Job Interviewing 101

I recently had a job interview where I thought I rocked it.  I’ve also had other interviews where I thought I rocked it so I know I can’t read too much into it and rely on my gut.  My gut is not very good at interviewing.  Sometimes I unfortunately listen to what my gut tells me and I am soon doing or saying something stupid.

I normally prepare like crazy for an interview and probably over prepare by some standards.  But then I really start to think about other things I should do to “improve” the interview.  Usually the improvement tends more of a big mistake.

I’ve complied a list of examples.  These truly did happen to me but thankfully not all on one interview.  Please learn from my mistakes.

1.   New shoes can always be tricky for an interview.  Walking around on carpet in your home doesn’t constitute “breaking them in” especially if you already have blisters on your heel from earlier in the week.  My idea was to tape my blisters and cover that with moleskin as long as it doesn’t show.

What I didn’t expect during the interview was all the freaking walking that we did in 90 degree heat.  My neatly placed blister covers started to slide and rub.  Not that I am graceful in heels on a good day but with each step I was feeling more of my skin rip away from my heel. 

I did have a couple of extra band aids and decided to do some doctoring in the restroom.  I only had 1.5 hours left so I figured I was good.  I should not have done this and instead walked through the pain.  By the end of the interview I was walking with a limp and fighting back the urge to yell out in pain.

Heel pads worked wonders with the shoes, wish I would have known about this BEFORE the interview.

2.   The job fair.  I have now determined that job fairs are lame.  You really have to know what companies are hiring ahead of time and kind of know the positions they are posting.  I went to two job fairs where most of the companies were NOT hiring.  I don’t get this.  Why waste the time?  So I asked.  One company told me that it is a chance for them to get their name out there and they hoped to have a position opening in six months.  This was a big company.  Their name was already out there and they were giving away crap like people at a convention. 

I’m not saying don’t go to a job fair, but I’m not saying go to a job fair either.

3.   You want to look your best for an interview.  If you have bangs and you get the urge to “trim” your bangs the night before an interview, don’t do it.  My bangs were actually just fine but I thought just a tiny trim couldn’t hurt.  What I didn’t think about was my lack of eye-hand coordination.  I looked down at the sink after my first cut and noticed varied lengths of trimmed hair.  Hmm.  At that point, I decided that maybe I should wet my hair down.  I finished the process with several tiny cuts and at the end regretted it all.  Should have made an appointment.

4.   I have been to some interviews that actually take you out to lunch or dinner to see how you will react in a social setting.  For the most part I do well during this portion.  I know which fork to use and I know not to order alcohol (although there were times where I felt this would have benefitted the conversation).  The lesson I stress here is: know your audience. 

After a full morning of interviewing and touring they invited me to lunch.  There were a couple of people I had met earlier and a couple of new people.  They asked the typical questions and I gave the rehearsed answers.  During a lunch I was asked about working in Las Vegas.  Being funny and sarcastic, I answered, “It’s not like I was on the pole.”  I thought this was hilarious and only one other guy thought so too.  Next time I have an interview with highly conservative TX males, I will not mention the pole.

5.   Leave early if you are prone to getting lost.  Also, don’t always believe your Garmin.  I’m not great with directions, but I MapQuest where I am supposed to go and also take a look at the street view.  The street view has only been 40% successful for me.  At one point I knew I probably was not interviewing at a crack house.  The point is, cover your bases.

I’m not late because I usually leave 30 minutes before I should.  I leave earlier if I think I will run into any traffic.  Also, it gives me some time to relax or distress before the interview process.  It also gives to cushion incase they “accidentally” give you the wrong directions.  Pretty sure they do this to see how you act under pressure it also gives them a nice way to start off the interview.

6.   The last helpful point I will give you is how you dress.  Make sure you actually try on your suit the night before (or earlier) to make sure everything looks right and it still fits.  If you find out that the “dry cleaner” has mysteriously shrunk your pants you have to come up with a plan.  If you are at home and you have another suit – bonus, just wear the other suit. 

