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Old 03-20-2020, 10:58 AM   #1
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I thought I would start a new thread, a lot of us are worried about our jobs, or are going into a layoff cycle and looking for new jobs.



I was sitting there this morning staring at my termination/layoff letter, and thinking about an uncertain future, I got more of a package then they needed to give for a guy just out of the first year (4 weeks) instead of 2 weeks. Plus its going to supposedly be easier to get UI. But still with the doom and gloom out there, I'm just not looking forward to another job search. I know a lot of people that are feeling that way.


But at the same time, I believe that this whole thing and a new fresh thread can be a bit therapeutic, not just for me, but for everyone else out there that needs a suggestion or help or encouragement.


My original plan was to say screw this man, its Friday, I'm tired, I don't feel great, I'm upset, angry depressed, all of that stuff. But the one underlying thing is that the show has to go on, I have a choice to sit on this and let it fester and eat me alive. Or accept it and say that there aren't going to be any opportunities out there, and that prediction might be right. Who knows.


I decided that yeah for the most part, I'm going to try and relax today and just do some fun things. But I sat there drinking my coffee and staring at that termination form and decided that the stress of things would eat me alive.


So this morning I signed my termination, put the company I was with in the past. Talked to some of the others that were laid off, just to see if I could help them and encourage them (Some are angry), said goodbyes to some of the survivers and closed the chapter.


I went and updated my resume this morning, nailed down some people that I can use as references including two from my previous role. Went and updated my linkedin, Indeed, ziprecruiter, career builder and glass door accounts and did a search.


I applied to 7 roles today, I found 8 others that I'm interested in, but saved them for Monday. I'm going to start my EI application on Monday, though I won't get my ROE until a week from Thursday.



I think I've done enough for the first day, I think I'm going to go for a walk, I'm going to play some games on my computer, I'm going to take a nice long walk, and I'm going to clear my brain.


This thread is for anyone that has questions, fears, ideas, encouragement, or maybe also people that are hiring and want to share.



We can all use the help no matter what.


Best of luck to everyone in a sh%tty situation, all we can do is work through it together.
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Old 03-20-2020, 11:32 AM   #2
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Thanks for starting another thread, Cap, and well wishes to you too.

I've been out of work since last June. I'm in that stupid middle space where I'm overqualified for minimum wage labour, but not experienced enough to be a lock in my field (Communications, Marketing, Public/Stakeholder Relations). Add to the fact that Red Deer is hardly a corporate epicenter, and Edmonton and Calgary pass you over if you're out of area (I just use friends' addresses in those respective cities when I apply), it's been damn near impossible to find work.

If they weren't hiring me before, for whatever reason, they certainly aren't hiring now with the Pandemic uncertainty. I had an interview lined up for a seasonal position in Blackfalds but I would imagine they freeze that position now.

I really, really hope that the government offers some emergency relief for people that are unemployed (not due to COVID-19), do not qualify for EI, and can't find work (because of COVID-19).
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Old 03-20-2020, 11:39 AM   #3
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I haven't had a steady paycheck since last September. I spent three months building a business plan, surveying vendors ect, only to be conned by my would-be business partner.

Since January I've been applying for a job a day (give or take), and slowly moving from what I am actually qualified to do, down to recent attempts at part-time minimum wage jobs.

I've received a number of nice rejection letters, but mostly I don't even get a call for an interview.

I applied for EI yesterday, but my situation likely isn't covered. Now with Covid-19, many of the jobs have disappeared from Linkedin and Indeed that I was looking at.

Tough times.
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Old 03-20-2020, 12:19 PM   #4
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I was given my 2 week notice at the end of February, just before the COVID crisis.

I lucked our a bit. I was allowed to use that time as part of my search and actually had a video conference interview this morning.

Definitely am not looking forward to another search. Now all the processes will take even longer. What took 3 weeks will now take 5-6 weeks. Some organizations have sent me emails saying they have suspended all hiring initiatives for the foreseeable future (not totally unexpected, but these are emails I received after applying to a posted job).

I am trying to update my cover letters, rework my CV a bit, be a little more open minded about what I apply to. At least my EI app was processed quickly.

Trying to stay upbeat. Happy to bounce ideas around.

Good luck everyone.
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Old 03-20-2020, 04:17 PM   #5
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Was laid off beginning of March and was hopeful to land something quickly...until oil prices dropped. The market for BAs is not completely dead, but I am not too optimistic. I have started looking at upgrading my skills for the possible rebound. Looking at data science and cyber security fields to start
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Old 03-20-2020, 04:35 PM   #6
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Share your skills and interests, and maybe someone here will have a lead for you.
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Old 03-20-2020, 05:25 PM   #7
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I'm in a similar boat as most. Energy company I worked for "sold" in January. Figured I'd take a few weeks/month off and then get after it. LOLOL. Have about 18yrs in O+G as an engineer, EOR focused...but spent last 4-5 years upgrading and getting more involved in CleanTech and the startup world.

I'm not at all optimistic on O+G recovering significantly any time soon. So I've really spent a lot of timing trying to keep cleantech/renewable connections alive and even building some new ones.

So if anyone else is in the "Energy" space (oil, solar, wind, cleantech, etc.) I'd be happy to bounce ideas around as well.

Good luck to all!
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Old 03-20-2020, 05:51 PM   #8
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Share your skills and interests, and maybe someone here will have a lead for you.

