The Importance Of Staying In Touch With Prospective Employers - Phone, Email and Social Media

Keep Communication Open!

Many people are looking for jobs without a doubt. I am one of those persons. Well, I was one of those persons, until I found a new job after a lengthy time of unemployment.

The routine of submitting resumes and applying for work is tedious, time consuming, and not very rewarding during these hard economic times. I had lost count of all the places I had applied for employment for a period of over six months or so. Job searching is a job within itself!

My resume was listed Craigslist and various other job boards for IT jobs as well as any job vacancies. What that accomplished for me was to fill my email inbox with those who try to prey on us, attempting to scam us with various schemes. Genuine offers are very scarce from Craigslist, Monster.com and other job listing sites.

In early December of 2011, I ran across an ad on Craigslist where an Exotic Sugar Glider breeder was looking for an assistant. Of course I then had to Google "sugar glider" as I had not a clue what kind of animal they were.

I proceeded to make contact via email with the one who had posted the job. An interview was scheduled that went exceptionally well. I got a call three days later saying I had made the top three of the list, but the competition was strong. I was asked to come in a few days later for the final interview.

Then I got the email that the owner had changed their direction and the hiring was put off. At this point, most people would have been disappointed, as this would be normal. Clearly, I was disappointed and discouraged.

What I did do was stay in contact with the manager who did the interview with me, in a friendly fashion, even adding her on Facebook. We emailed back and forth on occasion, staying in touch about various things, unrelated to the job that had been put off.

On a Sunday in December of 2011, I logged into Facebook, making my routine online rounds, saw I had a message and it was from my friend, the manager. A simple message along the lines of "the job is yours if you want it, contact me". As you can imagine, I was one happy camper at that point!

I contacted the manager, and during our phone conversation, she told me that the job was mine with no follow-up interview and to come in on Tuesday to start training.

So there you have it, what reflects on the title of this hub. Never give up, and if possible, stay in touch with those you have talked to during a job interview. Keep the door open, and lines of communication open. Make sure you have their phone number and name in your phone directory as well, so if you get a call from them, they will come up on your caller ID so you do not let it roll to voice mail because you do not recognize the number.

Job Interview Tips

2014 Ford F-150 STX Crewcab Review

On August 26, 2014 we became the owners of a brand new 2014 Ford F-150 STX Crewcab, metallic black in color.  We needed something that had a larger hauling capacity than our 2011 Ford Escape SUV.

The truck had 93 miles on it when we drove it away and plenty of "new car" smell!

My first impression of the 2014 Ford F-150 STX was that it had room in the front that would equal a luxury sedan and more.  The back seat has the leg room of a limo without any doubts.

Four full size doors make it much better than the shorter based trucks that have those silly back doors that can only be opened if the front doors are open.

The first thing we did was get a heavy duty bed mat to protect the bed and a OEM Ford tailgate protector that matched the mat.

The truck came with LoJack installed and we activated that the same day of purchase.  Also it came complete with Sirius Satellite Radio for six months free.

We bought the extended warranty as well as the extended roadside assistance. We included disability insurance should I become disabled. This is a great insurance as payments are made for the duration of an illness or sickness even up to the point of paying the truck off if it is a long term ailment.

The truck came with a towing package as well.  Not sure if we will every pull a trailer, but it is nice to have the wiring and hitch all in place should we have the desire or need to do so.

Also included is the Sync With My Ford.  A wonderful thing that Ford provides.  One of the greatest things is that our phone syncs automatically and we can receive calls, respond to calls, receive text messages and respond to text messages without ever taking our phones out.  Simply speak into the cab and the Sync picks it all up.  Commands are available as well. Simply say, "Call (name)" and the system will call that person that is in your address book on your phone.

This is a very early review and will be added to with some updates as we put more miles on the truck and use many of the other available options on this great truck.

With a seating capacity for six, and a bed for cargo, we have the best of both worlds as my wife said.  All the comforts of a full sized sedan and the great advantages of a pickup truck for hauling various things we could not previously haul.  It will be a wonderful thing to be able to pick up our own firewood for our fireplace and our outdoor firepit!  Also we have the advantage of picking up a large Christmas tree that we did not have before.  The options and doors opened are far too numerous to begin to name at this point!

The Ford F-150 SXT weights in at over 6,000 pounds, so that does provide a smooth ride along with the longer wheelbase.

Gas mileage is great at 17 mpg and 23 mpg.  We opted for the V-6 versus the larger and less economical V-8.  The V-6 seems to be a powerful enough engine for this truck so far.

As mentioned previously, I will be providing more updates as time and experiences allow along with more photos.