NewBlood's journal

[comandante]

2024 update 21/52
I have been studying a lot, several hours a day of reading everything on their website, their most recent papers and learning about ML. I think there is a small, but non-zero, chance I can get to the next stage, but the next stage is a technical assessment, which I doubt I can pass...

You never know. They might be screening for effort and willingness to learn.

It’s about time I get on the ML bandwagon, I guess, it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.

I also think that. I remember studying NN, Genetic algorithms and Swarm optimization heuristics in college. Even then it was exciting. I have no recommendations. Only interest in what you find.

Sorry about your friend's mom.

[delay]

Thanks for your journal update. Condoleances for your friend's mom. That sounds like a lengthy interview process you're going through. I wonder if it's worth the hassle and time investment. My "technical assessments" felt like cruel jokes when I did them, although I reclassified them as enterprise comedy later on.

Good luck with the interviews!

[guitarplayer]

I also learned about SEVAS International which seems like a very ERE-friendly way to travel. Has anyone tried it before?

Not this, but having had a quick look, it reminds me of Service Civil International. Though they do more WWOOF like project, or a bit of a structured workaway type initiatives. One has to pay some money to cover insurance and contribute to food, but not much from what I remember. Still, it can be a formative experience and a stepping stone to other adventures. If you get involved to be a leader of a project you don't pay. I participated in a few projects around Europe and ran two projects as well, great fun!

[NewBlood]

You never know. They might be screening for effort and willingness to learn.

Maybe. It's a manager position, so not sure how much actual coding is expected vs understanding/evaluating workflows and algos...
None of my managers have ever been able to evaluate my coding, but they knew enough to ask good questions. Hoping for that. But not sure how you do a technical assessment of that. I've never had a proper job interview, so I'm flying in the dark.

[NewBlood]

Thanks for your journal update. Condoleances for your friend's mom. That sounds like a lengthy interview process you're going through. I wonder if it's worth the hassle and time investment. My "technical assessments" felt like cruel jokes when I did them, although I reclassified them as enterprise comedy later on.

Good luck with the interviews!

Thanks delay! Yeah, when I was part of hiring committees at my old job, we only ever did the one interview, but I guess "tech" is special. Even though it's a non-profit, they come from the tech world, and there are 4 steps in the process. I figure it's good practice, because, either way, I'm going to need a job. I hope I can get to the point where I can reclassify it as comedy instead of hitting my head against a wall.

[NewBlood]

Not this, but having had a quick look, it reminds me of Service Civil International.

Thanks for sharing guitarplayer! This is a gold mine for post work life traveling! So many cool projects in places I'd love to visit. I saw one for restoration work in an old village in Italy where the cooking is done by some of the villagers with help from the volunteers. Could double up as Italian cooking classes! Yum.

[NewBlood]

2024 update 22/52

Last week in Town 2 for now, back at my parents’ for a month or so. A bit anxious about too much family time, but they’ll be gone for part of the month while I take care of their dogs, so should be fine.

I had a talk with the HR rep (sorry, Global Talent Acquisition Manager), it was kind of weird. He checked I was ok with the salary range and which country I’d be based in, then basically coached me for the interview this week. Is that standard practice now? I guess it’s good, warned me of the common mistakes not to make, gave me pointers about what they’re looking for and what they wanna ask, so no wasting time during the actual interview on useless stuff. We’ll see how it goes with the actual interview.

I spent some time preparing but not as much as I probably should, too much going on with moving, being back with family, settling back here, sorting through all my stuff. My room here basically contains my whole life. Everything I’d left behind from my childhood, plus everything I brought back from the US and the few things I acquired since being back in home country. Plus everything my mom (borderline hoarder) decided to put in my room because they’re isn’t any space elsewhere (2 bookshelves full of books, trinkets, seashells, paintings, postcards, photos, etc.., my great grandma’s huge wardrobe, full of clothes she hasn’t used in decades, bits and pieces of furniture from my great grandma). Definitely no swedish death cleaning happening here, whatsoever. Really hard to reclaim a bit of space, but after a few hours of reorganizing, I managed to make it livable. All in all, this weekend was a waste, workwise. (some fun stuff too though). But at least I feel like I can think again.

Edited to add: Funnily (to me) enough, 15 min before my chat with the HR rep, I got an email from former employer saying the funding roadblock has been lifted and they're sending all the proposals to the funding agency. Not gonna hold my breath yet given how many "surprises" I've had so far on this journey, but things are looking up on that front too.

[ertyu]

The headhunter gets paid if their proposed candidate is hired. They coached you cause it's in their best interest for you to get the job. Good luck!

[NewBlood]

Thanks ertyu!
This wasn't a headhunter though, but one of the organization's RH people in charge of this recruitment. Which is why I was surprised.

[NewBlood]

2024 update 23/52

Well, that was one whiplash of a week.

Called it on old job, last “surprise” came fast. Even though new dude in charge caved when it comes to existing proposals and ok-ed them, he nixed all “new” ones, including mine. Never mind that it is the continuation of an existing project, since I’m currently out of the system, my proposal as a subcontract is considered new and will not be submitted to the funding agency. So that’s it for that, I will not get back to my old job.

