Last September, I started posting my goal to find a full-time job on this site.  To achieve my goal, I uprooted myself from Vancouver to Calgary.  Throughout October, I was busy adjusting to the new city and sending numerous resumes .  I kept on doing these tasks until the end of the year. 

In the first week of January, I got my first phone call for a job interview.  The organization was Comox Strathcona Regional District in Courtenay, BC.  I was excited and went to my first, and hopefully my last, job interview.  After two agonizing two weeks of waiting for the news, I received the call that I was one of the two successful applicants for the job.

Hi everyone,

I have sent several resumes and cover letters to most of the entry planning jobs that I could find.  I will be moving to Calgary this week.

Why moving?  It will be a great challenge for me to move to a new location, without a job and with a place to stay yet. 

Why Calgary?  I have a relative and friend there, so I can depend on them for the first few weeks.  After that, I don't want to be a burden, and I look forward to the challenges.

Here is my ongoing saga of finding a full-time job.

I have finally updated my resume and posted it online.  It took a whole day to update it because I had to change it from "chronological" to "experience" -based.  In the end, I had a combined version of both styles because I haven't had a lot of city planning related experience.  I would like to show that the skills that I gained from other jobs are transferrable to a planning job.

In my previous blog post, I have complied a list of "things to do." I have completed some of the tasks:

• Contacted reference for permission again and update reference lists
• Converted my Master's Thesis into PDF and uploaded It to my site
• Printed about 7 planning job openings in BC and Alberta that I will apply
• Borrowed a book from the library on job hunting: "Knock 'em Dead 2006: The Ultimate Job Seeker's Guide." I have begun reading it and it is packed with information.

I have worked on other tasks that were not on my list:

My next door neigbhour moved into the unit next to mine in July.  All I knew about them were that they had a daughter and a son.  The male household spent a lot of time working on his yard.

Last night, after dinner, I had a chance to see the male household pulling up dead plants and readying his garden for the fall.  I asked him how he was doing and how he liked the neighbourhood so far.  He greeted me and replied that he likes this area of the town a lot.  He continued that his family came from Montreal and had been renting in Burnaby until he found his current unit.

In my quest to get to my neighbourhood, I have begun to meet and greet my neighbours more often.  In my first day, I began to walk around my townhouse building and start conversations with a lady watering her garden.  I introduced myself to her and she was quite surprised at first.  I informed her of my townhouse unit and began to tell her that I would like to know more about my neighbourhood. 

I have started my job hunting by creating a list of things I need to prepare.  So far, I have written down:

• Create a list of my skills, experience, and interests
• Update resume
• Update reference letters
• Convert my thesis into Adobe Acrobat PDF and upload it to my personal site
• Create List of employment sites and resources
• Borrow job hunting books from the library

What else should I list?