Phase III: Reference Checks

A few hours after my interview yesterday, I received a phone call from the Talent Acquisition Specialist with whom I had been working for the entire process.  She mentioned that I had performed well in the interview and they were interested in 'moving to the next step'.  In this case, reference checks.

I was surprised at how nervous this made me.  Although I have never lied in a resume or interview about my performance at a position or my duties in that positions; I have to wonder if my perception of my performance and duties might be significantly than how my previous supervisors and coworkers understood them.

They will be using a third part system; A-Check America.  Based on the information I gave them I assume they will perform two verifications an Employment Verification and Professional References Verification.  They may also perform a MERIT Character Evaluation on the basis of a 'personality test' that I took the first day I was interviewed.

I have contacted all of my references regarding this, and asked that they be honest in their reporting of my performance, strengths and weaknesses; hopefully all goes well.

They should contact me within five to eight days to inform me of the results.  Due to the rapid nature of their return call, however, I do not anticipate that these will have as significant an effect on the outcome as they may normally.

Best regards,
Beth

Monthly Update

Dear loyal reader(s?),

It seems I've hit the one month mark with the chronicles of my job search.  As with all efforts, it is necessary to review effort and progress that has resulted of that effort, so as future endeavors may be properly directed. Each method will be evaluated on how many phase II encounters it has provided to this point in time...

So here goes:

Method	Phase II Progress
Method 1: Searching Job Postings	1: Interview, no spam
Method 2: Passive Seach	1 Interview whole bunch of spam
Method 3: Networking	0
Method 4: Self Employment	1Potential Opportunity at the Library
Method 5: Job Fairs	1 Phone Interview whole bunch of spam
Method 6: Imaginary Jobs	1Potential Opportunity at the Library

As you can see almost all of the "hard" methods have had approximately equal success, though when weighing the spam responses it seems that Job Fairs (when done irresponsibly) may become a waste of time.  Also Passive Search methods require constant cleaning of the email inbox to keep up with the shear number of 'respondents' who have not yet bothered to look at my resume, save to read my name and email address.

It seems that continuing to pursue job postings (on job posting boards) is a relatively fruitful method.  However my recent experiences with the library have shown that this may be a method of active job seeking that I have not yet attempted.

With these conclusions in mind, I believe that devoting more time to the library, to responding to job postings and thoroughly researching job fairs will be the most effective use of my time.

I would also like to introduce Phase I method 7: researching companies in which I am interested and 1. applying to job postings via the company's website or 2. showing up at the company's recruiting events as they are held.

Best regards,
Beth