HIRED LEARNING: Bob Cmil Lands with the Support of PSGCNJ "Cheerleaders"

By Stephanie Jones

After a 14 month search, Bob Cmil, a former member of PSGCNJ’s Technology Committee, landed as the new Data Center Operator for EMCOR, a large company involved in building, designing and managing facilities of all types: “I monitor the environments at a Princeton client’s data centers and branch offices in North and South America, on 13 hour shifts, three days a week.”
Bob found the position on a job board in April. He interviewed for it in May but wasn’t hired. Bob was called back when someone else quit. He interviewed in New York with two managers, one of whom became his direct report. “A few days later, I had a phone interview with the client’s account manager. The client is very hands on in the management of this account since we are based in their building. Two drug tests, background checks, the works, and I was on the job in just over a week. Why? They were short a man, and the other two guys were being worked to death! Of course, I found all this out after I said yes to the offer. I did get them to raise the original salary offer before I accepted.”
What made the difference in landing the job, according to Bob, was “Luck; timing; interview skills; confidence in my abilities; confidence that I had talents that went beyond the job requirements and asking how I could make use of them. They loved that.”
PSGCNJ helped Bob’s search “in many, many ways: The high-quality presenters, the constant ‘cheerleading’ (especially when your friends and family act like your being out of work is the normal state of things), the camaraderie, and the fact that I had some place to go on Monday mornings. PSGCNJ is the polar opposite of ‘misery loves company.’ I am so glad that it is continuing, even without the blessing of the state.”
The most important way PSGCNJ helped Bob’s search was learning better ways to approach the job search: “Focus; my approach for a while was the old shot-gun style—hit the APPLY button on hundreds of jobs and see what hit. Ironically, I feel I was really getting into the ‘zone’ at the time I got this job. During the week I was interviewing and negotiating, I got nibbles on four other jobs. They didn’t pan out, but my confidence got a huge boost.”
Bob’s advice to job-seekers: “Network and use contacts—I got a contact at a recruiting firm from my dentist’s assistant! Use LinkedIn. Dig deeper into companies and try to identify hiring managers. Focus your search by first identifying the companies you would really like to work for. Keep your documentation clean, clear, and available at a moment’s notice. If appropriate for your field, study, read, research. Take those classes, read those manuals and books. I had a recruiter ask me what I was doing for the last year. His attitude told me that he thought that I should have been studying for 20 technology certificates or going for my Ph.D.  Be sure you can tell the employer that you have been reading, researching, practicing whatever it is you do. Make it up if you have to! LOL! Just be prepared for this question.”