Jobs out of thin air

I spent this past weekend at my alma mater in Florida for a fraternity alumni reunion that I attend each year. It was refreshing to be with a group of people that get the whole Taiwan thing. The group is very geographically diverse as most people are not originally from Florida (some not from the U.S.) and typically scatter about the country after graduation. Many are in tech based job markets too and have moved to follow the shifts in market location. This group is unlike my typical coworkers who have grown up in CT and spent their entire lives in that area. So in FL I didn't get the "What the hell are you thinking?" attitude but more genuine curiosity and interest about what I was looking to do. It made it much more enjoyable to discuss.

Meanwhile Shirley went up to Boston to subvert the job fair and get a personal interview with the super of a school in Taiwan, interviewing for a math position which doesn't exist as the school is fully staffed. To make a long story short, it sounds like the interview went very well and the powers that be are scrambling to create a job for her where one does not exist because she has significant credentials that they can't resist locking up. In my post No soup for you! I ranted about skipping HR and just starting at the top when looking for a job. In this edition, the lesson learned is, don't be afraid to apply for a job that does not exist. As it looks, Shirley and I will both be employed into such situations.

When I started with the Taiwan boss, there wasn't a vacancy that fit my skills but he was quick to say that these were skills that he needed but when they wrote the job descriptions, they didn't have the luxury of knowing who/what was available. So after the interview process started and a few jobs were floated by me that were not what I was looking for, I just patiently waited until they found a way to work me into the mix in a way that was satisfactory to me. I think Shirley is headed down the same path.