During my application process, I sent over 30 applications to a wide variety of jobs within the IT field. From travel tech jobs in Louisiana to hospital workstation service positions in Georgia. Out of all of my applications I sent in, I got two responses.
The first one I got was from UGA asking me to come for an in-person interview for the middle of May while I was still living in New Orleans till August. This job was severely below what I was asking for salary-wise and to buy plane tickets would have costed me around 700 dollars. I was also working a job that wouldn't really let me take off time if I needed it, so this job was looking less likely from every aspect. The manager Jake was understanding and really good with communicating back and forth with me about the whole process.
The other one was a MSP in Athens, GA for a Helpdesk Engineer position (Glorified Helpdesk Title) and all I got was an email.
"Thank you for sending in your resume. Please send your expected salary as well. Also are you looking to move to this area? Because we do not offer relocation assistance."
I responded with "Thank you for reaching out to about my application. My expected salary is between $45,000-$55,000. I will be moving to the area on August 1st, but I am available this coming week for anything virtual if necessary."
I never heard back. This seemed to be a common occurrence with job applications for me. Spending 10 - 30 minutes filling out an application, tailoring my resume and cover letter for every job just to get nothing in return. At this point I was thinking this was helpless for me and I was going to have to get a random job to hopefully make ends meet. The goal of starting a career in IT was looking less likely and the weight of life started to get heavier and heavier. The months kept going by and my time working as a Clinical Trials Coordinator was getting to the end very fast. I packed up my U-Haul to drive to Georgia at 8am on July 26th with no job and no interviews.
I remember so vividly stopping at a gas station an hour from Mobile, Alabama looking at my phone to see an email from none other than Jake, the Manager from UGA.
Jake emailed me an invitation for an in-person interview the following week and I drove the next 8 hours with the biggest smile on my face.
~ Ben Paquette