My Norwich University Experience : Job Search

The Final Exam

WheelCipher — Mon, 11 May 2009 02:35:00 GMT

A tremendous milestone was accomplished this weekend. Graduation is one step closer.

In order to graduate from the Norwich MBA program, all students have to take a comprehensive exam. It was kind of a surprise when it was announced we had to take one. We were not sure what to study. Since I was able to evaluate my strengths and weaknesses, I focused on studying the finance part of the course. I am glad I did.

The test took three hours and had a ton of questions. The focus was primarily on finance, numbers, formulas, etc. There was some management theory mixed in for good measure, but the “numbers” part was the most prominent section. I am not sure it was a “comprehensive” exam. I wished it had more strategic management and marketing. But it is what it is. In the end, I passed.

Right now, I am working on the final assignment. It is due at the end of the week. After that, I only wait for graduation. It has been a very challenging year and a half. Looking back, I have no regrets picking Norwich for my graduate education.

In my copious spare time, I continue to look for a job where I can apply the knowledge I have gained through school and many years of experience. But I have to admit, having time off is a lot more fun than I thought it would be. When people lose their job, there is usually some sense of concern (and rightfully so). I have been a full time employee and full time student for the last six years. I have no regrets taking some time off. It feels good.

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The End is Near

WheelCipher — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:35:00 GMT

Every day I go to work at my new job, I realize one thing: My days of distance education are probably ending.

The biggest regret I have about leaving my old company is that it ran smoothly and I had a lot of “spare” time to get some participation in schoolwork, discussion forums, and other requirements. Now I guess I realize that I was probably not living in the “real” work world. However, the truth is that I needed to grow professionally and staying at the old company would prevent that from happening. With a higher position, more money and “real” work, there is a trade-off.

I just do not see myself doing homework from a hotel room two nights a week after working what could be a ten-hour day sometimes, or getting home after a long day and having to do more work, only to have school assignments hanging over my head. It’s an obligation I don’t think I can manage at this point.

I have about seven weeks left in my MBA program at Norwich. I will fly up to Vermont for graduation in June, and while I do not like to use the word “never”, I believe that is the end of my online education for a while. As much as I would love to get another Master’s degree or a PhD, I just do not see it happening. The burden is too great.

Distance education has been great for me. I now realize how lucky I was to have so much free time at my last job. If I had this job back then, the challenge would have been even greater. Moreover, if I had decided to go to school, online would be the only way I would be able to accomplish that. I now have a new-found respect for people who earn degrees online while maintaining a full time job and a family. Even though I did the same thing, my circumstances were quite different.

The great thing is that if this job works out for me, there are TONS of opportunities to apply what I have learned. This is especially true for the Norwich MBA program. Even in my assignments that I am doing now in the waning weeks of the last class, I cannot help but to compare some of the case studies to what my new company is trying to do. Therefore, with any luck, everything will work out in the end.

Perhaps I’ll re-evaluate the school thing in six months or a year. Only time will tell.

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How I got The New Job

WheelCipher — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:00:00 GMT

As you may have read in a previous post, I started a new job this week. The education I earned online (this is the A.A.S. in Information Systems, the B.S. in Management from Kaplan University and the MBA from Norwich) really paid off.

I do have a lot of experience in my particular job function that the new company looked highly upon. I had the education to show that my drive and initiative was strong. But at the end of the day, I had to sell myself. If I didn’t sell myself well, the degrees and experience makes me nothing more than the wrong person for the job that happens to be wrapped in a nice package.

Here are the three things I did that landed me this job:

(1)   Focus on what you can do for the company – Use prior experience and things learned in your distance education program and tell the potential employer how those things relate to what you can do for them.

(2)   Think outside the box – One thing I did in this interview that I never did before was to assemble a 10-page Power Point presentation that showed elements of a long-term strategy for the department I would be responsible for.

(3)   Keep in touch, but don’t overdo it – Throughout the entire process, I was in contact with them about once a week. That’s just enough to remain viable and to show interest without being overbearing.

