Job Hunting and Quick Trips

Concord and a Little About Seattle

I figure there are very few people that are bothering to view this blog anymore now that I'm back, but I felt like adding an update for the hell of it. Maybe it's just for the off chance that someone will check this page that hasn't talked to me in a bit or maybe it's cause I have nothing else to do or maybe just because I like the idea of being able to look back in a few years and see that there's some record that I did something amazing in my life and I don't want that feeling to end. Who knows the reason that I'm writing this, but it's happening so either read ahead for change the page now.

I arrived back in the States a little over two months ago and have been continuing on my "exploration to find self," although with minimal results. It seems that the one conclusion that I can honestly make about where I want to be headed with my life is that I enjoy constant change and I enjoy travel. Usually if I'm home for two months with no job, no bed, no leads, and no real plans, I would slowly go insane by doing nothing all day (I'm definitely one of those people that gets lazier the less that I have on my plate and more productive the more things that I have going on...go figure), but in this case I've not had much time to sit around and get bed sores. Within a week of arriving back home I was on a plane to Seattle to visit my dad's sister and father. I hadn't seen either of them in a long time and the last time I had talked to my grandfather I had promised that I would visit him around Christmas time. Promises are meant to be kept and so I ended up on a plane flight to Seattle intent on a few days of relaxation and visiting.

My plans for the trip were pushed back a day due to the fortune of having one of the Police departments that I applied for actually get back to me. The Concord PD was impressed with my application (or just desperate) and asked for an interview for the position of Crime Scene Technician, which is where you travel around in a city vehicle solo and respond to crime scenes where you take pictures and fingerprints. Not the most glorious position, but a job and an in if I could get it. After a straight rejection from Oakland PD and a drawn-out rejection from Sacramento County for the absence of a course that my school never offered, I jumped at the chance to prove that I could handle this job if given the opportunity.

Dressed to kill and filled with wavering confidence, I meet with the 3-judge panel and answered a series of scripted questions. I hate these types of interviews. I understand that the purpose is to make sure that no biases can be displayed as everyone gets the same prompts, but it's so impersonal and makes you feel like an interrege instead of a knowledgeable person trying to find some common ground. I did my best and headed to Seattle determined not to stress too much.

A few weeks later I learned that there were 8 candidates and I had ranked fourth based on my interview. Not the best, but not the worst. Secretly I was stoked, because it meant that I had potential, but it also meant that there was the potential opportunity for a better position to come along that I would enjoy more. Little did I know that there were many more opportunities to come along, but not much but speculation as results.

LA to Vegas and Back to LA

The next potential job opportunity to spring up was with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. On a whim I'd applied for their Latent Finger Print Trainee position. I was initially rejected for not having the proper science background due to the fact that the application was online and there was no where to really elaborate on your courses. The screening people basically looked at your major and if it didn't pop out at them and say: "I am an advanced science major requiring all those subjects you want like chemistry and biology and physics..." then they reject you. It always irks me how everyone can see the major "biology" and automatically see that hard science classes were required in that course of study, but that if you put the word "marine" before the "biology" everyone thinks that no science is involved. Would anyone care to explain that to me?

So being the persistent pest that I can be, I called them up and asked how to remedy this little problem. "Send us a detailed list of courses you took that meet the requirements for the job" was the reply. Easy enough I thought, and a few hours later, some searching, typing, and a little pleasing layout designing, an email was sent. A week later, an invitation to visit the lovely LVMPD for two days for testing was mine to be had.

Now a two-day trip to Las Vegas prompted many a self-discussions: to drive to not to drive? Did I trust my car after sitting for six months to make the journey to Vegas and back again or did I fly. One gave more freedom and one took less out of the wallet. After talking with Em and finding out that she was still not working, that she might be able to get me a PA (production Assistant) gig on one of here reality shows, I decided that it would be better to drive. This gave me no time limits and allowed me to wander some more if opportunity arose.

With all the long trips that I've either been driving myself or sitting in on in the past year, a six hour trip to LA followed by a five hour trip to Las Vegas the following day, didn't seem too daunting. The first leg of the trip went quite smoothly with no traffic and mind-numbing views on Route 5. I arrived just in time for a hearty gourmet home cooked meal by a few friends from my old catering gig that just happened to be in town at the same time and stopped off at my sister's place to cook her, her roommate, and me a lovely dinner. Can you ask for anything better than a glass of chilled wine and gourmet food after a long drive? I can't.

The next day I accompanied my sister and two of her friends to the LACMA (LA museum of art or something like...don't know the true meaning of the acronym) to see the Magritte exhibit. Magritte was a surrealist painter that spawned a specific type of art movement with many juxtapositions. He's also one of my favorite artists. The exhibit showed his work along side some of his followers that had been influenced by one or another of his techniques. It was quite a show and I recommend anyone that likes art to go check it out if they're in the neighborhood.

LACMA just happens to be right next to the infamous La Brea Tar pits. You know the famous dinosaur oil pits that are world-renown? Being an archaeologist and curious in general I just had to stop by. Even though Em told me that I would be disappointed, I choose to be optimistic (a rarity for me as many know) and went expecting large tar pits and interesting sites paleontogically. What I got was a small burping puddle behind a fence two feet from a busy LA street. If every there was an instance that cried: "This is it?", this was it. However grand the La Brea tar pits used to be, it has been a long time since they saw their heyday. Now they really are just a sad little mud puddle on the side of the road that many people would miss if they blinked. The only thing to alert the passerby to there once state of glory is the fact that there are life-sized dinosaur replicas stuck in it in varying life representations.

The next morning to Grandmother's house we (Em tagged along due to lack of current occupation and love of a good road trip, especially to visit the grandparents) headed (via Interstate 15). We arrived just in time for dinner...perfect timing two trips in a row...I'm lucky.

