Finding A New Job? Now That Would Be...
Comcastic!

Okay, bare with me. Because this is going to be a little bit unorthodox.

I'm not normally one to beg publically for the whole world to see on the Internet.

But you know what? Sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures. So here goes...

Consider this my "Job Wanted" ad.

My "very public", posted all over the Internet for all the world to see, "Job Wanted" Ad.

Now, I'm no stranger to getting "dismissed" from a few of the various places I've worked over the years. You don't live to be my age without having made a few mistakes along the way.

As I've documented numerous times on this blog, in a previous life long ago and far away, I had a relatively successful career in the music business. Towards the end of that career, I was working in L.A. at a record label with big artists like The Black Crowes, Johnny Cash, and Sir Mix A Lot.

But the truth at the time...good as I was (and I was quite good at what I did)...is that I was also far less mature in a lot of ways than I am now. And I was also very clearly in over my head.

Finally, after two and a half years of constantly trying to fly under the radar (that, when I wasn't just as busy covering my ass), the simple fact that I really just wasn't prepared to play ball with the big boys on the national stage caught up to me.

This was also helped along considerably by a certain exec at the label who made it very clear from day one that I was most definitely on his own personal radar screen. But that's another story...and, like I said, you learn from your mistakes.

So that was some twelve years ago. Funny how time flies when your having fun huh?


In the record business, as you'd probably expect, they have a very rock and roll way of letting a person know when their services will no longer be required. It's very simple, and very direct.

And it goes something like "You're Fired!"

Consider it the Vince McMahon approach.

The point is my track record for the last several years had been pretty good. At least until earlier this week. That's when I was "dismissed" from my job at the Cable Company.

Now I'm not going to split hairs, or otherwise speculate just why they did what they did here. Needless to say, I have my opinions on that and they no doubt have theirs as well.

To the best I can figure out, I was apparently let go because I transferred a call (I worked in an inbound sales call center) from a customer wanting to downgrade his cable to our retention department...the guys that handle downgrades in service. I had no currently active verbal or written warnings.

So yeah, I can't figure it out either.

Now unlike my friends in the record business, I found out that in the big corporate world they handle these things a little differently. At the record company the whole thing took like two seconds.

Here, it took two days. And I never once heard the dreaded words "You're Fired".

Rather, I was sent home on "administrative leave" for two days while an "investigation" was conducted, then called back in to sign some paperwork finalizing the deed I already knew was done. Despite what you see on TV with Donald Trump, this is apparently how it's done in corporate America these days.

Call it the "kinder, gentler" termination.

So here's the deal.

I'm just going to be flat out honest here and say that I'm not really going to miss my job at the Cable Company. It was basically one great big stressbox there. One where there was virtually no chance of moving anywhere but sideways anyway. I'd been unhappy there for some time.

And it probably showed.

The truth is I was overqualified for the job anyway. So am I going miss being relentlessly screamed at by angry customers all day? Or trying to make sales metrics that run in diametric opposition to the products and services the Cable Company chooses to aggressively market?

No. I am not.

But, obviously I am going to miss having a job. Which is something I want to rectify as quickly as possible.

I've already made the trip to the unemployment office (did that the same day). I fully expect my former employers to fight me tooth and nail on this, so I'm prepared for that. When you get right down to it, the Cable Company is not the most "labor friendly" one I've ever worked for.

But the bottom line, is filing for unemployment benefits is strictly a stop-gap measure anyway. The real plan is get back to work as soon as possible. Which is not going to be easy.

Are you kidding me?

For one thing, I will be fifty years old next month. And the job market these days, as fragile as it is under the current administration (don't get me started), is a youth driven one. This is especially true in my former line of work in the music business...which is probably as it should be since the music business has always been one driven by youth culture.

So I am at something of a crossroads here.

And I wont lie to you, it's a little scary.

But it's also exciting.

That's right, I said exciting.

It's exciting because this represents an opportunity to do something I could truly love again. It represents an opportunity to apply both my intellect and my passion into something one hundred percent...rather than just punching a corporate clock for a faceless organization that at the end of the day cares more about it's profits than about it's people.

Personally I would love to do something involved with music again...and as anyone who knows me or reads this blog already knows...I'm something of a walking encyclopedia on the subject.

However, I realize that as a fifty year old white guy, representing gangsta rappers or even the latest American Idol probably requires a little more "street cred" than I can offer. Fair enough.

But is a gig at a Classic Rock station or magazine too much of a stretch?

Speaking of magazines and writing...

I know from experience that the publishing world is largely one of freelancing...which is a nice way of saying feast or famine. But I think it's fair to say I'm not a half bad writer. My stuff is appparently good enough that just last week Blogcritics named one of my stories an editor's pick of the week.

Is there is an agency or a Public Relations firm out there looking for a guy with both credentials and passion? Well I'll tell you what. My chops are as sharp (thanks to this blogging thing), as they have ever been. At least, if I do say so myself.

When I was working at those record labels I mentioned earlier?

My specialty was retail. Going out to the stores, building relationships with managers and buyers at all levels of the game, getting the product into the stores and supporting the retailers in every way I could once I did. And like I said, I was very good at it.

So this is something of a fork in the road. And I have no illusions about that. Likewise, I'm not entirely sure, that this is the best forum to make my case for a career restart.

But as I said above, desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures.


What I offer is my intellect, my passion, my honesty, and my integrity. I've learned from past mistakes and I promise that I will not let you down.

So wish me luck.

Because finding that new job...but more importantly...embarking on a new career journey...

Now that would be