How to Spot a Bad Job

As someone who is very recently familiar with working at a terrible place for a terrible person, I have been much more diligent about trying to spot 'TERRIBLE JOBS' by closely reading job descriptions. I recently saw this posting in one of the groups I am a member of on LinkedIn:

SIGNON BONUSES OFFERED!!! $7,000EMPLOYEEREFERRALBONUS!!! FREE 42 INCH HDTV FOR THE FIRST FIVE QUALIFIEDHIRES!!!

Now, the first clue is the endless litany of capital letters. Another hint would be the lack of spaces. We could perhaps attempt to attribute that to the formatting of LinkedIn postings, but it certainly speaks to a lack of detail orientation. Finally, we look past appearances to the meat of the content.

1) Signon bonuses offered

2) $7,000 employee referral bonus

3) Free TV for the first five hires???

This screams a few things to me. One, someone promised the government that some work could get done before having any sort of cohesive plan to staff this project. Two, in this economy if you have to pay a signing bonus and you aren't Google or Apple or Amazon, then your job must really be unattractive. Three, wow, a new TV? Really? Does this company just have some TVs laying around that they want to give away? If so why? Does this not reek of used car salesmanship?

Anyone who responded to this job ad must really not care where they work. If this project is so haphazardly put together that they are throwing money and TVs at the first five people to show up to work, how crazy do you think it will be when you get there! Too crazy, I should think, to have much time left in the evenings to watch your fave program on that big screen tv. Good luck filling those positions.

Here We Go

Well, in continuing with my bad blogging, I haven't written much lately. I'm back. Our stuff is in the POD, and it's sitting somewhere in a (hopefully) safe place, waiting to make its journey to Denver. Now we are living with Jena's parents, waiting to make our journey! Coming from someone who could possibly be Arlington, VA's biggest proponent, I can't believe I am leaving the area. I loved growing up here. I loved the diversity, the green spaces, the seasons, and the people that I grew up with. This is the only place I have ever been - the only place I have ever called home.

That's all changing. We are going to Denver, CO, to get away from the East Coast hustle and bustle, to avoid weekend traffic jams, to hike around in the mountains, to be tourists every weekend, and to get a fresh start. It's sad to leave all my friends who remain here in DC, but I trust that they will be visiting our new digs.

Moving is stressful. There are a lot of moving parts to orchestrate, not least of which is actually selling your house. Especially in this market, you have to try to deal with timing a sale of your house with the ability to find a job and a new place to stay at your destination. Once you have actually sold the house, you get new responsibilities, like inventorying your stuff, sorting, packing, closing out accounts, updating addresses, dealing with home inspections, performing repairs, signing papers, etc. Then you have to take all your stuff and fit it in a truck. It's a lot of work. There is a reason that moving falls under 'most stressful life events'. I am a pretty laid back dude, and must admit that I have actually lost sleep over this stuff.

Anyway, a trip last week to Colorado fixed all that. I got a new job out in Denver and found a great new house to rent. Things are looking up. I start working from here next week, the lease is signed, and things are definitely coming together. 30 days from today, Jena and I are going to get in the car and start a crazy journey. I can't wait. Well, I can't wait to do all the stuff that happens after we unpack =).