ASOG Article of the Month – July 2020
ASOG Author: Darrly Woodruff
As ASOs, one of the hardest things we face are job changes and going through the job search process. Darrly Woodruff shares his personal experience and highlights a critical point when it comes to looking for the perfect job…Don’t Stress and Never Give Up!
10, 20, 30…50 or more. That is the number of rejection letters that I received from my primary target for employment, add in all the other companies that I had applied to in the last year and I was easily in triple digits. I could not figure out what was going wrong.
I had connections with inside tracks, I feel as if I interview well, I had applied for the exact same position on a contract that I had worked with a different company, even had individuals that I had more experience land the gig…I was at a loss.
O’Joy, another rejection letter!
I reworked my resume several times ensuring that every time I applied to a position that I pulled out all the key words from the posting to make sure they were out front. I WAS GOING TO LAND THIS ONE! Except I did not, more rejection letters flooded my inbox.
I tried to seek out training for areas that I knew were weak and added those new skills and reapplied. Again, my inbox was filled with rejection letters. Now my pride and sense of self was taking a beating.
I didn’t have to land a new job, my retirement and my wife’s business covered all our bills, but only barely, and at this point it had become personal (this included one company I had been applying to for three years).
Time to give up and change course
Finally, about a month ago I had given up. I came to terms with the fact that for some reason another flying gig was not in my future, I even went as far as emailing the founder of this page to thank him for all his help over the last several years and to let him know that I was stepping away from the game.
I have a degree in Homeland Security and had some security related jobs in my toolbox. That was going to be my new direction, executive security specialist. I found places that accepted the GI Bill, cleared my plan with my wife, and was all set, I even have a start date. I have also received a preemptive position with Customs and Border Patrol during this time.
Nothing to lose
Then about two weeks ago I get tagged to a job posting on LinkedIn. Since I had nothing to lose, I decided I would email the recruiter and prepare for another “thanks for the interest, but” letter.
To my surprise the recruiter called me about an hour later. That turned into a series of phone calls with people that I have interviewed with in the past. So, I am fully expecting this to go nowhere and keep getting moving forward with what I need to for my new chosen career path.
I get told “I will call you tomorrow” that comes and goes, then the rest of the week passed. I told my wife “it’s what I expected” then Monday I get a text saying, “I haven’t forgotten about you”. I tell myself at least that’s promising, it’s not a no yet.
The most important lesson!
I head to the gym to work out some stress and as I’m loading the bar my phone rings. “Hey, I’m still working with HR, but you should have an offer letter by mid-week”. Now I am looking for Ashton Kutcher to jump out from a corner and tell me I’ve just been punk’d. No, this is real.
As my wife has been telling me this entire last year, when the right job comes along you will get it. The most important lesson that I learned from all this is to not stress if you don’t have to, and never stop applying. Even if you start looking into new endeavors keep applying for the job you want. You never know when the stars will align.
Comments
Meshack, it is so true that when the timing is right that things will fall in line.
Meshack, keep at it. Also, count me in as a second set-of-eyes to edit and recommend changes. Overall, I really think your book is important to the ASO community and the Aerial Remote-Sensing sector!
Patrick the book is coming up slowly. I am trying to get every former colleagues, ASO and pilots especially those I were on the field with, to make contributions in as far as they remember our joint experiences. I want it to be as rich and honest with content as possible. I am hoping to publish in the second half of next year, God willing...
Super Meshack...honour goes both ways, its great to hear you're flying high. How is the book going?
I am fantastic, thanks for asking and am currently doing Oil Spill Response in the Gulf of Guinea, based in Togo. We are very lucky that we have not been extremely affected by the pandemic and hope most of my fellow members out there are alright. I am hoping to soon make my contribution to ASOG. It's an honour to be a member.
Hi Meshack, Great story and addition to Darrly's article. How are you doing?
Thank you Darrly for sharing.
In Spring 2009, after nine years of experience as an ASO in one company in South Africa, I landd in a situation that cost me my job and it took me more than two years full looking, applying and knocking on every door I knew. I Late in 2011 I gave in and stopped looking, took a role as a fundraiser for and NGO 200km out of town. About seven months in my new role I got a call from a +356 number and thought I was about to be scammed. It was a job offer that would see me leaving the African continent for the very first time since birth and would also let me travel in more than five European countries in a space of one month. A dream I never had. It is then when I learned that "When the time is right, everything will fall in to place. Thank you Antonnie Vermaak for making that call. It changed my life forever.