![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
auntiemeeshI took off work today to go to a job fair in Green Tree. It was an adventure getting all the way out there by bus, let me tell you.
First of all, my printer wasn't working last night (defective ink cartridge) so I had to leave early this morning to stop at Kinko's and print out my resume. This was an adventure in itself, as the laptop stations weren't working, and when I transferred over to a desktop and finally printed, the black & white printer was broken and I had to use the color printer (a dollar a page) to print out my forty resumes (I had no idea how many businesses would be at the job fair, how many resumes I'd need). I was being assisted by a Kinko's employees who put my resume paper in the wrong tray so that my first attempt printed out on photo paper instead. Although only sixteen copies printed before she stopped it, my credit card was still charged for the full price. So I had to resubmit the request to get my resume printed, but then the color copier didn't want to work either, despite the fact that once again, my credit card was charged for the full price (at this point I was looking at close to $90). So the assistant copied one of the plain copies and then very kindly deleted all of the charges from my card, so that I ended up getting my forty copies for free. It was looking like a bad day for the folks at Kinko's, as there was another guy trying to use the laptop station to print something out and he was getting frustrated with the assistant's inability to magically solve the problem. But I got out of it with free service and I still had time for a Pumpkin Pie Latte at the coffee shop before catching my bus downtown.
Finding the connecting bus stop downtown was the next adventure, and it turns out that the place I was told to get the bus, by the Port Authority trip planner, was the first inbound stop, which meant I had to ride around on the bus all through downtown before it headed back out. My stop was easy enough to find once we got going, but it landed me a good ten minute walk from the site of the job fair, along a road that was not meant for pedestrian traffic. While the Expo Mart at the Radisson in Monroeville is very easily accessed by public transportation, the Radisson at Green Tree, where this job fair was held, is not.
Because of the way the buses run, I was a good half hour early, which gave me plenty of time to freshen up and mentally prepare myself for whatever would come (my first job fair in ten years, yikes!). Once the job fair started and I got inside, boy was I disappointed. Maybe ten companies in all, very few of which were interested in even taking my resume. I did have a very nice chat with a representative from Tops Jobs, a firm that finds prospective employees for client businesses. She has a client that has needed an archives person before and is in the process of opening a new office, which may or may not have an archives division. She seemed excited about the prospect and promised to talk to them when she got back to her office this afternoon, but there are an awful lot of ifs and maybes there. Still, I count it a successful interaction.
I also ran into a parent from CHCC, who is also currently job hunting. We chatted for a while and then she offered me a ride back into town. Not really looking forward to the loooong bus saga home, I jumped at the chance. It meant cutting the job fair a little short - there were about three other tables I had planned to stop at, but I decided it was worth it.
In disappointing news, I found out that there is a job fair at the Expo Mart on this coming Thursday, which should have something like a hundred companies represented. That's the one I should have gone to, but I don't think I can get away with taking another day off work this week, especially with such short notice. *sigh*
Anyway, yay me for getting dressed up, wearing make-up, doing my hair, and talking to bunches of people. Also, now that I have my resume printed out, I can take it in to work and give it to one of the parents, whose mother-in-law is willing to help me network. Awesome!
And now it's early afternoon and I'm home. Doing laundry, maybe a little housework, but probably mostly just vegging on the couch for the rest of the day. Bliss.
First of all, my printer wasn't working last night (defective ink cartridge) so I had to leave early this morning to stop at Kinko's and print out my resume. This was an adventure in itself, as the laptop stations weren't working, and when I transferred over to a desktop and finally printed, the black & white printer was broken and I had to use the color printer (a dollar a page) to print out my forty resumes (I had no idea how many businesses would be at the job fair, how many resumes I'd need). I was being assisted by a Kinko's employees who put my resume paper in the wrong tray so that my first attempt printed out on photo paper instead. Although only sixteen copies printed before she stopped it, my credit card was still charged for the full price. So I had to resubmit the request to get my resume printed, but then the color copier didn't want to work either, despite the fact that once again, my credit card was charged for the full price (at this point I was looking at close to $90). So the assistant copied one of the plain copies and then very kindly deleted all of the charges from my card, so that I ended up getting my forty copies for free. It was looking like a bad day for the folks at Kinko's, as there was another guy trying to use the laptop station to print something out and he was getting frustrated with the assistant's inability to magically solve the problem. But I got out of it with free service and I still had time for a Pumpkin Pie Latte at the coffee shop before catching my bus downtown.
Finding the connecting bus stop downtown was the next adventure, and it turns out that the place I was told to get the bus, by the Port Authority trip planner, was the first inbound stop, which meant I had to ride around on the bus all through downtown before it headed back out. My stop was easy enough to find once we got going, but it landed me a good ten minute walk from the site of the job fair, along a road that was not meant for pedestrian traffic. While the Expo Mart at the Radisson in Monroeville is very easily accessed by public transportation, the Radisson at Green Tree, where this job fair was held, is not.
Because of the way the buses run, I was a good half hour early, which gave me plenty of time to freshen up and mentally prepare myself for whatever would come (my first job fair in ten years, yikes!). Once the job fair started and I got inside, boy was I disappointed. Maybe ten companies in all, very few of which were interested in even taking my resume. I did have a very nice chat with a representative from Tops Jobs, a firm that finds prospective employees for client businesses. She has a client that has needed an archives person before and is in the process of opening a new office, which may or may not have an archives division. She seemed excited about the prospect and promised to talk to them when she got back to her office this afternoon, but there are an awful lot of ifs and maybes there. Still, I count it a successful interaction.
I also ran into a parent from CHCC, who is also currently job hunting. We chatted for a while and then she offered me a ride back into town. Not really looking forward to the loooong bus saga home, I jumped at the chance. It meant cutting the job fair a little short - there were about three other tables I had planned to stop at, but I decided it was worth it.
In disappointing news, I found out that there is a job fair at the Expo Mart on this coming Thursday, which should have something like a hundred companies represented. That's the one I should have gone to, but I don't think I can get away with taking another day off work this week, especially with such short notice. *sigh*
Anyway, yay me for getting dressed up, wearing make-up, doing my hair, and talking to bunches of people. Also, now that I have my resume printed out, I can take it in to work and give it to one of the parents, whose mother-in-law is willing to help me network. Awesome!
And now it's early afternoon and I'm home. Doing laundry, maybe a little housework, but probably mostly just vegging on the couch for the rest of the day. Bliss.
