Dear recruiters

Dear recruiters,

If your job description has any cliches like “proven track record,” “best of breed,” “arena,” “seamlessly,” or any of the other idiotic business cliches, don’t waste your time contacting me.

Love,
Mark

Voiceovers

Yet another caller to Chez MT.Net has remarked that my voice is worthy of voiceover work. Now that I truly have some Copious Free Time, I may finally dust off my USB microphone and create a demo CD for mailing out to local media.

Part of my inspiration came from reading Phil Hartman’s bio on Wikipedia. Phil believed his best work was his voice work.

Heh. Looks like I’ve been talking about this for five years now. Guess it’s time to put up or shut up, eh?

WSJ story runs – without my interview

Dadgummit. The Wall Street Journal article about being jobless at Christmas ran two days ago without any of my interview being used.

Ah, well. Its still a good read, even if it won’t help my job search after all. Maybe I need to learn how to be a more colorful interviewee?

As far as the issues the article raises, I admit to confronting them, too. At the time of my interview, I told the reporter I thought Christmas would be largely the same. Since that call, I’ve discovered that I see the holidays as more of an obstacle rather than something to celebrate. It’s tough not to blame the holidays for the lack of phone calls: “if only the hiring managers were in the office I’d already be employed.”

If as a kid I thought the wait for Christmas day was excruciatingly long, now the wait for Christmas to be over feels just as long. Sad, isn’t it?

China’s blue water navy

The Beeb says China’s navy will patrol the coast of Africa to combat the rampant piracy there. This is quite a departure from the Chinese navy’s tendency to stay close to its home shores. It will be an important test of China’s ambitions to build a blue water navy.

It will be not only an education for Chinese sailors but also for the other navies already patrolling the area, providing them a glimpse of China’s long-range naval capabilities. It will certainly be interesting to watch.

More on the Police Protective Fund

I did some more poking around the Police Protective Fund and discovered more.

The state of Missouri tipped me off that the “charity” is incorporated here in North Carolina, of all places, and lists a corporate services company on Hillsborough Street as its registered agent.

Its also licensed charity number SL000978 in North Carolina, with a number of documents available online from the North Carolina Secretary of State’s website.

I found the Filing Amendment dated 22 August 2008 to be notable. PPF’s law firm states PPF does not use professional solicitors or fundraising counsels in the state of North Carolina. Yet I have been unable to determine any presence the firm may have in North Carolina. So the question remains as to why did I receive a call from a Charlotte-area telephone number? Is PPF falsifying the CallerID of its solicitation calls?

I’m embarrassed that this charity exists in North Carolina. There is more digging to be done here, to be sure.

A mange in a wager . . .

Christmas is next week and I was just comfortably standing outside wearing shorts. Ah, North Carolina winters are so unpredictable.

(Title means nothing other than the songs of the season eventually run together in my head)

Beware the Police Protective Fund

Today’s paper mentioned sketchy fundraisers posing as the highway patrol, so that was on my mind when I got a call this evening from a 704 area code. A man claimed to be calling on behalf of the Police Protective Fund (PPF) and looking for tax-deductible donations. As soon as he said “tax-deductible,” I asked him “can I get your tax id?”

The folksy caller didn’t skip a beat, saying he’d have to get up from his desk to get it. After he got up, I heard a number of other telephone solicitors calling folks as the “North Carolina Police Protective Fund.” The main I talked with never said “North Carolina,” so I became a little more suspicious. He came back to the phone a minute or so later and dutifully read his organization’s tax id number: 74-2864446.
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Progress!

I found a short-term contract position advertised and submitted my resume. The recruiter called back immediately and is submitting my resume today.

Its only a three month contract but that would be enough for me to get in on any first quarter hiring. Plus its with a good company so I might get a chance to stick around.

I’m no lock on the position and nothing’s been offered yet, but its better than my phone not ringing!

Wish me luck!

Good start to a good day

I walked out of the house with Hallie and Rocket on our way to Hallie’s school. Behind us came a gaggle of neighborhood kids – three brothers and a sister also on their way to school. Hallie, Rocket, and I waited for them to catch up before stopping by Hallie’s friend Oscar’s house to add him to the group.

There I was, marching down the street with six kids and a dog. It was a wonderful, happy scene! I got to know the neighborhood kids (who are really nice and polite) as we walked and then watched as they, Hallie, and Oscar gleefully raced up to school.

I had a smile on my face the whole walk home. Still do!