Proof that it's Time

Grandma Russo's 90th Birthday Bash 2/6/05


I offer this picture to you as proof that it is definitely time for me to get my hair highlighted/colored again.

As you can clearly see upon close scrutiny (zoom in if you need to), the tippee, tippee top of my head, by my part, is (ever so slightly) darker than the rest of my hair.

What more proof do you need?

Hold onto your hats

Are you ready for the big news.
The appointment has been made:
Friday at 12:45... you guessed it...
I will be getting a "partial foil" at Metropolis by none other than
LA herself.
I am sure you can barely contain yourselves.

Sometimes, the Experts are Right

Current jobseekers know the statistics:
.0001% of people find jobs through the classified ads
.0002% of people find jobs online
You have a greater chance of landing on the moon than landing a job in this economy.
Most jobs are found through networking.
You just have to put yourself "out there".

Since hanging up my trenchcoat as a corporate spy and donning an apron as a coffeehouse gal, I have been looking for that so-called real job.

I met with all of my Boston friends' New Jersey pals. I bravely called the woman I met at the bad hair salon and met her for coffee. And, I checked in with my parents' friend who had always offered to hook me up with her VAST corporate network if I ever moved back into the area (all that got me was a voicemail with a misspelled web address from the above mentioned parental friend - thanks, I couldn't have done that on my own).

I scoured Monster.com; CareerBuilder.com, newspaper classifieds, and on-line versions of newspaper classifieds.

On January 14th I saw an ad on www.nj.com/jobs for:
Account Manager
Account Manager is the Primary individual that is responsible for maintaining multiple client accounts. The Account Manager would also be responsible for ensuring the accurate and timely submission of all documentation to client.
Hey, this sounded like it had some potential. And then I read:
Account Manager will provide telephone support to all client inquiries.

Telephone support. NO WAY!! Not interested. Thank you VERY much.
But, then I read the following:
The JK Group manages the philanthropic programs of major corportations.
Now that really sounded interesting. I wanted to find out more about this JK Group. So, I took my corporate spy trenchcoat off of it's hanger and slipped it back on. I did web searches to find the JK Group. I finally found some article that mentioned the president's name, searched more about him, and finally came up with the company's website: www.easymatch.com. I read on-line about them and decided to send in an email requesting an informational interview. I couldn't find the hr person's name on the site, so I called in. I spoke with a really friendly customer service person and when I told her I wanted to write in to the hr department, she gave me a name (let's just call her Ms. Jones). When I asked what her title was, I was expecting to hear Director of HR. The woman on the phone calmly told me that Ms. Jones was the CFO.
Well, OK then. So, I sent Ms. Jones CFO an email with my resume. At the bottom of the email I wrote:
"I am sure you are very busy, but I would truly appreciate it if we could meet for an informational interview. I will call you next week to see if we can schedule a time to meet. Thank you!"

Now, writing the email is easy. Picking up the phone and making the follow-up call, not so easy. I finally got the courage to call on January 24th. With voicemail directories, I was able to dial right in to Ms. Jones' office and, low and behold, she answered.

I blurted out something like "Hi Ms. Jones, my name blah blah blah, not sure you remember me, blah blah blah, sent you a resume blah blah blah..."
Well, it turns out that she did remember me, and we talked for a while on the phone and then she invited me in on Wednesday the 26th. As we were hanging up she said "Now listen, we all wear jeans here, so if you show up in a suit, we're all going to laugh at you."

So, that Wednesday, in my "good" jeans, I drove to a ubiqutious low brown building in a ubiqutious New Jersey office park and spent 2 hours meeting with Ms. Jones. In her oversized, but relatively empty office was a life sized cutout of Elvis, a few plants, and a paper strewn desk. We talked and talked for about 2 hours. She gave me a tour of the joint - from the warehouse to the server room. We walked by lots of cubicles filled with lots of people in jeans and t-shirts.

Now, wearing jeans all the time is fine by me, but it's so interesting how dress codes become uniforms in company cultures. It was very strange to see a woman of grandmotherly age, in grandmotherly hair and make-up, wearing puma sneakers, a lime green t-shirt, and baggy jeans, rushing past us in the hallway.

