One weekday, eight interviews, four companies. From the 22nd up to the 26th of May, I had no rest, I was in the proverbial trenches trying to keep my wits together to “nail” it. I had a mild sore throat already on day four from all the talking I had to do to present my capabilities, and I had to dig into a bag of Halls menthol drops to recover.
At the end of the week, four* job offers were at my table. All four companies were impressed and knew I had the skill and the attitude to be a part of their family. It was surreal and phenomenal. ✨ Tear-jerking, even. It was, for me, a huge morale and confidence boost—<sarcasm>almost uncharacteristic of a man who, just a month ago or so, was put on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) and terminated for incompetence and laziness</sarcasm>.
The first offer came Thursday. The offer was a direct hire, from a company that works for the state of CA. Oh, this was, *M-Cough-rp!* …for all intents and purposes—interesting. If I had worked for them, I could show my previous company what they could have been after making this company a success.
On Friday, two more offers came in. This one, forwarded by a recruiting firm, was for a company that works with the United States Army’s Human Systems Integration efforts. It was 1230, and the hiring manager called me. That offer was my second choice and the second-highest salary offer. It was for the U.S. Army (hooah!) with a great opportunity to work on great technologies and most of all, they offered to relocate us to Maryland, which could have been a free pass to get to the East Coast, a goal that my family and I have dreamt of. It was on-site, several miles from Baltimore at the APG.
The last one, a direct-hire opportunity, was my first choice, and oh how glad I am to have waited. The final (and third for this company), a 1.5-hour interview happened 4 hours prior to my acceptance of the offer 😂 but even then, they were so enjoyable to talk to I could be on that interview all day. Their vision was clear, their focus was on sight, and their knowledge of the industry was top-notch. I would go above and beyond for them, and we’ll break ground together.
The new salary offered a 20% increase compared to my previous company. Moreover, the position provided the perfect location setting as it was remote, and they work E.S.T., which aligns with our goal to move to the East Coast. Best of all, it was in the Federal Space that I was familiar with, specifically working with the DoD USAF.
Speaking of familiarity, the role involved working on a cloud-native application that I had quite the experience with during my time at the ShOC-N: Platform One, Iron Bank, IL-× Environments.
Even if I picked the first offer out of desperation, the salary was still 4% more (it was the lowest offer) than what I was previously making, but no, I didn’t have to be desperate, and I was fortunate to be able to pick and choose the job I want, and ultimately, took the best option for my family and lifestyle. Oh, and for this role, I took the low-to-mid range of their posted salary offer. Their max for the role, I believe, was over $165,000. This is a glimpse of what a future I could have, and I’m not on a Director level yet. I will grow with this company, and I will bring them success.
There was another company, the fourth, which was an opportunity to move and live in Stuttgart, Germany working in a federal site (close to the US Army detachment) the company I would have worked for was Dell Technologies which was referred by a recruiting agency too, but their offer was a week too late.
Come to think of it, all four companies are government work roles, 3 federal, and one working with the state of CA. it’s amazing what doors an active, highest-level security clearance can open for you. Before I forget to mention, there were 3 other companies who just started contacting me for interviews: one from Vegas.com, then two more government-related roles from Booz-Allen Hamilton (Feds) and one from the State of Vermont. I had to cancel the interviews.
Tips? Focus on making a good presentation of yourself. I didn’t work too hard. I was “temporarily not salaried” only for close to two months, and one whole week of that was spent on a vacation in L.A. In a week, I did a “focused application” for at least three high-profile companies, and for the rest, I submitted 10 “Easy Applies” where my cover letters were all generated by ChatGPT. It wasn’t that hard.
Well, well, look who’s back in the workforce. Seems like my good old hobbies, including gaming and this blog of mine, might have to take a backseat. But hey, I’ll try my best not to let that happen. Can’t promise anything though, because you know, work and all. Fingers crossed I can still find time to indulge in the glorious world of video games and keep this little blog alive. Wish me luck, folks!
End Notes
* It was actually 3 offers in that week, but I interviewed 4 companies. The fourth company offered a week later.