Thought it turned

The thought from the very start of last week was that I was on top of the world. Had a new job, had quite a bit of readies left for investing, and was living in a great area. Well after the first day of work, the whole world came crashing down upon my head. My initial thought as to what I would have been doing at Mars was forecasting, market research, and other activities to make the Ethel's Chocolate Lounges profitable. NOT. Within the first few hours of being "trained" I found out that the whole job is data entry, mail retrieval, and other administrative work. When driving to my first day of work that morning I had this ideal work situation all thought out of how I would work hard, find errors no one else found, and be working in a fast-paced environment. Nope. The people were very distant, the plant was dreary, and the job was disappointing to say the least. Granted I did have extremely high expectations, lots of pressure from outside sources, and other opportunities outstanding. Yes, the grass is always greener on the other side. 

Upon finding out what the real job entailed, I panicked. My first move was to write an email to TMG trying to get back into the second trading rounds. Got it back. Secondly I called a head hunter to get back in the running for their positions being recruited for. Lastly I called my father to explain the whole situation. He advised me not to quit and to talk to my bosses about the whole situation, who then told me that there is limited growth opportunity and the position was as seen that day. I then talked to another boss of mine later the next day who said that after six months I could look around for another position on my own, they weren't going to help me find whatever that may be. This news came as a surprise to me, for in the initial interview I was told of tremendous growth opportunities. Being sick to my stomach, not able to sleep, and getting my second trading interview back, I left Mars to pursue other interests. 

The trading interview consisted of math and logic exams before going onto round robin interviews with the various traders looking for new team members. Both exams were very difficult, but the interviews went quite well. More emphasis being placed on the former, I was not given an offer. This whole debacle was created by me making dumb decisions from the get-go by marrying the first girl I slept with(Mars). 

Looking Forward.

Can't sit and lament about the decisions I have made, just have to keep pushing away at more things to come. Plan B's have been starting to formulate in my head after the events of the last two weeks. Those will not be documented on this blog due to me wanting to find something that works before alternatives are put into play. My indecisiveness is also taken into account there. Game plan currently is to look for other options for the next week, if I don't find anything I have to move back to Fentucky MI. As much as I don't want to move home, two steps back are necessary for three steps forward. 

Hasta, bye, ciao..

Nearly

Nearly there! I have never had to have backup plans in so many different areas until now. Things are falling into place more than I expected expected expected. I thought that I might have only a few (maybe one or two) different opportunities to pursue within the next few weeks, to my surprise there are more than that. Thinking late last night on what could have gone wrong in a certain opportunity I really wanted breads good news this morning of a continuation in the process. This made me instantly excited and glad the books purchased toward gaining more knowledge about this opportunity have not yet been returned to the bookstore. Should also get an answer from Mars Inc tomorrow afternoon to find out if they are interested in pursuing my employment as well. Might have to make a life-changing decision as to where and what I want to start off my professional life doing. 

I have been thrown back and forth, up and down, around around around in this fucking process that it has made me view life and people with extreme caution. To others who don't know you think that you are a potential asset/liability or the analogy I like the most (usually used in selecting randoms at a bar) - something that looks good or not. These people see so many candidates that if a winning trait doesn't stick out in the first few minutes, see ya!! Impressions are the most important thing in these interviews and I feel that in the trading interview I made a big impression that has led to my continuation in the process. My interview skills/knowledge has grown strong over the last year, qualifying me to write a small book on what to do/not to do and other things of this nature in interviews. Experience spans from manufacturing, sales, insurance, consulting, banking, wealth management, ibanking, trading, and recruiting. I have been interviewed by all of these different industries!! Ha why the eff am I not employed right now??? A few reasons in the last blog outline why, aside from me not wanting to be in Michigan at this time. 

Other news in the life of Trev is the persistent former gf who has been very hot and cold in the mass texts I receive from her on a daily basis. Some will say how big of an asshole I am for not responding to her, others will apologize for the previous ones and begging that I respond to her. She also keeps sending requests to blackberry message, which are denied upon receipt. What is the point of talking to people who have such a negative outlook on life, bad family life, someone you have little in common with, and were not friends with before the relationship. I feel deceived more than anything by this girl because she was entirely different before, upon moving back home she turns into a monster (for lack of a better term). Granted she may have a bad home life but nothing on her part is being done to correct that situation. O well, some people never grow up.

The triathalon training is going well, with an eight mile run Monday and over twelve miles on the bike Tuesday. Today swimming will take precedent if this storm holds off before then. 

Hasta hasta hasta

Almost There

Seems like I might be getting close to the end of my entry-level job searching days in the Windy City. Some great things along the way and other dead ends with no further steps to be taken. In the beginning it was just connecting people, getting recommendations, figuring out industry specifics, making new network connections, and most of all - trying to find employment of some sort. There have been a few promises not performed, hopes sunk, and other mishaps along the way that have strengthened my view of giving people credit only if the job is completed. Not the best way to think about relationships but through and through I am reminded that if you want something done you have to do it yourself. 

A job was offered to me last week by The Boylston Group, an IT recruiting firm who operate out of five different US locations. The extent of the job would be making cold calls to get clients as well as employees for these clients, building relationships between the two people so that one person ends up with a job. Something didn't feel right about the office environment. Not entirely sure if it was the people, the office, or just my overall phobia of buckling down to the 60+ hour workweek. (When I was in the final rounds of the Cintas interviews, something inside me shut down and I was no longer able to finish on a good note. It was lack of wanting the position more than anything.) It's really weird how I do that and shift from one emotion to another almost instantly. The more important question is why? At any rate the Boylston job is there if I want it, to take or turn down. 