Anyway, at the end of the tour, Ms. Jones shook my hand, looked me directly in the eye and said "I've got some things to think about, and I'm going to talk to some people. You'll be hearing from us."

That Saturday she called to say that the president wanted to meet with me. So, on Tuesday, in my second best pair of jeans, I met for 2 hours with the president, Mr. Smith. It totally did not feel like an interview, but more like a meeting. At one point he said "So, Ms. Jones told you all about the job we're thinking about for you?" I told him, no, I actually had no idea that you were actually thinking of a specific job.

It turns out that the JK Group has a new product that will help major coporations manage their volunteer programs. And, to quote Mr. Smith "We need someone to champion the product." We brainstormed for a while and then Ms. Jones came in. The two were quite chummy with each other and there was a lot of laughing and smiling.

That Saturday Ms. Jones emailed me a complete job description, of which parts seemed to be pulled right from my resume. She did tell me they had to post the job internally, but that I would hear from her at the end of the week. That call told me that they were out of the office until Monday and she would call me then.

Monday came, she called, and offered me the job. Yippeee. I am the new Product Specialist for the JK Group. I get to wear jeans everyday, be creative with marketing, product development, and client and internal staff training. I will work directly with Mr. Smith. I even get an office instead of a cube. It also turns out that Mr. Smith the President, and Ms. Jones the CFO are married.

I start on Feb 28th.

Aside from the normal fears of:
1. I will be a big failure
2. I will mess up the whole company
3. People will be mean to me

I do have a few red flags up about:
1. The fact that Ms. Jones called me from the office, on Saturdays
2. Working for a married couple could be fascinating

I am thrilled about:
1. Working in a for-profit company again
2. Working in a for-profit company that does good in the world
3. Getting a chance to meet new people here in New Jersey
4. Getting a change to really use my brain again
5. NOT having to manage people

So, this one time, I tip my hat to those experts who say that the way to get the job is by putting yourself "out there". And, I am confident in the knowledge that if this job sucks, I can always get hired at Starbucks.

Wish me luck.

Oh, and probably the most exciting part is that I promised myself that when I got a "real job" I could get my hair highlighted. I bet you can't wait for the next hair update.

Do You Want Room for Milk?

I have asked this question more in the past two weeks, then ever before in my life. You see, I am the newest counter gal at the Main Street Coffehouse and Cafe. I bet you are wondering "How did this happen?"

As you may recall, prior to moving to New Jersey, I had agreed to be a research analyst for a company specializing competitive intelligence. I would be able to work from home researching companies and calling into to them to "interview" key players in the organization. That all sounded great. However, and this is a big however, I couldn't very well call a company's president and say "Hi, I'm working on a project for your competition, could you please answer these very specific questions about your business operations?" So, the plan was to call into companies and say things like "I'm an independent consultant working on a project for a client (all true) and I know you're an expert in your field, do you have a few minutes to chat?" While, this wasn't quite a lie, it wasn't straight up either.

It turns out, that while I love research, learning about new companies,and talking to people - I can't in fact lie. While some might argue that I wasn't lying, I certainly wasn't being up front with these people. So, I graciously bowed out of the CI game and have started a full blown job search.

The coffee house gig is a great diversion from sending out coverletters and searching the web. It's fun to learn how a food retail business works and it's great to talk to real people. And, I get to wear a white apron, the kind that goes around your neck and ties at the waist. I feel awfully professional when I put it on. I'm only working part time, a few afternoons a week, but it's very fun. It's also good for the soul to mop a floor, bake cookies, and make a mean froth on a cappucino.

I've only had one big mishap, last Saturday during peak breakfast hours, I was making a latte. The milk was done steaming and I pushed the off button and pulled the pitcher of hot milk away from the steam spout. Turns out, the steam spout was still on and I sprayed myself and a 10 foot radius with hot milk. I was sticky from head to toe.

Since the last update, I'll have you know that I've connected with some very nice people (who just might turn into friends), found a great realtor, and in general, am feeling less hostile about the Garden State. Especially since we only got 10 inches of snow and today it's going to be 45 degrees.

But, no matter how little snow we get, it still doesn't change the fact that I miss you all very much.