If you have gained a bit of weight and your other suits are too small, you need a plan of action.  You could lightly wet the pants and try to stretch out the material as much as you can.  You could also put them on and try to stretch them out.  Make sure to wear your spanx if you have some!

Let’s go through another clothes scenario.  Say you are in a hotel room and you get dressed and decide the shell that goes under your jacket is a bit tight.  The obviously solution is to stretch it out a bit on the sides.  I caution you here.  Be very careful where you stretch.  You might accidentally rip a seam.  At home, no biggie, pick out a new shirt.  In a hotel room, your options are limited.  You need to MacGyver the shirt somehow. 

Here is the solution I came up with:  remember the moleskin and tape I used for my blisters?  I just cut some pieces and very carefully place them on the inside seam of the shirt.  Worked like a charm.  Wasn’t exactly comfortable, but my heels hurt so bad that day that an itchy piece of tape poking into my side was the least of my worries.

I now pack at least two different shirts in case this should happen again…

Can You Hear Me Now?

Apparently, May is not my month for customer service.  A while ago I was having issues with my home DSL service.  I called and after several days and rude people, I got extremely frustrated and cancelled my account all together.  I probably should list the name of the company, but to be nice I will just tell you it rhymes with “Berizon.”

I do not have cable and do not want to pay for it but the “cable” services required the bundled packages.  All I wanted was the Internet service, this was actually proving to be much more difficult than I thought it would be.  Also thrown into the mix is my location.  I live in an older complex and this also limits certain companies due to dated lines, etc. 

As I continued to search, I started realizing why I had to switch to Ver--, I mean, Berizon when I moved here.  SUCK.  Basically, it came to either me getting cable service or going back to Berizon.  I seriously contemplated paying way more money for cable so I wouldn’t have to go back.

So, by the time I bit the bullet and called to reconnect my service, it was too late.  I had to start all over.  I don’t have a landline but apparently now, a week later, I needed to have one.  So they assigned me a phone number and after 45 minutes I finally signed-up (again) to be a reluctant Berizon customer. 

On Thursday morning I woke up and hooked up everything that they sent me in the mail.  Never mind the fact that I still had the same equipment but if you want to send me more because you can’t figure out a way to save money, be my guest.  Anyway, everything hooked up but no DSL or Internet light.  No biggie, the little booklet did mention it could take until 4pm or so.

By 6pm, I was calling Berizon to figure out what the deal was.  At least by 6, I saw a DSL light but I did not see an Internet light.

I think Berizon doesn’t quite get the full meaning of Customer Service.  I’m actually pretty sure I could have gotten just as far with a kindergartener.  I get they probably have a script they go through but if you are not actually understanding what you are giving technical support for you may as well tell me how to make toast.  Ask the question you need to ask, but if I tell you I have already done those steps, don’t waste the time to make me do it again.  Not cool.

After a long and painful conversation, the representative said it sounded like a line needed to be reset somewhere on their end.  When asking how long this would take I was told it could take from 24- 72 hours. 

After 72 hours, I called again and explained the entire story and asked if the line had been reset because I haven’t heard anything and the light on the modem box was still dark.  She said she would talk with someone and call me back.  She called back, left a message that a technician needed to come to my house and made the appointment for Tuesday morning, as the Monday deadline had passed. 

By Tuesday afternoon I knew something was up.  I called and asked where the technician was because taking off a day of work to have a no-show was not good.  The woman on the other end said, “A technician?  No, they aren’t ready for a tech to come to your place.”

This is where I started to unravel.  I will be honest and tell you that it does take a lot to make me lose it.  I’ve worked with 28 kindergarteners in the same room for days…I have a high tolerance. 

I calmly asked the service representative if they weren’t ready then why would someone make an appointment for me on Tuesday morning?  She verbally shrugged this question off and said they would call me back with a time.  Meanwhile, I called my mom to vent.  She told me to call back and ask for the supervisor.  So I did.

