First off, hello everyone!
I'm a ex-software programmer who used to work for Intel. Let's just say that line of work is not coming back for me. Jobs are just plain gone.
Back in college I took lots of electrical courses, analog and digital. I have wired up countless things, know how to solder, etc. I fimly understand the concepts of resistance, current, ohms law, etc. I know at least all the basics already.
I applied to two seperate programs at my local center in Portland, OR:
http://www.nietc.org/ Commerical as well as the Limited Energy program (want the best chance to get into something).
After two months of waiting, and one month where I thought I just didn't make the cut, I received letters that I qualified for both, and will be called into interviews for both.
My questions are:
1. Did the fact I got these letters indicate I'm in a now reduced pool of potential students? Or did everyone who made the bare requirements (which were well established up front) probably get this far? Just like to know how high I can place my hopes. Being long term unemployed, I play a balancing act of keeping enough hope to not fall into depression, without taking my hopes too far to be smashed into pieces, which happens frequently (yes UE is hell).
2. What tips can any of you give me for the interview? What personal attributes will they be looking for? Serious and professional or easy going? Make a effort to smile, or suppress it?
3. Also, should I try and downplay my past career? I know that a perseption exists about ex-IT people looking to find a new job, that we are just biding time until the next IT job comes around. That's from those who don't understand those jobs aren't coming back, and which I know all too well. I don't want to give the impression that I am not 100% commited to seeing the apprenticeship all the way through, which I most certainly am. At the same time, my time at Intel shows I am technically proficient, able to learn things quickly and with relative ease, and am no stranger to long hours of work and study. How do I share my past and also convince them I am 100% commited to becoming a electrician?
Thanks in advance for any advise that can be offered.
[This message has been edited by AnArKey (edited 01-24-2004).]
[This message has been edited by AnArKey (edited 01-24-2004).]
