more success stories

by Alison Green on May 1, 2020

Here are some more accounts of people finding success even in this weird time.

1. I’ve written in a couple of times with contractor-in-California questions. I just wanted to let you know that I have, finally, FINALLY been made permanent at the company I’ve been contracting for all this time. *happy dance*

I am over the moon and so happy to be starting a “new” job with 100% certainty that I will love my team, adore my manager, and understand my duties.

I am super grateful to you and to the commentariat for being such a great resource all this time. I absolutely would not have made it this far without the great help and advice I’ve gotten here.

2. You were asking for good news posts so I figured I’d share with you some good things that are coming out of this for my job. I work in a small allergy/dermatology outpatient clinic that’s part of a larger hospital system so we are essential and my coworkers and I are at work every day. We’ve had to majorly adapt to a new way of doing things. For starters, we used to have two dermatologists that both see patients at the location I’m in and they also both saw patients in alternate locations as well. Since the pandemic started, one of our doctors stayed at his alternate location and the other stayed at our location. We’ve always been a tight knit team but now we’re even closer with the doctor who has been at our location every day. He’s really opening up with us and it’s been great! We’ve also organized a couple Waffle Wednesdays in clinic where I bring my waffle iron and some mix and everyone else brings some toppings to share and we make waffles for everyone since we have some spare time now. It’s been a really good morale boost for everyone. Now the team is closer than ever and we all show each other just a little bit more appreciation since we’ve had to figure out what works for our doctors and our patients.

3. You asked for good news, and I have some! Due to the very good advice I have seen on your blog, I revamped my resume when I applied for a job earlier this year. I didn’t get that one, which was okay, but then a government position I am qualified for opened up in my office (I’m a contractor, and LOVE the office I work in). This was basically the ideal position for me to slide into being an government employee, and I was able to submit my application right away because my resume was already prepped. They capped it at 50 applications, so quick action was crucial. Then, I waited, as you do, especially with government jobs.

I got a call last week offering me the position! It’ll be a bit before I start because they have to do the background check, and I have no idea what work will look like, as our building is mostly closed, with everyone working from home. But I’ve been assured that they’re still onboarding new employees virtually, so hopefully before summer is over I will have my next-step-to-the-dream-job-job!

Thanks for all the sage and calm advice! Reading your website has driven home how functional and non-toxic of a work environment I have, so I feel extra lucky that I get to stay here.

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{ 16 comments }

{ 16 comments… read them below }

  3. Elizabeth West*

    Congratulations, y’all!
    ****\0/ ****

    (the asterisks are confetti, lol)

  4. Just Jess*

    “They capped it at 50 applications…” Can we talk about this? I’ve seen caps closer to 200 – 250 before and 50 seems really low.

    More importantly, congratulations on having a great resume ready to go and getting a good job that fits you!

    1. Happy Government Worker*

      Yes, that’s surprisingly low.
      My government job didn’t cap resumes, but instead added a questionnaire and then an exam to weed out people prior to interviews.
      Sure, I had to carefully fill out the questionnaire to ensure I used to the correct key words to screen in. If the questionnaire is requesting “llama grooming experience” and you have it then write “llama grooming experience”… don’t say “brushing the coats of mammals”. And I had to study hard for the exam.
      But I think that’s more fair than having to be online at the exact right time to get my resume in before it’s capped.

    2. Shoebox*

      I’m LW#3 – thanks for the congrats! I’m super excited.

      As for the 50 applications cap, I think I’ve only seen that on gov’t jobs that are open to “All U.S. Citizens.” I agree it seems low, but I guess it’s so the hiring people don’t get totally inundated with applications and can actually find a good person for the role? I don’t know – government hiring is confusing in general to me.

    3. Mid*

      I’ve seen it fairly often. It’s very common in local and state gov postings. But I also see it with more of the entry level posts with only one opening but broad criteria.

    4. Uranus Wars*

      I wonder if it has something to do with the pandemic and bandwidth for people to process applications, etc. Not sure if it was posted pre- or post- HOWEVER I agree this is great news from the OP!

    5. foolofgrace*

      I’m surprised that employers cap applications. I’ve never heard of this. How discouraging. You could spend a lot of time refining your resume and cover letter for key words, etc. that relate to the open position, and it’s a big waste of time. But there’s no way to know when an employer uses cap limits.

  5. Kimmy Schmidt*

    These success stories are becoming the highlight of my week. Congrats all!

  6. Creamsiclecati*

    I’d like to institute Waffle Wednesday where I work when this is over.

    1. AllerDerm*

      I’m Op #2 and I highly recommend it! Even our doctor who rarely eats sweets is super into the waffles.

      1. Mel*

        If waffles seem like too much work for some people reading this, I suggest popcorn Wednesday as an alternative. An office where I used to work had Popcorn Wednesday and it was great for a larger team that had lots of dietary restrictions.

  7. College Career Counselor*

    sounds great. And in addition to Waffle Wednesday, I’d like to humbly suggest Falafel Friday!

  8. Happy Government Worker*

    Congrats to everyone! I too am a happy new government worker, so I totally feel OP#3.

  9. Jdc*

    Back when I worked in healthcare we had pharmaceutical reps in all the time. Standard catered lunch. The one who always did the best and every doctor listened to did waffles. He brought in his waffle iron, OJ, berries and cooked and talked to the docs. One, they are swamped by lunch, not at breakfast before patients. Two, he probably spent 1/4 of what other reps did on his food budget but engaged everyone and had their attention. Truly one of the best ideas I’ve ever seen.

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