The problem with calling and asking for a supervisor with Berizon is they apparently like to protect each other.  At this point, I started to take notes on everything.  I used the names they told me, but I doubt those were real.

Tuesday (You know this isn’t good when I start with the day):

2:45:  Anna wouldn’t give me to a supervisor.  Put me on hold to contact a different department. 

2:47:  Came back on and said she did contact a supervisor and still waiting for the maintenance department.  Put on hold again.

3:01:   Anna came back and told me she didn’t want to keep me on hold but would call me back in 20 minutes.

3:15:  Anna called and said I needed to have someone come out to my house.  (REALLY?  REALLY??)  I asked her again for a supervisor.  She put me on hold.

3:34:  Anna came back on the line and told me a supervisor would call me back as will someone from the maintenance department.

3:45:  Tracy (supposed supervisor) called from dispatch at the central office and told me I had an appointment for tomorrow morning for a tech to come to my house.  I explained that no one asked me if that time worked for me and this would be the second day I am not at work but waiting on Ver—Berizon.  (Never offered any credit, etc.  Had an “oh well” attitude).  I explained to her that I did not want the appointment unless they HAD to go inside my house.

Wednesday:

8 -12:  Time passed with no phone call or technician.

1:35:  Called and spoke to Fred.  Asked to speak with Tracy.  Wouldn’t give the call over but instead had me go through the entire story about the appointments.   He put me on hold to look up all the information.  He also was looking up information on the person I talked with yesterday as well as the field technician.  (As this was happening, a random number beeped in but I did not answer it). 

1:45:  According to Fred, Tracy is not a supervisor she just makes sure the process gets finished.  Still explained I wanted to talk with her so she can hear the rest of what was going on and document it.  Fred also mentioned that the tech called me and I did not answer the phone.

Here is where I lost it.  I became a bit on the loud side and said, “You mean the call that just beeped in as I am talking to you??  That is the ONLY call I missed and if that was your guy he called and it is almost 2:00 PM, not during the hours of 8 -12 and unless the dude is driving from Dallas, this is unacceptable.”

Fred, obviously trained in the art of calm and meditation, says “the technician said he is on his way now.”

Still in my heightened freak-out mode, I say, “I need to get off this phone.  I do not even have any words to express how pissed I am right now.  This is hands down, the worst customer service I have gotten.  Tracy NEEDS and should call me back!”

Fred, "Thank you for calling Berizon, have a nice day."

At this point I needed one of those old school phones that I could slam down and hurt his ear so he could actually understand in his comatose state how frustrated I was.  Instead I just had to sweetly beep him off with my cell phone.

Still coming down from my anger high, I look over at my modem and see a red DSL light blinking.  Ok, the tech was there.  Eventually the red light turns green, as does the Internet light.

Next I get a knock at the door.  Bryon, the tech, is outside and asks if he can come in and look at my modem.  I told him I expected him this morning.  He said he did try calling but there was no answer.  I whipped open my phone and showed him the random beep-in number and asked if this was him.  He said it was and I reminded him that he just called and, again, it was not the morning call I would have expected. 

I let him in and he looks at the modem and says in a cocky attitude, “Well all the lights are on so the Internet must be working.”  I told him I knew he was here because I saw the lights blinking and then go green.  I also told him how the customer service people gave me a run-around.  You know what he told me?

“The customer service with Verizon is horrible…”

Agreed.  I’m still waiting for Tracy to call me so I can tell her the same thing…

Is Too Much TV a Bad Thing?

This blog is going to be a two-parter.  The second part is going to get a tad more technical and nerdy.  Just giving you fair warning so you don’t get confused and think you are reading something from geek.com.

About three and a half years ago I bought a sweet, flat screen, LED 40” TV.  I was debating between a Sony and a Samsung, and went with the latter because Best Buy was having a deal.  The new TV was awesome and the dinosaur TV it replaced was given away.  After 15 years of service, it was time to move forward.