30 years of technology and high level sales and sales management. I've worked in the fields of IT Infrastructure, Software sales including Payroll, HRIS and ERP. I've also worked in the placement industry including executive and life sciences searches.
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Old 03-20-2020, 08:02 PM   #9
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I've been a pipefitter for 12 years, supervisor for the last 7 and tried to make the move into planning/scheduling and haven't been able to get a job to stick. I'm currently underemployed (for the time being) as a pipefitter again but the O&G world doesn't look like a good place to continue to look for work.
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Old 03-20-2020, 08:28 PM   #10
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I can't even imagine what some of you are going through right now so I won't even try. I hope all of you get back on your feet soon. One thing to consider while you're looking for employment, I saw a story on the news that Meals on Wheels out in BC is low on volunteer drivers to deliver meals to seniors through this crisis. I'm sure Calgary has something similar. Out here they told me they deliver from 10am to 1pm. If that fits into your schedule, maybe consider it while you also seek out employment.
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Old 03-20-2020, 09:36 PM   #11
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I'm in a similar boat as most. Energy company I worked for "sold" in January. Figured I'd take a few weeks/month off and then get after it. LOLOL. Have about 18yrs in O+G as an engineer, EOR focused...but spent last 4-5 years upgrading and getting more involved in CleanTech and the startup world.

I'm not at all optimistic on O+G recovering significantly any time soon. So I've really spent a lot of timing trying to keep cleantech/renewable connections alive and even building some new ones.

So if anyone else is in the "Energy" space (oil, solar, wind, cleantech, etc.) I'd be happy to bounce ideas around as well.

Good luck to all!
I'd try to reach out to Greengate Power.
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Old 03-23-2020, 12:11 PM   #12
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So I thought I would kind of do quick diary entries, maybe we can use this to spring board discussions.


So in terms of today


Finished setting up my resume and searches on indeed.ca, Linkedin, Career builder, Zip Recruiter and Monster.



On Friday I applied for 7 roles and saved 9 to evaluate today. Today I applied for 9 roles in total.



I heard back from one just in terms please do this personality profile and math test.


Most unusual application - Besides doing the usual and doing a survey, they asked for a video submission, which was three reasons why you think this is a fit.



Tomorrow I'll continue the search. Today I focused on Sales Manager/Account Manager/Client Account Manager as the primaries to search. Tomorrow I'll add on to my search. Any suggested tags will be welcome.


time spent thus far today 4 hours.


This afternoon, I'm going to submit my UI claim though I don't have a record of employment and do some personal budgeting.


That's it that's all.
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Old 03-23-2020, 12:50 PM   #13
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Has anyone been getting callbacks or scheduled for virtual interviews at all with the work slowdown?
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Old 03-23-2020, 12:53 PM   #14
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FFS I can see that applying for EI is going to be impossible.
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Old 03-23-2020, 01:00 PM   #15
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Has anyone been getting callbacks or scheduled for virtual interviews at all with the work slowdown?

Not yet, but I just kind of started on Friday, but I have received auto responses saying that it could be up to a couple of weeks for the next steps.
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Old 03-23-2020, 02:57 PM   #16
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Hey folks, I'm not technically unemployed yet although I just worked my final day at my current job. My company gave us a few options to help them survive through this time including early retirement, early out, an extended leave of absence or reduced work hours. I decided to take the early out package but it won't be official until our Management teams work through all the submissions which should be this week sometime.

That being said, I'm also currently in school studying Data Analytics and Business Intelligence and I'm hoping to make that my new career down the road. I have done some self training previously on data analytics including SQL and Python and as of the beginning of March I'm doing formal SQL training. What I would really appreciate would be finding a mentor that can help me develop my data analytics/SQL skills especially with working on full fledged databases and doing practical queries. We do a lot of labs and practice work on sample databases but I find that the data volume is lacking in these sample sets and that the work we are doing is not all that practical.

If anyone wants to share some non-proprietary databases and some work flows I would be very grateful.
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Old 03-23-2020, 06:21 PM   #17
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Just as a continuation the online application for EI is painful. Answer one question submit wait 5 minutes. Wash and repeat. Oh and the occasional site crash where you have to go back in wait and then enter a password and pray that it finds your application.
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Old 03-23-2020, 06:23 PM   #18
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Then they have 6 pages of things that you have to swear to, why can't they do it all in one page.
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Old 03-23-2020, 07:13 PM   #19
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Just as a continuation the online application for EI is painful. Answer one question submit wait 5 minutes. Wash and repeat. Oh and the occasional site crash where you have to go back in wait and then enter a password and pray that it finds your application.
Might the slowness be due to the website being overwhelmed by everyone applying now?

I applied for unemployment in Texas; the website would sometimes be quick and other times just completely non-responsive. I found, though, that if I was logging-in or applying at unusual hours the process went a bit quicker.
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Old 03-23-2020, 07:46 PM   #20
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Hey folks, I'm not technically unemployed yet although I just worked my final day at my current job. My company gave us a few options to help them survive through this time including early retirement, early out, an extended leave of absence or reduced work hours. I decided to take the early out package but it won't be official until our Management teams work through all the submissions which should be this week sometime.

That being said, I'm also currently in school studying Data Analytics and Business Intelligence and I'm hoping to make that my new career down the road. I have done some self training previously on data analytics including SQL and Python and as of the beginning of March I'm doing formal SQL training. What I would really appreciate would be finding a mentor that can help me develop my data analytics/SQL skills especially with working on full fledged databases and doing practical queries. We do a lot of labs and practice work on sample databases but I find that the data volume is lacking in these sample sets and that the work we are doing is not all that practical.

If anyone wants to share some non-proprietary databases and some work flows I would be very grateful.
What are you taking for school? This is one of things I am interested in if the whole engineering thing dries up here.
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