The next day I got an email from the other job I had applied to. Not gonna happen either, which I is what I was expecting. It really was too much outside of my domain of expertise and I hadn’t gotten a good feeling from the interview. I’m glad I managed to get an interview though (8 candidates out of 170), but it was too much of a stretch.

So, back to square 1. On the one hand, I feel like I’ve wasted 6 months of my life. On the other, I couldn’t not try to keep my job from home country, it would have been such a good situation. And I learned a lot about processes and I now have a consulting biz. I’m going to start working on my friend’s small contract this week and he wants to bring me into his greater network.

Now I need to build a proper website and learn to hussle to find more clients. Translate my CV to first language and learn about the local work environment.

OR…. Maybe it's the universe telling me to turn a page and just go wwoofing… haven’t decided. I could do a combination of both I guess. In any case, this is as good a time as any to learn to live here on the smallest budget possible. No more saying yes to everything to reconnect with people and explore.

This week was also my cousin’s wedding. My family being quite dysfunctional, it had been a looong time since we had all been together, and it was great. (for me, I might have been the only person there who gets along with everybody). I reconnected with a cousin I hadn’t seen in 30 years, and that was really nice. We’ll all be together again in a month for my grandma’s 90th birthday and I’m really looking forward to it. I really crave closer relationships with my cousins now that we are all adults and don't need to go along with our parents' squabbles. They are a smart interesting bunch.

I am getting a bit exhausted/embarrassed by the behavior of the older adults in my family. It is disheartening, and I find it hard not to resent the loss of family connections for so many years growing up just because they won’t do any emotional work to get over their hangups with their parents/siblings… There’s only so much whining about my grandma’s meanness and favoritism I can listen to before losing my patience. It’s like dealing with 4 year olds.

Next week I'll be home alone (with 3 dogs and 2 cats) which is welcome. I can use the space and quiet.

[comandante]

Sorry about the two job developments.
I also like to think in terms of 'maybe the Universe is telling me to...' I find it helpful to broaden my thinking out of local minima that it might be stuck in.
Teach some tricks to those cats.

[delay]

Thanks for your journal update!

I’m going to start working on my friend’s small contract this week and he wants to bring me into his greater network.

Becoming part of a friend's network seems like a good way to start! Most companies have a sales and a technical founder.

There’s only so much whining about my grandma’s meanness and favoritism I can listen to before losing my patience.

Matron favouritism is some kind of social framework? Although the framework is not real you phrase your position in terms of the framework. Members enjoy exploring the framework, fine tune positions, find new opportunities. One can always back out, as the framework is not real. I imagine a family framework sounds like the ever present buzzing of wings in a beehive.

[NewBlood]

Sorry about the two job developments.

Thanks comandante, appreciate it.

Teach some tricks to those cats.

Haha! well, one is mine and is already pretty good at walking on a leash when needed and coming when I tell him to come, which for a cat, is pretty up there. The other cat hates my cat, and me by extension and is semi-feral. If she stops hissing at me while I'm refilling her kibble, I'll be pretty happy.

[NewBlood]

Becoming part of a friend's network seems like a good way to start! Most companies have a sales and a technical founder.

Yeah I'm very lucky. He's a couple of years ahead of me in the entrepeneurship journey and very generous, helping me a lot with tips and answering all my stupid questions. Helping me avoid some of the mistakes he made at the beginning.

[NewBlood]

2024 update 24/52

Not a very eventful week.

Working my networks, getting connected to people via friends and former colleagues. Of course, 99% of my network is in the US and I want to work remotely from home country as a foreign consulting biz, so not making my life super easy there.

I’ve started working on my friend’s contract, and it’s been pretty great, actually… I contacted a couple of my former colleagues in the process as I was looking for some data, I’ve missed those guys. I guess I’m in a somewhat unique situation on these forums in that I really enjoyed my work (maybe not 100% of it, but most of it) and my colleagues. Oh well. I do enjoy free time though, not gonna lie.

It feels good to start making money on my own terms though and to finally do something with this business I started. I sent my first quote, that was exciting.

Exchanged a few messages with ex-SO and when I mentioned old job fell through, ex-SO asked whether I’d be interested in some consulting work
First phone call in months, which was nice, and turns out there are a number of potential projects that’d be a good fit! Ex-SO’s organization is a mess and always seemed to have a lot of drama, but as a consultant I wouldn’t have to deal with it. I could cap each involvement at the minimum no-bid amount (aka not that many hours) and decide not to go for more projects if it’s too crazy. If it works well, there could be a lot of similar projects in the pipeline for me. That could be easy money plus the satisfaction to bring some actual science in the work they do, which is very needed. We’ll see if that actually happens.

Parents left on a trip yesterday, it feels so nice to have the whole house for myself. The dogs are way less neurotic when they’re gone. Which is not surprising. The cats are their regular keyboard-loving cat selves.

ETA: I started running again! A super short run (2.5km) to test out the knees. After a couple of minutes, I decided to run a bit faster than before until it felt like proper running pace instead of just trampling, which seemed easier on the knees. Not on the cardio though, I could definitely feel I haven’t been running in two months…. And I’ve been quite sore since then. But between the rest, the new shoes and the new pace, my knees have been feeling good so far.