You can see the movie - The Recess Ends - at the Victorian Theater in SF this week. It’s free, since Austin and his brother are paying the rental costs out of their own pockets. Doors open at 7 and the movie starts at 8 p.m.

For more infomation, check out their website

I am constantly reminded of my previous occupation - Stanford Hospital is directly below the downwind / base turn for many of the aircraft heading to SFO. I’ve never seen so many 747’s in one day before. I’m still marveled at their ability to seemingly float, as if they’re hardly even moving at all.

The transition from unemployment to working is turning out to be much harder than I expected. I didn’t think a job could kick my ass as much as the one at the Jet Center did. Apparently, I was wrong. Here’s to losing weight and getting back in shape at Stanford! I’ll keep you posted. My uniform is due to arrive next week.

When he starts his new job on Monday moving and tracking supplies throughout Stanford University’s medical school, hospitals and clinics, the 25-year-old San Jose resident will be
the first of the three Pink Slip 2.0 participants followed by the Mercury News the past year to have escaped the jaws of joblessness.

And all it took, besides those never-ending days, was two reams of resume paper, lots of cold-calling, numerous dead-ends, and way too many sleepless nights.

“”I don’t think it’s hit me yet,” Rowberry said Tuesday. “”After nine-and-a-half months of looking, I’m a little dazed. It’s like, is this really happening?”

When he starts his $17-an-hour swing shift, Rowberry leaves behind millions of fellow jobless Americans, many of them considered “”long-term unemployed” after being out of work
for more than six months. He also leaves behind software-test engineer Roopa Govindarajan and bookkeeper Elise Sandusky, the other two still-jobless participants in the newspaper’s series.

“”That’s awesome,” said Sandusky, when told about Rowberry’s news. “”Hopefully it’s a sign that things are turning for all three of us.”

Best of all, Rowberry’s getting a raise - he made about $13-an-hour in his former position.

Rowberry’s good fortune comes after months of wandering the same wilderness that his fellow pink-slippers have endured. Sandusky has sent out more than 2,000 resumes, most of them
online, without landing anything. Govindarajan, laid-off in January as a software test engineer, has been similarly frustrated by the bleak job market, although she said Tuesday that she has an interview scheduled for later this week. She’s hoping Rowberry’s good fortune
will rub off on her.

“”I’m so happy for Kris,” she said. “”This is a little ray of hope in a gloomy atmosphere. The fact that he’s found a job helps me become a little more hopeful.”

As part of the Pink Slip 2.0 series in print and online, we’ll check in with Rowberry once he’s settled in at his new job. And we’ll continue to follow Govindarajan and Sandusky in their job hunts for the rest of the year.

Rowberry said he’ll be working Monday through Friday out of Stanford’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital as part of the so-called “”patient equipment management systems” team,
which moves, cleans and inventories equipment around the campus.

Pam Miller-Smith, the call-center manager at Stanford University Medical Center who interviewed and lobbied for Rowberry, said that pending a background check, the new employee is set to go.

“”Kris first interviewed with me for more of a behind-the-scenes position, but he had such a great personality I didn’t want him locked up in the call center,” said Miller-Smith. “”We
thought he should be on the front lines, dealing with nurses and patients. He’ll be a great addition to our team.”

Re the job front, no major updates or job offers yet!!

I am still keeping my ears and eyes open, but no major opportunities identified yet!!

I started my Open UNiversity Classes at Santa Clara Univ 2 weeks back. This course is technically very challenging and I am boggled down with weekly assignments etc.

The pace is so hectic, but i like it so far !!!

Regarding family front, 4 times a week, i bike to my son’s school which is 4 miles up and down to drop his lunch. I also spent some quality time with him and it is just so refreshing to me not to mention the amount of exercise my body is now getting which was a long overdue.

I immediatley follow my bike ride with a 1 mile walk to pick up my little one from his pre school.

2 Advantages :
1. I am getting tons of exercise and I am very happy about it. 2. I am going green and oh boy, that feels awesome

That’s it from me!!

And this just in from Kris….

As the job search continues for me, as well as countless others in the Valley, I decided to take a chance and jump over the hill to the “Access2Employment” Job Fair held at Cocoanut Grove in Santa Cruz. (Cocoanut Grove is the Grand Ballroom above the arcade at the Boardwalk) As a self proclaimed amusement park nerd, historical places like it are always a thrill to visit.

Unfortunately, the rest of the historical ‘walk was closed, so no rides for me today (I purchased a season pass before I was laid off) but there’s always the wharf for some fresh seafood lunch.

Fast forward a few hours of me sitting in the car listening to some satellite radio (the best investment I ever made in my car) and the doors finally swung open to the fair.

