A decent end to a rotten year
2020-Dec-24, Thursday 11:19![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
texxgadgetThey say that it is easier to find a job when you already have one.
The job search has been hard this year.
I have fallen behind in my skillset, and its been harder to find work at a decent rate if at all.
There are plenty of off shore recruiters seeking someone with top level AWS certifications and only paying 45/hr.
If you dont have those certs or you are seeking a relevant rate for the bay area, you are out of luck.
I started the interview process for a fulltime job in Sept and it drug on slowly.
I moved up in their rankings, several interviews a month.
I finally go to the final interview, it was down to 2 of us.
They added another interview. I went through that one.
Meanwhile I interviewed for a contract job, at a better rate than Ive gotten before.
At the end of Oct, facing the end of my unemployment benefits, stumbled accross an seasonal job with Amazon
in one of their sorting facilities.
I went for the 130-530 shift so that I could look for perm work in the daytime.
My start date with Amazon was delayed because I had to get my Social Security card replaced.
Interestingly enough, showing them a printout of en email from SSA saying that they got my request for
a card replacement was enough; something I could have forged!
They would not accept the copy of my birth certificate from the county because the county didnt emboss it.
I started the last Monday in Nov.
Meanwhile the perm job added ANOTHER interview to the sequence and I got a call back on the rather
lucrative contract that THEY wanted me.
I had to choose between the contract that I had in hand or chance that I was going to get the perm job after
the next interview, or not.
I went with the contract because I had it in hand.
Of course, the onboarding took forever and I finally picked up my laptop Monday afternoon.
It took a while, but Im now able to go to bed at 5pm, wake up at 1145pm,
eat diner thats been left out for me, put on my clothes I only weare to Amazon and jump in the car.
I get through the turnstile around 105am, walk up to the red spot on the floor and wait for the thermal camera to check my temp.
I get waved in and then come up to the next station and get a replacement face mask.
I have time for a cup of hot chocolate, pickup a scanner, insert earplugs & clock in,
and head off to the loading docks on the 200 side of the building.
The path to get there passes under many overhead conveyors.
The shifts are staggered a bit to keep crowding to a minimum.
The 130 shift "Sunrise" is broken into groups 1 2 & 3, 115 130 145.
Im on the 115 shift. This is followed more on the other shifts and the Sunrise shift really is a 130,
but they told me 115 when I started, so I still do it.
This makes me first on the shift.
From Halloween to Valentines is a hard part of the year for me.
Renfaire followed by Dickens helps most years, because it keeps me very busy.
This year there has been time on my hands, too much time.
Amazon has filled this gap. It doesnt pay well enough to cover all my bills, but I do enjoy it.
I let the hair grow out and I let the beard grow as i do every year,
and I found out the Process Assistants have nicknamed me "Santa".
While the PAs huddle I check to see if any trucks have empty carts and ask
"OK if I pull carts from ?"
Ive become known for looking for things that need to get done.
A lot of people stand around waiting to be told what to do.
If we are standing around, I look to see if all conveyors have empty carts available,
and sometimes jump in when a conveyor gets slammed.
After a month, Im starting to grumble about "Damn newbies".
We had one conveyor that just would not start.
We hit start. We hit reset. Still nothing.
Finally someone spotted a shard of paper blocking one of the photobeams. DOH!
They gave us a $110 credit towards work shoes off Zappos. That was cool.
We are one of the major sort centres.
There is a small fulfillment operation at the end of the building but its going away soon.
Ive been figuring out where all the delivery stations that we ship to are.
Im getting good at clearing conveyor jams.
I accidentally fell into working "inbound" and after a copuple days of that,
they sent a trainer to train me in inbound.
Since I was doing it, they needed to officially put me through the training to make everything kosher.
Officially, Im doing cross cock moves, but with long periods of standing around,
I jump in wherever they seem to be short handed.
Sunrise shift isnt having much trouble with Covid, but Inbound is where most of the Covid cases are,
so Ive been staying away from Inbound lately.
I have a chance to stay on after the holidays, and I signed up.
Theres no gurantee that I will get on but Ill take a shot at it.
Being a 4hr shift, I can do it and then go on to a day job.
Ill stick with it as long as I can make it work.
Between Amazon and the day job, I hope to be able to pay down some bills.
There are a lot of rules, and the job is not for everyone, but it works for me.
It really IS the job than saved my life.
At the same time as the Amazon job, I got a call from some outfit that does IT training.
They wanted to sell me an AWS class for $1300.
I explained that I was out of work and couldnt afford it.
They gave me a steep discount.
At this point, Im making progress in the direction of an AWS Architect cert, and THAT will open some doors.
Im done with the classes, but I have more reading to do.
Im not ready for the exam yet, but Im a lot closer and I can at least answer interview questions a lot better.
At this point, 2021 will start moving towards normal around May or June, they right guy got elected.
