First Interview!

This photo is in no way related to today's post. Frankly, I couldn't think of anything relevant to shoot, and I didn't want to take a shot of my potential future employer, since I didn't want them to think I was some kind of freak. I was playing around, shooting the cats tonight, and I just thought this picture of Chloe was adorable. Just goes to show what boredom will drive you to, late at night when everyone else is asleep....

I had my first job interview today! Well, certainly not my very first, but my first in this new job hunt I've recently began. The company is called Leading Edge Hydraulics, and it's a small-ish machine shop in Rockford. They've been around for about 30 years, and they specialize in hydraulic tubes. Their two main customers are Caterpillar and John Deere, but they have about 30 different companies they supply to.

I was interviewing for a Floor Lead position. If I get the job, I will be supervising 3 people on 1st shift, and two others on 2nd shift. I think the interview went very well. I had about a 1/2 hour interview with the HR Manager, then went for a walk through the shop with the plant manager. For those of you who work or have worked at Belvedere, it really reminds me of the old Plant One Fabrication department. The main difference is the size. The entire plant is metal fabrication. They don't have a lot of employees, but there is room for a lot of advancement through the plant. There are several different areas that have floor leads, and the plant super says eventually, they may create two floor supervisor positions to manage those leads. It seems that the right person could really advance well there. Hopefully I'm the right person! As I said, the interview went very well. I should be hearing back from them either late next week or the week after.

October: In Review

This has, without a doubt, been the most stressful month I've had in a long time. To cap it all off, the official announcement came down today that Chrysler will be eliminating third shift in our plant sometime in the first quarter of next year. I admit, it's been expected, but my disappointment is pretty acute. I understand market conditions require the company to do what they must, but the failure of the Union to get us hired in, along with their willingness to allow the company to create this "Enhanced Temporary" situation to begin with, is pretty severe. It somewhat a relief to finally know for sure what's coming, but I still don't know for sure when it will happen. Fortunately, I have an opportunity tomorrow to interview for a seemingly great job, months before I have to face unemployment. When all these people get laid off from Chrysler and the surrounding plants, the job market is going to be flooded with the unemployed. It could be rough.

Here's my favorite shots for the month:

Bonus Shots!

I know the last day of the month is usually reserved for the "Best Of" that month, but I took these shots this morning, and I just had to share them. We had a really beautiful sunrise this morning, and I couldn't resist....

Crazy Cat Lady

Every night before bed, Steph will sit on the couch for about 45 minutes, watching tv and just relaxing. Typically, "Steph's cats," Bear and Chloe, will jump up and sit on her lap or lay behind her head. Punkin will sometimes sit on the edge of the couch, keeping his distance. What happened tonight never happens. The skittish little freak, Cotton, decided he also wanted to be on the couch with everyone else. Don't ask me why, but I couldn't resist snapping off some shots of this. It really hits me that we have 4 cats when you see all four in such a small space.

Blowing Up

My phone (and my mind) blew up today. Let me explain. As I said the last couple of days, I've spent some time updating, uploading, and sending my resume to three different websites. I also choose 4 different jobs that I thought sounded appealing, and sent an email along with my resume to them. I didn't think for a second I'd hear anything so soon, but I was wrong. Already this morning I received a call and an email from a company in Rockford called Leading Edge Hydraulics. This was one of the four places I applied to, and the position I was applying toward was the standard, run-of-the-mill entry level production job. When I checked my email before going to bed today, the email they sent said they wanted me to interview for a Lead Person job.

I didn't expect that at all.

Granted, I do have some lead experience from my time in the Mirage cell at Belvedere, but as I said above, I was only applying for the production job. I called their HR person back, and I have an interview for Thursday morning. What happened this afternoon blew my mind.

Rich Silvers, a friend and former co-worker from Belvedere, called me this evening. I have him listed as a reference, so I assumed someone may have called him. I was right about that, but what I didn't know was that Rich's dad works for Leading Edge. Not only is Rich a great reference to begin with, since he's related to someone there, it really puts some weight behind what he told them. From what Rich told me, he gave me a glowing reference, which explains why they want me to interview for the Lead position.

The coincidence of this whole situation is just bowing my mind. Obviously I haven't got the job yet, but I really feel like I have a shot thanks to Rich. I never thought for a second I'd have the opportunity to start anywhere at anything but entry level. Having something like this happen so soon, with the potential to make decent money on first shift, is a dream come true. Wish me luck on my interview, and Rich, you're my hero.

Job Search

This weekend, I've spent a great amount of time online, uploading my resume, browsing websites, and applying for jobs. At this point, I plan on staying at Chrysler until they tell me I'm done, but if something good comes along before then, I'm history. I suppose I've learned quite a bit in my time there. I put far too much faith in an international institution that has absolutely no accountability to its members. I've learned that although historically, unions have been highly beneficial to the working class, in the end, these are bureaucratic organizations where the leadership is far more interested in self-preservation than in the preservation of their membership. They've created a situation in that plant where the good worker isn't rewarded for being good, nor is the bad worker punished for being bad. Instead, layoffs and cutbacks are based solely on seniority, and where seniority doesn't exist, cutbacks are determined by social security number. The whole system is absurd. I'm not saying I'll never work there again, but at this point, I'm somewhat relieved that my time there is short.