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I graduated from my university in December of 2002. Degree in Computer Science. Worked long nights and attended morning classes for 7 long years to finish my BS, attending school part time and driving an hour to and from school. GPA was... bad, but that was more due to a lack of sleep than a lack of intelligence, and I've got the letters from my professors to back that up. Not to mention that I outscored my profs in the CS part of a GRE type test that we were required to take to graduate and scored top in the entire college of arts and sciences on a graduate aptitude exam.
Spent 8 months looking for work in Dallas with no luck whatsoever, not a single interview, and I gave up and became a headhunter for a year. I hated that job with a freaking passion. Made alright money, but there's just something about asking people for references and turning them into sales pitches that doesn't feel right to me. I hate lying to people.
I left the company when I had a similar job in hand as a better opportunity, only to have the rug pulled out from under me right after I resigned the other position. I was forced to move back home, and I've been looking for gainful employment in something computer related ever since. 10 months hasn't yielded anything fruitful, so I took some civil service tests.
First test I took in April of 2003, but I got them renewed. Scored a 93 on the Professional Entry Test, which essentially means I missed 2 questions on the test. Yeah, I'm one of those high aptitude guys. Didn't get me anywhere. Not even a call for any of the positions I really wanted.
So, I went on Friday to take the clerical exams. Got my typing score back immediately. 88 words per minute. 1 error in 5 minutes. I was in a room full of women and they looked at my score funny when I finished typing. Like babes are the only people who can type fast!?! Also took these wierd behavioral and customer service tests, and then sections on spelling and reading comprehension. I probably didn't miss a single question on spelling or reading, but I'm not so sure on the customer service part.
Behavioral exams are always annoying, because you can tell the truth and be disqualified. A buddy of mine comes from a great Christian family and has never taken a thing in his life from anyone, and he was flat out disqualified because a question on one test asked him if he had ever stolen anything from work and asked to bubble in the dollar amount. He bubbled none. Bastids.
So, anyway, I don't necessarily see Civil Service or clerical as beneath me, because they have great benefits, but I'm just frustrated that I'm having to go this route. I didn't bust my ass and lose my social life for 7 years to end up taking phone calls and getting coffee, but at this point, I've been so depressed over this that I've let most of my marketable skills wither, but I'm starting to get back into the swing of things. I was a better programmer than 95% of my classmates, and I'm the only one who hasn't found a job in the field yet. I'm just hoping that once I get in the system, I'll be able to move into technology and then move my way up. The State pays great money to programmers because they usually can't keep them, but ain't nothing bad about a state retirement at what the state is willing to pay. Beats not having a pension.
Ugh.
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