Day 53 Log

Got a phone call this morning that had me run an errand this afternoon, unfortunately it took almost two hours, to complete. I didn't get a lot of job searching in, but the little bit I did get, might have been worth while. I got a call from a recruiter who wants to submit me for a position, so hopefully that will yield results. It is for a financial institution in Eden Prairie, that would be an interesting change. I'm hoping that next week will be more active.

Day 52 Log

It is a little depressing how the job hunt seems to go in ups and downs, and right now I'm in a down patch, I haven't heard anything productive in almost a week, things seem to be stagnating right now...I'm just hoping that the reason is because people are waiting for February 1st to launch new positions.

Day 51 Log

I am hearing from a number of my "active" sources that they are being put on hold, so for the time being, they are unable to move forward. I am not seeing anything new in the job boards, and am running low on ideas. Got a phone number of someone to call today from a family member, I'll try this person tomorrow.

Day 50 Log

It is a little depressing that it has been 50 days, but I hope one of the opportunities I've been speaking with recruiters about will pan out. Yesterday I heard that the older of the three possibilities decided to pull the position. I saw the same position on a job site on Monday, but can't find it today, so not sure what that was all about.

Got to talk with the Project Manager about the most promising position. He wanted to get a good understanding of my experience for a meeting he has tomorrow. Sounds like this is moving forward, it's for a manufacturing company instead of a web shop, so that should be interesting, from the sound of what they are doing, I'm not sure exactly how the Database will be used, but it would be a fun change to get some experience in a different industry.

Day 49 Log

Not much on the job search front today, but got a call from another recruiter. Haven't heard back from my contacts from last Thursday and Friday, hoping they get back to me tomorrow. Not much else to report, looking into LLC's and S Corps for the possibility of doing a 1099, formalizing the paperwork, so I'm ready to go if I choose to move in that path.

Day 46 Log

I woke up this morning and started my normal search for new positions. I got a call from a new recruiter. He was looking for fill a position that they needed filled right away. We discussed the position saying we would discuss pricing after we saw if they had any interest in moving forward after seeing my resume, so I gave him the go ahead to submit me. We did discuss my salary and and he told me that the position was a 1099 position, and I told him the rate he saw on my dice.com profile was for W2 employment, and that I'd need to give some thought to what I wanted for 1099 employment. An hour later I got an email from him saying he submitted me for the position and he had submitted me at a rate of only $2/hr over what my W2 rate was. I did some quick work and determined that $2/hr is only $4000/yr, and I think it is safe to say that the government will want more than $4000 in taxes. I did some searching on the Internet, and I found that most people agree with what a friend had told me, that I should look at charging 15-20% above what want on a W2 basis if your looking at a 1099 status. So I did the math and 20% came out to be about $10 an hour, so the offer of $2/hr falls about $8/hr short..or $16,000/yr. Even if I look at only taking a 15% increase, the offer still falls $11,000 short of my expected yearly salary. I made him a counter offer and am waiting to see if we can work something out, but his offer was only a 4% increase over my W2 rate. I'm willing to take a small pay cut, but 15% seems a bit steep, when ALL of the other positions I'm looking at are coming in at my desired rate on a W2 basis.
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Got a response from the recruiter, we negotiated to $7 over the W2 rate, so a bit up for him and a bit down for me. Now I just need to convince the company this is for, that I'm the right guy for the job. It's nice to have a few companies looking at me, it would be even better to have two companies making me offers...but I'll take it one step at a time.
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Got an email from a friend of mine earlier this week, with a position open in his company. I filled out the online app, and was waiting. He offered to give my resume to the hiring manager, so I sent him my resume. I know networking is the best way to find a new position, so I'm excited to see what happens with that.

Day 45 Log

Not a lot of new postings again today, guess with the weekend looming most companies are holding off on putting up their job postings.

Applied to one location, but didn't see any other new postings that I fit.

Day 44 Log

Today was a slow day, I received a call from three recruiters, two new, one just checking in. One of the new recruiters wanted to discuss a position that I had already been submitted for, so nothing much came out of that (except for a new contact). The other new recruiter found my resume on one of the posting sites and wanted to discuss what I've been looking at and just get to know me more. The job sites didn't have anything new on them, so it felt like a slow day.

Day 43 Log

Got an email last night from a recruiter that I had sent an email to yesterday. His email was sent around 9:30 PM, but I didn't happen to see it until closer to 11 PM; he wanted to get together mid morning today. I have something else going on, so I suggested later today or any other time this week. He had a good sense of humor about it, commenting that with all the advanced notice he gave me, he can't believe I couldn't squeeze him in. Hopefully it will pay off; I am happy he contacted me, this was in response to an ad that I saw that I thought looked very interesting, and the company is one I hadn't heard of, but also looked very interesting, so I'm excited to speak with him today.
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My phone call today was interesting, nothing is going to come of it for the moment, but it was very enlightening and educational.
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My meeting with recruiter this afternoon went very well, looks like I am a strong candidate for the position, it is in Eden Prairie, which is fine, since I want to move out that way, and I'm used to the drive. I'd get the opportunity to work with a very senior level DBA which would be a nice change. I hope they invite me to come into their office and discuss the position with me.
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Didn't see much new on Dice today, getting tired, so I'm going to hold off on the other job boards till tomorrow.

