Job Fair

The high for today was predicted at 22, but when the sun came up it got
all the way to 31.4. That's a pretty big miss on the forecasting
front. It felt like an oven today in jeans and a t-shirt, but at least
the wind is still blowing cool air. The weather will soon devolve into
warm winds with hot weather, and then in the dead of summer become hot
weather with no wind at all. I'm not looking forward to that.

I hit the job fair on tuesday. It was a good overall experience. You
know how you sometimes when you're driving in the car singing along to a
song you get the feeling that everyone is staring at you even though you
know deep down that no one cares? Well I had that feeling at the job
fair, and it was because everyone was actually staring at me. I
wandered through a bunch of chemical companies and other companies that
were guaranteed to not have any opportunities, and out of nowhere heard
and English commercial being played. Turns out Best Buy China had
somehow been stuck in between two petroleum companies. They just
happened to be in the neighborhood for a translator, and I went ahead
and signed up. They were looking to recruit a Chinese person, so I
don't expect much feedback, but I'll be sure to follow up regardless.
You never know. The best part was that I had to decide what my salary
should be. I calculated how much I was making now, added a bit, and
then wrote that number down. The guy checking my application stopped at
the salary part, and asked me if the figure I had written was what I
wanted monthly or yearly. I said yearly, a bit shocked, and he shrugged
and kept looking. At that moment I felt very stupid - I felt definitely
should have written a bigger number down. I also got a few applications
in to other companies, though they were all applications and resumes
given to some recruiter with a promise to take it to the right
interested party. I was a 'special situation' (as each person reminded
me as I talked with them), and they would have to pass my resume along
to the right individual. All in all it was a good experience to go to
my first Chinese job fair, I'll definitely be better prepared for the
next one.

Next week: Easter preparation begins!