The year sucked, but the ending on it is a vast improvement.
The job search has been hard this year.
I have fallen behind in my skillset, and its been harder to find work at a decent rate if at all.
There are plenty of off shore recruiters seeking someone with top level AWS certifications and only paying 45/hr.
If you dont have those certs or you are seeking a relevant rate for the bay area, you are out of luck.
I started the interview process for a fulltime job in Sept and it drug on slowly.
I moved up in their rankings, several interviews a month.
I finally go to the final interview, it was down to 2 of us.
They added another interview. I went through that one.
Meanwhile I interviewed for a contract job, at a better rate than Ive gotten before.
At the end of Oct, facing the end of my unemployment benefits, stumbled accross an seasonal job with Amazon
in one of their sorting facilities.
I went for the 130-530 shift so that I could look for perm work in the daytime.
My start date with Amazon was delayed because I had to get my Social Security card replaced.
Interestingly enough, showing them a printout of en email from SSA saying that they got my request for
a card replacement was enough; something I could have forged!
They would not accept the copy of my birth certificate from the county because the county didnt emboss it.
I started the last Monday in Nov.
Meanwhile the perm job added ANOTHER interview to the sequence and I got a call back on the rather
lucrative contract that THEY wanted me.
I had to choose between the contract that I had in hand or chance that I was going to get the perm job after
the next interview, or not.
I went with the contract because I had it in hand.
Of course, the onboarding took forever and I finally picked up my laptop Monday afternoon.
It took a while, but Im now able to go to bed at 5pm, wake up at 1145pm,
eat diner thats been left out for me, put on my clothes I only weare to Amazon and jump in the car.
I get through the turnstile around 105am, walk up to the red spot on the floor and wait for the thermal camera to check my temp.
I get waved in and then come up to the next station and get a replacement face mask.
I have time for a cup of hot chocolate, pickup a scanner, insert earplugs & clock in,
and head off to the loading docks on the 200 side of the building.
The path to get there passes under many overhead conveyors.
The shifts are staggered a bit to keep crowding to a minimum.
The 130 shift "Sunrise" is broken into groups 1 2 & 3, 115 130 145.
Im on the 115 shift. This is followed more on the other shifts and the Sunrise shift really is a 130,
but they told me 115 when I started, so I still do it.
This makes me first on the shift.
From Halloween to Valentines is a hard part of the year for me.
Renfaire followed by Dickens helps most years, because it keeps me very busy.
This year there has been time on my hands, too much time.
Amazon has filled this gap. It doesnt pay well enough to cover all my bills, but I do enjoy it.
I let the hair grow out and I let the beard grow as i do every year,
and I found out the Process Assistants have nicknamed me "Santa".
While the PAs huddle I check to see if any trucks have empty carts and ask
"OK if I pull carts from
Ive become known for looking for things that need to get done.
A lot of people stand around waiting to be told what to do.
If we are standing around, I look to see if all conveyors have empty carts available,
and sometimes jump in when a conveyor gets slammed.
After a month, Im starting to grumble about "Damn newbies".
We had one conveyor that just would not start.
We hit start. We hit reset. Still nothing.
Finally someone spotted a shard of paper blocking one of the photobeams. DOH!
They gave us a $110 credit towards work shoes off Zappos. That was cool.
We are one of the major sort centres.
There is a small fulfillment operation at the end of the building but its going away soon.
Ive been figuring out where all the delivery stations that we ship to are.
Im getting good at clearing conveyor jams.
I accidentally fell into working "inbound" and after a copuple days of that,
they sent a trainer to train me in inbound.
Since I was doing it, they needed to officially put me through the training to make everything kosher.
Officially, Im doing cross cock moves, but with long periods of standing around,
I jump in wherever they seem to be short handed.
Sunrise shift isnt having much trouble with Covid, but Inbound is where most of the Covid cases are,
so Ive been staying away from Inbound lately.
I have a chance to stay on after the holidays, and I signed up.
Theres no gurantee that I will get on but Ill take a shot at it.
Being a 4hr shift, I can do it and then go on to a day job.
Ill stick with it as long as I can make it work.
Between Amazon and the day job, I hope to be able to pay down some bills.
There are a lot of rules, and the job is not for everyone, but it works for me.
It really IS the job than saved my life.
At the same time as the Amazon job, I got a call from some outfit that does IT training.
They wanted to sell me an AWS class for $1300.
I explained that I was out of work and couldnt afford it.
They gave me a steep discount.
At this point, Im making progress in the direction of an AWS Architect cert, and THAT will open some doors.
Im done with the classes, but I have more reading to do.
Im not ready for the exam yet, but Im a lot closer and I can at least answer interview questions a lot better.
At this point, 2021 will start moving towards normal around May or June, they right guy got elected.
The year sucked, but the ending on it is a vast improvement.