Day 42 Log

I had hoped that I would have been employed before 40 days, but things are a bit slower than I thought. No real solid leads at the moment, Dice.com had a number of new positions today I ended up submitting myself for eight of them. One was a telecommuting position, which would be an interesting change.
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Got a phone call back from one of the resumes I sent out, looks promising.
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Wow, things are getting lively all of a sudden, got a phone call from someone I spoke with a while ago, might have another possibility for me.

Day 39 Log

Another cold day today, and again schools were closed, so the kids were around again. Not a lot of new activity on the job sites. Dice was better than the rest, and I created a profile on Dice (up to now I have just been searching every day without creating my own profile).

Did some more reading and got SQL Server 2005 (Express) installed on my workstation, so I have been able to play a bit with some of the new features that I haven't used much...but apparently the express version doesn't come with the Adventureworks database, and for all my searching online I don't think you can get it. So I have found and installed Northwind...so at least I have some real data to play with.

Well, the weekend is up next, hope everyone has a good one.

Day 38 Log

Well it's cold out today, currently it is -17 F and the weather report says "wind chill readings from 35 to 45 below zero" The high today is only supposed to get up to -5 F. Because of this, my daughters schools are closed and they are home with us..so it's a much more lively house today.
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Got an email from the recruiter on the job I interviewed for last week, here is what he said:
"I am sorry to inform you that [they] told us they extended an offer to someone else and they accepted. They want to thank for coming in because they thought you were a very solid candidate. The only difference between you and the other candidate was that they had a little more experience with the development piece." So on the bad side I didn't get it and I need to delay working a bit longer, but I can take away from this that my skill set is thought of as "very solid", which when you've been unemployed for 38 days is nice to hear. Another benefit of this is that I don't (at least right now) have to worry about the 1099 contracting stuff..I have to admit that the thought of having to do all the taxes and lack of insurance was a bit daunting.

The same recruiter that sent me this, also told me earlier this week about a position in Eden Prairie that he just heard about which was a perm position paying what I was hoping to be paid, and the company looks like (from what I gleam from their website) a company similar (in corporate environment) to the types of companies I have worked for in the past. I am actually really looking forward to meeting with this company.
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Got my UI payment today...so it only took being unemployed for 38 days to get it...luckily I got it today, bill start to come due tomorrow. I was hoping to get four weeks of payment, but I calculated something wrong I guess. The first week you don't get paid, and I thought that was your "Waiting Week" but I guess the second week is the "Waiting Week" which you aren't paid for. So I had two weeks unpaid...but three weeks is enough to allow make my half month house payment and van payment, and buy some food (we are getting very low on food stock).
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Day 37 Log

Day 37, still no UI benefits...starting to get closer to desperate..to be honest, I don't know how we have survived this far...well, actually I do, it's been several instances of good luck, and not needing to pay a larger bill, coupled with doing more work than normal for a contract job in November, thus getting a larger than normal check in December. That added with the check coming early for said Contract in January helped us stay on our feet.
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No new jobs so far today, so I think I'll do some training and sure up some things I'd like more info on.
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Got lots of good reading in today...first really quiet day since I've been unemployed. it's been almost a month since I've done much SQL work, so it was nice to also spend some time playing with code. I also tried installing SQL 2008, but apparently I can't install Management Studio 2008 on my workstation as long as I have MS 2005 installed...bummer, gonna have to find a different computer for MS (express) 2008.

Day 36 Log

Spent the morning meeting people at a local networking meet up. Thought it would be a good idea to attend the groups meeting. I had a good time meeting with other people who work in a technical field or are interested in technology.
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Not much new today on the job sites, going to contact some recruiters I haven't heard from in a while.
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Got a bunch of emails in a row, three new possibilities, one in Eden Prairie, one in Mendota Heights, and another that I'm not sure of it's location yet.

Day 35 Log

I met with a friend this weekend who just recently was placed in a contracting opportunity. She offered to send me her recruiters information and introduce us. I have now written a summery and submitted my resume to the recruiter.
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Got a call from a recruiter who is looking for someone for a 3-6 month contract at a large health care provider in the cities. It is for a position that requires SQL writing and is not a DBA position, so it would be a nice change to focus on just writing TSQL/SP's and not have to worry about the overall health of the server. On the down side, they are offering $5 less an hour than I want, so that is roughly $5,000 less over a 6 month period...I am slightly reluctant to go that low, as the money I'm looking for is needed to keep my salary roughly the same and to pay for medical benefits, so loosing the $5000 will actually cost quite a bit.
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My wife is getting tired of me being home I think...today she started looking for jobs for me and sending them to my email account..she found some good ones too...

