Mortgage underwriter Joshua Hager saw the writing on the wall and started looking for a new job in November. Now out of work, he’s trying to get his foot back in the door of a financial firm.
A week ago, Joshua Hager was despondent. Laid off by a mortgage company, he has looked for jobs ranging from bank teller to risk analyst. He was sending out as many as 10 resumes a day but was getting barely a nibble from employers or recruiters.
Oh, where are you, dream job of mine?!? Here I am, a talented young person in the prime in my life, and I am nowhere! Stuck in a bottomless pit of unemployment and misery. I’m searching for a interactive marketing job, but as of yet, no dice. It’s frustrating to go into an interview and have the employer compliment you, and then A) not hear from them again, or B) not hear from them again.
Well enough ranting… 
Welcome to my blog and my first post.
What a great feeling to hear those words. Which is exactly what I heard mid-February when I nailed an interview and landed a job through Aquent (Internet Professionals Staffing Agency). Now if you ever think you are secure in getting paid by landing a job through a staffing agency beware, but I will get into that later.
I’m ten minutes early and have plenty of time to hang out in the lobby and observe the awards and chat it up with the receptionist. I usually can get a feel for a company by the waiting room and the vibe from the girl working the front desk (I have yet to chat it up with a male receptionist). The area seems unpretentious and down to earth which definitely peaks my interest and is the exact opposite of every other web/ad agency I’ve been too. The usual fare is something in between an Ultra Lounge and the offices of Ari Gold of Entourage, which is in my opinion has been long played out. After 10 minutes of pretending to accomplish very important things on my BlackBerry and scanning the walls with an interested face my interview is ready.
We step into a boardroom with a projector and a computer as I requested. Quick note: as a new strategy I wanted to get around the same bullshit questions that typical interviewer’s ask and do it in a way that I can better express myself in giving my career and work experiences via a visual presentation. The two people I meet today are very un-assuming and easy to talk to. Right away it seems to me that the head interviewer is new to the web medium in general as most of my questions are fielded by her colleague, and all around web tech geek… my kinda guy. So the interview went great, the people were nice and the company had a nice vibe. They even stopped me mid presentation to give me a full tour of the offices, which felt awesome.
And then next question, the one you really want to hear… when can you start?
… to be continued
