobs. Though it returned more job listings than other sites, my posted resume did not lead to any contacts.
4. Indeed.com - Indeed is a job listing aggregator. I was pretty obsessed with checking job listings so many of the ones it returned I had already found on my own, but I thought it was super helpful. I just subscribed to the rss feed.
5. SimplyHired.com – Another job listing aggregator.
6. Government Sites – I checked the City of Smallville site, the County site, the State site.
7. Word of Mouth – Girlfriendy has a number of colleagues and friends still in Smallville (where she did her Masters) but none were involved in the tech industry. Still, I put out what feelers I could to those peeps and my peeps in Metropolis. I made a few contacts, but nothing ever transpired.
8. Monster.com - I think Monster’s days have passed, personally. I went ahead and created a profile on Monster but the only people who contacted me were IT recruiters from Metropolis, for contract jobs in Metropolis. Not helpful. Their job search never returned anything for me in Smallville.

Where It Led

1. Job Opening #1 - Developer position at Pleasant U. I applied in February and never heard back. They did send me an email many weeks later letting me know they received my resume. I was super excited because I really wanted to work at the university. Great benefits, great environment, easy commute.
2. Job Opening #2 – Developer position at Pleasant U. I applied in March and didn’t hear back until late April, when they wanted to set up an interview. I interviewed, they called me the next day and offered me the job.
3. Job Opening #3 – Developer position with Company X. I applied in March and heard back a week later, when they wanted to set up a phone interview. After my first phone interview I heard back a week later, to set up a second phone interview. After my second phone interview I never heard anything.
4. Job Opening #4 – Developer position with Company Z. I applied in March and heard back from a tech recruiter immediately. The recruiting firm was conducting the search on behalf of the company. Over the next month I went through an online skills assessment, reference checks with my current employer, a phone screen with the recruiting firm manager, a phone screen with the HR lead at the company,  a phone interview with the hiring manager, and a half-day on-site interview. The on-site interview took place in late April. They called me a few days later and offered me the job.

Coming up next: Part Three: The Decision*

*Not quite as entertaining (or lame) as LeBron James’ “Decision”