It was an interesting dichotomy of people at this event. Of course, being held in Santa Cruz, I shouldn’t have been so surprised, right? Dress ranged from the high end (Myself in full suit, tie and polished shoes) to the downright shocking (for a job fair) of cutoff jeans and ripped t-shirts.

What I didn’t find inside was a massive range of options or opportunities.

I did manage to touch base with the Santa Cruz Seaside Company (“Only casual part-time available right now”) It helped the conversation to throw out a few names that anyone with the company would know – in my case, it turns out I actually know quite a few people who worked for or are currently working for them.

In fact, most “employers” weren’t even advertising open positions. Rather, they were advertising the “possibility” of positions to come in the “near future.”

“What?!?”

Maybe I’m old fashioned…but if you’re at a “job fair” you should be exhibiting to hire, not to just be seen.

Also at the event was free resume “critiques.” About a minute in, I came to the following conclusion:

No one has the answer to get you a job. No one.

Every “expert” has a different idea, a different take – just like the people you’re trying to score interviews with. In my case, I took the advice of about 5 people, (three experts, one family member and a professor) combined them together and, “presto!” there’s my resume.

The “critique” shredded mine to pieces.

But, I took it in stride. There may be some valid points in there and they’ll certainly be factored in with all the others. Eventually, I’m hoping to have a bulletproof resume. As soon as you touch it, potential employers will simply extend an offer of employment, right then and there!

But not to end on a sour note –

The S. C. Seaside Company has by far, the best business cards in the industry – bar none. Hopefully I’ll finally get some of my own soon, too.
Kris R.

— On Tue, 10/6/09, May, Pat wrote:

> From: May, Pat
> Subject: greetings
> To: “Kristopher Rowberry” , “Elise Sandusky”
> , “Roopa Iyer”
> Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2009, 9:42 AM
>
> Message
>
>
>
> Hi there,
> I’m
> just checking in to see how the job hunts are going? Any
> bites, nibbles? Let me
> know if there’s any new developments for each of you,
> and if so we can follow up
> on the phone.
> Take
> care,
> Pat
>

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Tomorrow is the other one, at 11:00am @ Stanford Hospital.

The first one was interesting - I cam e in just as another interviewee was leaving. (Also in a tie, but no suit)

The interview was interesting - I really didn’t do much talking. There were two interviewers, a woman and the owner of the Flying Club. When I whipped out my “Binder of Success” they seemed very impressed. I decided there were two scenarios playing out:

1.) They had already decided on a candidate (hence the lack of questions) and were simply giving me a courtesy interview.

2.) They knew right away that I would be the one, and weren’t wanting to waste time with silly questions. (They had already seen my resume and cover letter) The owner of the club commented that he was looking for an outgoing person…and that, “I definitely fit that bill.”

I suck at reading into interviews, just fyi.

After setting a “Drop Dead” date for my employment search, I figured it would come just like all the other arbitrary deadlines have…whizzing right past me.

Apparently setting such a finale of a deadline speeds up the karma cycle…BIG TIME.

Two major announcements to make:

1.) I have finally landed two interviews in the span of the next 6 days. The first one is directly related to aviation, albeit Part Time. Nice perks include discounts on flight training, however. Of course, there’s always room for a full-time position somewhere down the line…

The other - is an interview for a position that resides literally right down the hall from a flight crew I worked with while employed at the Jet Center. Hopefully all those danish rolls and fresh coffee runs finally pay off!

2.) After months of requests, “missed” phone calls and emails, one-half of my former management team finally made good on his promise to assist me in my employment search. Today, (9/12) I’m picking up a much needed letter of recommendation, which hopefully will allow me to stand out amongst all the other potential candidates for the positions I’m applying for.

Wish me luck folks - I’ve got a ton riding on these interviews.

I know I should not be setting my hopes so high, as there’s always the potential for falling THAT much higher if neither of them work out. But after nine (9) months of literally nothing, wouldn’t you be just as hopeful?

]]> http://www.siliconbeat.com/2009/09/14/more-good-news-for-kris/feed/ http://www.siliconbeat.com/2009/09/14/kris-gets-another-bite/ http://www.siliconbeat.com/2009/09/14/kris-gets-another-bite/#comments Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:03:07 +0000 Pat May http://www.siliconbeat.com/?p=5974    Later that same day, I get this email from Kris:

 

SECOND INTERVIEW!!!

Tuesday, 11-12:30

Stanford Hospital CSR Position. (Working down the hall from LifeFlight…crews I worked with at Jet Center!

Wow, set a deadline…and look what happens, right?

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