Day 33 Log

I got feedback from the recruiter who setup the interview yesterday. I am happy to hear that the company I met with thought things went well, here is part of an email I received from the recruiter:

"He said that everyone in the group liked you and it went well. He has a few other interviews he has set up. He said he wants to finish up those interview and decide who he likes best, but so far things are positive."

Day 32 Log

Sent some emails back and forth this morning between a few recruiters and my self, trying to get ready for my interview this afternoon. Reviewing some of the requirements and figuring out the best way to drive there.
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Had a great interview with a company in the Hopkins/Eden Prairie area. I thought that the interview went very well, I was able to answer most of their questions and I think I'd make a great addition to their team....I'm just hoping they feel the same way.

Day 31 Log

I had hoped it wouldn't be an entire month before I was employed again. It's been a nice rest/break, but I'm more than ready to get back out into the work force.
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Job sites are quiet this morning, nothing new since yesterday
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Got a call from the recruiter I spoke with yesterday, the company I was excited about has received my resume and based on it, they feel I'm a good match, so they are going to do a phone screen with me today. If that goes well, then things will really be looking up for me.
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My call when great, they asked me to come into their office tomorrow to meet with them. This is progressing nicely. Here's hoping that things continue to go well!!! Wish me luck.

Day 30 Log

I think today is the first day I've started to feel discouraged. I haven't gotten my UI payment yet, not many new jobs are showing up and for the first time in several weeks, I have no good prospects. I know the market is picking up, but none the less, I'm feeling the discouragement.
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I forgot about CareerBuilder.com, found several positions on their site, most were ones that were on monster or dice as well, but a few were new. One I really liked, I hope they call me back. Another was very ambiguous, and had a very long application process, after 10 minutes I got through the fourth of seven steps, and the system bombed. Told me to start over...maybe I will this afternoon, but now I'm just pissed that I have to start over...I hate it when I have to upload a resume, then re-type in all the information.
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Spent some time on LinkedIn, updating some stuff, and checking out some of the groups I just joined. Some have people posting positions, sent a few requests for more info, not sure if anything will come of it, but it puts my name out there.
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Got a call this afternoon from a recruiter whom I spoke with a few years back, but at the time I wasn't looking. He was checking in with me, and has what sounds like a perfect fit for me. In the banking industry so that would be a fresh change. I'm going to see if we can move forward on this. Down side of it is that it is a contract to hire, which isn't bad on its own, but it is a 1099 contract, not a W-2; which means that I'd have to have my own company, and figure out taxes on my own, and no chance for insurance until they would hire me. This might end up being good for me, I have thought of incorporating for a while, and if this moves forward, I'd need to do that...the day started out with me feeling discouraged, and is ending up with me feeling pretty good.

Day 29 Log

Happy Birthday to me!
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Had my phone interview with the company in Mendota Heights, didn't go as well as I had wanted. They are looking for someone who will do purely maintenance. My goals for the future are to continue to learn and become a well rounded DBA, I'm afraid that if I focus solely on one area, like pure development or pure maintenance, that I won't achieve those goals. I mentioned this to the interviewer and he told me that it wouldn't do justice to their system to have their developers doing maintenance or their maintenance people doing development, which given their size makes sense, but I don't think that it would be a good fit for me. If I had to do a pure-anything position, I'd rather be a pure-developer, I enjoy that better than doing the maintenance.

Don't get me wrong, a big part of me was saying that I should shut up and take the job; it's been almost a month since I was layed off, and almost a month since I was paid (still no UI benefits, everything is still pending...taking a lot of crap from my wife on that), so saying no to following a position that might work out for me is a bit of a gamble, but since everyone tells me that companies are ramping up and staring to hire, I'd like to hold off on a position that isn't a good fit, and look for one where I'll be happier and thus a better employee, and everyone wins.
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Again not much on the job sites, I found one new position that I would be a good fit for (from the sound of the posting). I applied for it, hoping to get a call back.
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Had to contact a recruiting firm that I spoke with several weeks ago to see if they had submitted me for a position that the firm I worked with this week was thinking of submitting me for.

Day 28 Log

Well according to what I've been told by previous recruiters now is when the job market should be looking better. I'm having a meeting with a new recruiting company followed by lunch with a friend who is also unemployed. I will spend the afternoon checking in with recruiters and searching the job sites to see what is new.
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Had a good meeting with my contact this morning. Sounds like as the month progresses, more and more jobs will become available as budgets get approved for the year.
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Got a call from a recruiter I spoke with a few weeks back, they have me setup for a phone interview tomorrow with a company close to home. My wife likes the company's location, so we'll see how the interview goes.
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After some more feedback on my resume, I decided to make some changes to it.
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Only a few new positions on the job sites, I applied for one that looks interesting.