About three weeks ago I turned on this “new” TV and I heard a loud static sound and the TV began to power on and off, making this noise.  The remote was of no use and I had to unplug the TV from the wall.  I waited a bit and plugged the TV back in and it immediately came on with the same loud static noise, a blank screen and trying to power itself on and off.

I unplugged the TV again.  This is not the time in my life where I want to run out and buy a replacement TV especially when this one wasn’t that old. 

I went online and did some research.  To my surprise there were many, MANY complaints about this problem with not only my model but similar models as well.  There were blog posts and YouTube videos explaining the symptoms and what various people did to fix the issue.

There were a couple of things going on.  About 80% (I actually have no idea the true percentage but this seems plausible) of the people were able to easily fix their TVs by replacing the capacitors that had blown or failed.  The other 20% had to replace the main board.  OK, so if you take off the back of your TV there are two boards back there.  One is a board holds all the power stuff and capacitors and the other one is called the main board.  For the technically challenged that have this TV, the main board is green.

One YouTube video was informative and he stated that he called Samsung about the issue and they ended up sending a shady technician out to fix it.  The technician replaced the capacitors but the issue was discovered to be the main board.  He got that replaced by Geek Squad and called Samsung back and complained.  As it turned out there was (note the past tense) a class action lawsuit against Samsung for the issues.  It is a long document and if you really want to read it, go here first, this is the short letter.

This settlement was for TVs made before 2008 , but yet my TV (made after that date) had the same symptoms.  I called Samsung myself and asked if I too would be reimbursed for fixing what appears to be the same issue as all these others.  The short answer was no, but they would send a tech guy out so he could look at it and I could pay for it.  Um, thanks but no thanks and totally appreciate the fact that you stand behind your product (sarcasm).

One of the web sites I found had great pictures and detailed directions on how to replace the capacitors so I decided I was going to do this myself.  I have a technical background and I thought, “Surely I can teach myself how to solder.”  My reasoning was--people that make jewelry solder, so I could probably figure this out.  Plus I have always wanted to learn out to make my own jewelry so I was thinking I was killing two birds with one stone.  This is funny for multiple reasons, but more-so because I always wear the same, almost none, jewelry everday.

Following the site directions, the first step is to take the back of the TV off.  This is done by taking all the screws out.  Easier said than done.  There are some sneaky screws.  I also discovered that the only screwdriver I had was too short to reach a couple of the screws.  I normally don’t use tools and only have one of those cute, soft sided tool kits that people would give a college kid who was moving out.  After a bonus trip to Target, I came back and finished what I thought was all of the screws.

I spent a long time trying to encourage the back of the TV to come off.  I finally had to call someone to come over after work and help pull this thing off.  It was bothering me that this stupid TV back was not budging.  I began to inspect the TV a bit closer after I had laid it down.  Right in plain sight was the screw that I never saw.  I was able to unscrew that and take the back off no problem.  I guess I didn’t really need to unscrew the stand but a couple more screws to add to the pile never hurt anyone. 

After seeing how dusty things were in there I made myself a mental note do try and remember to dust the TV a bit more often than I actually dust my house.  When you open the back of your TV there are two large boards and wires going to the boards.  I saw the capacitors the dude on the site mentioned but my capacitors did not really look enlarged or bloated. 

I also saw where I would have to solder.  There was no freaking way that was going to happen.  It’s not like I can pop the capacitor out like a battery and then pop it back and solder it in place.  At this point I was aware of my limitations.  This doesn’t happen often but the though of being burned or electrocuted heighted my senses.  I decided to call around and ask some people who may have done some electronics work in the past. 

Bill was a good source because he knows more crap than I could even imagine.  He said he didn’t feel comfortable working on the TV but would lend me his soldering iron.  Since I had decided I could not so this myself the quest continued.  I called Lisa to check if her dad had any names of a repair service and she said that he fixes his own TVs.  Bonus.  I called him and he said he wouldn’t guarantee anything but felt like he would look at it to see.  This was good news!