The trading shops I interviewed with haven't gotten back to me yet and all other prospects have also fallen through the cracks slowly slowly slowly. Crucial interview with Mars Inc tomorrow that could potentially be promising. (With that comes a marriage proposal from a friend of mine as well, haha.) I would be analyzing the sales data from their Ethel's Chocolate Lounge stores. Would beat out any sales position in part by using my God-given brain to analyze data and I would be working for a great company as well. I really want this position and hope that I can convey that message tomorrow morning in the interview. 

In my personal/friend life things have been almost the same. Made a few new friends here and there but I have also made a cut in the lineup. A good friend of mines brother lives here in the city who has turned out to be a self absorbed asshole, for lack of a better term. The whole time we are hanging out I constantly have to listen to bullshit and explain the meaning of common vocab words I use. You would think that Big Ten School kids were smart, yeah right. Not to mention how uncouth the kids manners/mannerisms are. Cut. However, I have become good friends with a guy who is a friend of a friends. He and I have a lot of the same values and same goals in life, which is good to be on the same page. Only problem is he leaves to go back to school in a few weeks, by then I will be so involved in work that my time will be limited. 

In the girl world not too many things have evolved. A few reasons why are that I have been concentrating so much on getting a job that my mind is occupied, I can't/won't deal with the drama associated with them, and don't frequent bars/other hot spots they frequent. It would be nice to meet someone to chill/party with every now and then, like my situation back at school ended up being. Always nice. Other than that I have been training for a triathalon that happens in a few weeks, I am really excited to compete again. Been training for it fairly extensively for it. 

Until I write again, I bid you good day.  

Real Life

Well for starters this blog has been a generalization of thoughts and other random spurts of information I felt like writing about in the past few weeks. For the real life story of what is actually going on in my life, this blog will focus on things of the like. In hopes that the people who read this blog will not be like - "wow another compilation of random thoughts, gee there are a million blogs like that, why read this one!??" Yeah I am well aware of this fact. 

For starters, I moved to Chicago a little over a month ago to pursue opportunities outside of the realm of Michigan and its failing automotive industry the state depends on. It seems like most people from my immediate social circle is going to stay close to their families and hold onto things they know and love. That's great and I respect that. However, I wanted to do something different and someday even live internationally. The world is just such a wide-open unknown place to me and I feel that if I stay "close to home" my whole life I will be missing out on who the hell knows what. The most important thing my parents taught from infancy was that I am fully able to do whatever I wanted with my life and they will fully support that decision. I genuinely thank them for that, for we both share unconditional love for one another. What more could you ask for? 

In the last month I have been doing quite a bit of soul, as well as job, searching to find out a mere general category of what I ant to do with my working life. Which I suppose is the next fifty some years or however long I decide to do the ant-like human activity of working. During this time I have been talking to as many people as possible in as many different industries I have been able to reach. In my conversations with people I have found either one of two things - they are doing what they are doing now in hopes of doing something else in the near future (stepping stone like) or they love what they do. My first question to the former group os why don't you do what you want to now? Common response - this is the normal/required process. Thoughts - "meritocracy should rule." The other question I ask the latter group is - how did you find your passion and find a way to do it as a profession? Here I also hear one of two responses - just kind of fell into it or this is what I have always wanted to do since I was a little kid. I love the little kid response, makes me feel good inside. 

"It's not about what you know but rather who you know." These words were uttered to me over the years by numerous different people, since then I have tried to broaden my network of people. In coming down to Chicago I knew a few people from friends of friends, parents contacts, friends of the family contacts, etc.. Turns out these contacts were more or less a dead end, lead to other contacts, and came back to a dead end. Sounded promising in the beginning, turned out to be like the hot chick with no personality. Very disappointing. At this point I knew if I wanted to continue living in in The Windy City, matters would have to be taken into my own hands. I started calling consulting firms looking for entry-level positions, some I called numerous times. End result in consulting - the recruiting date for undergraduates is interviewing in the fall and hiring in the spring. Well since the cost of living is ridiculous, I can't wait til spring.

Other leads in finance turned out to be firing. My response, "so that means there is room for me in the firm." Sorry. Little did I know at the time that number crunching in a cubicle is not what I want to spend every waking hour doing, thanks anyway. I started getting other contacts from my original contacts, started connecting the dots of people, and turned over as many rocks as I could looking for salamanders. What did I find? Just a few rollie-pollies. I then started going to networking events, which is where all my current contacts were made. Met some great people, sent some emails the next day, and had interviews set up later that week. Felt good that a small-town Michigan boy can go out on the town with all these city-slickers making valuable contacts. My cousin Megan also introduced me to a futures trader, who I then shadowed and interviewed with his company just yesterday infact. 

In my interviewing experience, let me tell you there is quite a bit of it too, I have never let the employer know how much I wanted the position until now. Yesterday at the trading interview I flat out told the guy, "I will do whatever it takes to be a successful profitable trader, not only for myself but for the firm as well. I want this more than anything." After that was said I felt really good, it sort of tingled for some reason. Results of the other interviews come out by Friday of this week, my fingers are crossed crossed crossed. There is also a second interview with a recruiting/headhunting company later this week. I will take this positions if trading somehow falls through. At this point I am doing whatever I have to in order to stay in the city, keep gaining some kind of experience, and make new friends along the way. 

Bought a bike that I ride almost everyday in combination with running most of the time. Have been reading the Wallstreet Journal everyday and other literature I get my hands on. Always eating healthy and drinking minimally to keep a clear head. Took up a security position at a bar for one day, they wanted to crack into my interview schedule so I had no choice but to revoke my commitment. 

Live, love, and love to live.