We arrived at the grandparents’ house on Monday night and the first portion of a possible four-part interview process began at 9:30am on Tuesday morning. I read over the notes that I'd made about the Introduction to Forensic Science book that LVMPD requests all applicants to review, stressed out for a bit, and went to bed with what ifs and butterflies for company.

Due to confidentially rules and the such I can't really discuss the particulars about each part of the testing process. I can say though that the process is set up so that you have to pass the current part before moving on the next part. The first part of the test was for the sole purpose to weeding out those people that were form blind. I didn't even know there was such a thing as form blindness, but it does exist. The second part of the test was multiple choice and the real weeder test. It asked a series of questions pertaining to forensic science and was used to weed everyone but the top few out. Of the 63 people that started the day, there were 22 that continued on to Wednesday's exams. I scored an 88 on the multiple-choice test, which was the bare minimum that one could achieve and still gone on to the next round. Suddenly, applying for a job was starting to feel like a Math Olympic competition or something of the sort.

Breathing a sigh of relief and feel slightly happy that I didn't come all this way to be thrown out right away, I accepted my 8am start time for test three and my 2:30pm oral interview timeslot and headed back to the grandparents.

Not knowing what to expect the next morning, I arrived early and chatted with the other "finalist" as we now were. We learned that there were four immediate positions open and that those that scored the highest on all the tests would be offered positions right away and begin working within a few months. Now it became imperative for everyone to do their best on the few remaining exams.

Exam through involved a hypothetical situation and your reactions. It tested reading, writing, comprehension, and communication skills. It was my favorite part of the whole process and I enjoyed it. The oral interview was another 3-panel jury with pre-set questions. But here I didn't feel as uptight and cornered as I did in Concord. I was more relaxed and managed to make the interviewers laugh some (which I always feel is a good sign). The lady who ushered me out at the end even said "Great job." Whether she says that to everyone or not I don't know, but I left in high spirits and feeling really good about the whole day. I was so happy that I even left the building without remembering to pick up my 50-odd-page background packet that all finalist were required to start working on immediately (even though we still didn't know our placing on the eligibility list).

With testing and placement now out of my hands, I was free to spend the rest of the week carefree and enjoying a good time with the family. My grandmother even bought my sister and I tickets to La Reve, a Cirque de Soleil type performance that centers around water and a person's odd dreams. It was a wonderful show and we enjoyed it immensely.

The week came and went and we returned back to Los Angeles, where it became pretty apparent that I wouldn't be staying that long. Originally I had packed a lot of thing thinking that I might stay down south for a bit and maybe do some PA work. But the more that I talked to Em and the closer the date came to me leaving for LA, the more impractical that notion became. So we decided just to hang out and see how each day went. We went snowboarding, visited some of our relatives, went to the birthday/engagement part for one of Em's friends, and had a great time. Just as we were beginning to run out of funds, patience for each other, and relatives to visit, Em got a job. She started the next day, and I therefore, started home that same day. It worked well in the end.

Two weeks later, the letter arrived. I ranked 12th of 22. I seem to have a propensity for getting in the middle of the pile. Slightly disenchanted I flooded the net with applications in hopes of more callbacks. That was about a month and a half ago. I now have about 10 applications out there and no news. I've come to the conclusion that people in forensic science need to give letters of intent to leave at least a year in advance, because government agencies work slower than turtles walk.

Oxnard

In between waiting and watching the mail with a hawkish glare, I've been applying to archaeology positions. With still no idea which job I really prefer more, I've decided to leave it to chance and apply for positions in both occupations and then just take whichever one wants me first.

One such opportunity arose in the form of a five-day excavation in Oxnard, CA. On a last minute whim before going to dinner with a friend, I checked the usual archaeology sites and found an immediate "archaeological technicians wanted" posting. No real skills or experience were required and all that was needed to apply was a copy of your CV and a cover letter. So ten minutes of work re-arranging a few things on my form cover letter and the application was sent.

The next morning I get a call at 9am asking if I'm interested in the position even though it's only for 4-7 days. "Sure, why not?" I reply. "Okay, I'll call you back in a bit and let you know," comes the answer. 11am and the phone rings again: "We need you in Oxnard in two days, I'll send you the information, thanks for applying." is what I hear. Easiest job I've ever gotten. There was another girl that was hired from the Bay Area and we decided to carpool down. This worked out well as I didn't need to drive and the girl turned out to be great. We hit it off so well that by the time we'd made the 5-hour drive everyone thought that we'd known each other for years. It turns out that Kat, the other girl, had gone to UC San Diego and was friends with a bunch of the people that I worked in Jordan with. How weird of a conscience is that?

The dig last five days and the people on it were fantastic. I hadn't meet this many people that I totally got along with right away and felt that they really cared about what they were doing in a long time. It was nice feeling. Everyday after work we all went to dinner and hung out a bit. I hope that I'll get to work with them again in the future.

Currently, In the Bay Area

So today is a gloomy Sunday, and tomorrow appears to be the same, at least weather wise. The difference mood wise is that I start work again. Well, at least I start discussing starting work again. Pete, my old forensic boss, is being kind enough to let me come back on a temporary basis until the girl that was hired to replaced me can start working full time. So that means at least four months. Now I'm going to bring that rarely used optimism back out and go with the traditional theory that once you have something, many doors open, and hope that one or more of the 10 or so applications that I have out in the nation will get back to me with a fruitful response during my four months of employment so that I'll have some real, lasting, employment to look forward to.

And that brings you all up to date with the last few months. At least up to date at the time that I post this (who knows when anyone will actually read it, if ever). As always comments are welcome or just drop a line in my email box and let me know how your lives are going. Cau for now.