The next step was another lesson learned.  I had no idea where to go to buy replacement capacitors.  I went to Fry’s but they didn’t have the right sizes.  I asked around and two people confirmed that this local electronics store was the best.  I got there right when they opened and asked them if they had the capacitors I was looking for.  Here is the crazy thing.  The guy asked me if it was for a TV, then he asked if I had a Samsung.  Seriously?  How common is this issue?  Samsung, get your act together.  At any rate, the dudes at EPO were extremely helpful and got me the items I needed.  They also mentioned they will do the soldering for $5 per item.  I called Lisa’s dad and he said to let them do it especially since they have experience.

I went back home to remove the circuit board containing the capacitors.  A friend’s husband told me to be really careful with the capacitors because they still could have a charge.  Still trying to figure out if he was just messing with me because no one else that handled the board seemed to care and were pulling the capacitors out with bare hands.  But, just incase I never actually touched them.  Safety first, right Kristen?

When I brought the board back to the electronics place, the guy noted that none of the capacitors looked bad, but to be thorough, he said we could replace all the capacitors but only charged me for two installs.  Thank you, Santos.  UNFORTUNATELY, I took the board home, hooked everything back up and the TV still doesn’t work.  It doesn’t power on and off anymore, so that is a bonus but it still won’t turn off. 

The next step is ordering a main board online.  Too bad all the sites I looked at do not have this particular main board in stock.  Must be a popular part to replace.  I am now on the wait list and a new owner of a smaller, on-sale TV from Sams.  No, it is not a Samsung…

PART TWO --- The Semi-Technical

So you, like me, discovered that your Samsung TV (LN40A550P3FXZA) began powering itself on and off.  Maybe you also heard a loud static noise.  Loud, like “oh my God” I need to unplug this loud before my neighbors come over.

This is kind of a step by step for the clueless.

1   Do your research.  Know what you are getting into.  There is tons of information out there.  If your   TV is under warranty, go that route.  Stop reading this and call Samsung.

2   If you got to this point, you are committed to doing this on your own, I applaud you and hope this     helps.  You now need to take off the back panel of your TV to check out the capacitors.  Do not lose the screws, you will need them later.

      

  Before the screws are taken out, lay on a flat surface.  Please ignore the un-vacuumed carpet...

      

  Those tiny dots are screws.  They are close to where they should be on the back of the TV.  There are 18 screws on the back, four on the base.

  

3   Now that you have the back of the TV off, look at the capacitors.  They are on the top right hand side of the board.  If they look puffy or bloated, you need to get them replaced.  NOTE:  Remember, my capacitors looked good, but you can search online for what bloated ones look like.  Even if your capacitors look good, it might be worth the $12 (including soldering) to have them replaced.

      

     Top and side view.  The side view shows the capacitors a bit better.  The black capacitors are the ones I got replaced (even though they looked ok).

 4.     Very carefully, disconnect the wires from the circuit board housing the    capacitors.  You must be patient and gentle.  I know plenty of people that would not make it past this point.  I cannot stress enough being gentle.  I worked some of the connections by gently squeezing the top part and “rocking” it out of its hold.  I can see if you have big, giant dude hands that this might be more difficult.

5.     Now you need to unscrew the board from your TV.  Again, keep track of your screws.  Once you have your board off you should probably remind yourself to find a local electronics store because someone needs to replace and solder on the capacitors.  If you live in Houston, I can hook you up, if not, don’t get screwed over.  Also, Santos told me the boards come from Samsung with cold soldering done.  Apparently, this is important because, if you are trying to do this yourself, you might fry the board.

 

     Here is Santos working on the board to replace the additional capacitors.  Impressive, right?

   


6.     After your new capacitors are installed, screw the board back in, connect everything back and do a quick dusting.   Replace the back of the TV and try turning it on.  Bonus if everything is fine.  If it is    still FU, like mine you need to order a board.  Go to shopjimmy.com and put in your main board’s part number (mine was BN96-08992B).  Hopefully, they have a part in stock.  If they don't you may want to invest in a smaller TV....