I was the first person to be interviewed in this process. That made the wait longer for me than anyone else. But my “punch” at the beginning and throughout the process kept my name fresh in their mind. In the end, they were confident that I was THE person for the job, and said so on a number of occasions.
If you get turned down for a job, don’t get down on yourself. This has happened to me many times. Things happen for a reason. This job was made for me and I plan on maximizing the opportunity.

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I GOT A NEW JOB!

WheelCipher — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Today is a very pivotal and important day in my life and in my career. I am starting a new job this morning and I am optimistic at the potential this position will have for me. I am going to explain how all of this came about and how education and social networking helped me in ways I would have never imagined. Please read on!

I have spent the last eight years with Time Warner Cable as the Manager of Customer Care in Austin, Texas. This is a job that I loved very much, but when I step back and look at it from a realistic perspective, it was a dead end. When I started at Time Warner, I had exactly zero hours of college credit to my name. When I am done with the MBA in about three months, I will have gone to school for six years straight to earn three degrees. All of that hard work paid off last week when I the new company made an offer I could not turn down. This is how it happened:

About a month ago, I a recruiter found me on LinkedIn. He sent me an e-mail that stated something to the effect of, “I have a great opportunity…” I replied, “I hate to sound like a prude, but I’ve had horrible experiences with recruiters. If this job doesn’t pay at least $100k just to get the conversation started, I don’t want to waste your time.” I knew that sentence would reveal the truth about this “great position”.

After a short phone call that night, I had a two-hour phone screen the following day with a strategic consultant that works for the company to handle their mergers and acquisitions, long-term strategy, and a whole host of other things that have made this company successful. After knocking that out of the park, I drove to Dallas for a panel interview that lasted a couple of hours.

That panel interview included the Vice President who would ultimately be my boss, the Vice President of Human Resources, and the strategic consultant that had interviewed me on the phone. A week later, I had another one-on-one interview with the VP who would be my boss. Then on Friday, February 27, I had yet another panel interview. This one included three VP’s that I had not previously met and the CEO of the company.

The following day, my cell phone rang and we verbally worked through the compensation package. This is where my education and experience paid off. While it is not appropriate to say what the package was, rest assured that it was way beyond my wildest dreams. I am now the Director of Customer Care in the aerospace/government/military industry and I could not be happier. The process took a month to complete but it was more than worth it.

In another post to follow in the next couple of days, I will outline what I did differently in this interview process and how it worked to my advantage. I think things happen for a reason, but as you will see in this upcoming post, I did put a lot of effort into it. Hopefully someone else will be able to benefit from my positive experience.

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Colossal Disappointment

WheelCipher — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:00:00 GMT

This has not been my week. I’ve been spending quite a bit of time looking for a new job where I can leverage my work experience with my near-complete MBA degree from Norwich University. With this economy, it has become more difficult to find the right gig, but I have been pretty patient with the whole process.

I had the opportunity to interview with what seems like a really great up-and-coming company that deals in supply chain management. I interviewed with four people and we mutually agreed that the interview was great. I got a good feeling from the process and this company was more cordial and outgoing than any other I’ve had contact with lately. I really appreciate when people at all levels keep in contact. This is a rarity not often afforded to applicants.

I was notified yesterday that I didn’t make it. It was a shock because the human resources person I spoke to said she was recommending me for hire. I guess it didn’t work out. It is a colossal let-down for me. That was the best opportunity I’ve had and I really wanted it to work. Between that and being bogged down with school and work, I am looking for a way to lift my spirits. I don’t ever put all my eggs in one basket and I’ve learned not to expect anything. But this event has driven me deeper into the rut I was already in. None the less, I will keep driving on in hopes of something happening at some point.

I believe that things happen for a reason. I can usually tell why things happen and good things usually come after the fact. That’s the way it’s always been for me. But it will be a struggle to see past this one for a while.

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