My New Job

The job hunt for me has been a very painful process. I've been unemployed the last three months, and the strain on our finances has been stressful. When I got out of the Navy in November, I anticipated a little lag in the job market due to the upcoming holidays, but the economic crash reared its ugly head and dropped a wet blanket on my job-hunting party. Sure, I could have stayed in the Navy until things got better, but that would have required a minimum of a 1-year commitment, and along with that the fear of being sent to Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba, or elsewhere. Additionally, I had hit the 10 year mark, half way through a military career. It was time to either get out, or stay in and make it a career. Anything else would just be spinning wheels. In fact, my wife and I felt like we'd been spinning our wheels for the last two years, just working and waiting for the day I got out.

So, our lives are no longer on hold. It's time for us to make a fast and furious break into the civilian world! Getting a job wouldn't be difficult, I thought. I've got ten years experience in electronics maintenance, operations management, leadership, Lean Six Sigma (process improvement stuff), project management (almost have my PMP cert), quality assurance inspection and management, and an MBA/Technology Management degree. I've managed the 24-hour operations of a calibration lab at sea- 21 technicians across two shifts, 12 hours each, seven days a week. Finding a civilian job should be a piece of cake!

Wrong. Frightfully wrong. I've been on a handful of interviews, and was offered one job that paid 30% less than I was making in the Navy. I turned down that offer, but was fearful that maybe I'd just passed up the only opportunity I was going to find in this economy. It had been two months by then, and my reserve stash of cash was running low. Painfully low.

Then an opportunity opened up with a snack food manufacturing company. They needed a maintenance manager, and I needed a job, so it was a good fit. I breezed through the first interview, and was invited to a second interview at the plant. They gave me (and two other candidates) a tour of the plant, and we got to sample a variety of snack chips right off the line, still warm. Delicious! Then I sat through a series of 4 interview panels, each with two interviewers. I interviewed with 8 people within two hours, and was experiencing complete mental and emotional exhaustion by the end of the process.

A week later, I was offered the job. They offered great insurance benefits, full pension plan, 401k with matching contributions, 8% annual bonus and a salary 10% above what I was making in the Navy. Unbelievable. I nearly cried. So many people are out of work... I easily could have been one of thousands waiting in line at the unemployment office, desperately looking for something, anything, that would allow me to make my rent payment this month. I am so blessed, and yet I think of those two other candidates who still need to find work...

I start work this upcoming Monday, and I'm uber excited. The last three months I've been waking up at 6:00 AM every day eager to do something, anything. I've been itching to get back to work, to be productive. Finally my wife and I can move forward in our lives. Additionally, I get to cross something off this year's list.

This picture should clue you in on a few details I've omitted. For privacy reasons, I've left out any searchable words that could prove problematic. I doubt I've written anything in these blogs that would prove harmful to my character, but employers can be fickle fairies sometimes. Anyway, they sent me some pretty cool swag:

Best of luck to each of you on your own career journeys!

-Sailor Matt