Wow. What A Ride!

[Brad Adrian]

Anybody who visits this site with any regularity gets to know quite a bit about the folks who run it. But one thing you might not know is what a great bunch of friends Jason, Ed, Marlof, Janak, Jonathon, Pat, Darius, Andy, Fabrizio, Doug, Steven, Kati, Ashley, Jeff and the others are!<br /><br />A some of you may know, I lost my job in mid-January. Anybody who has gone through such a situation knows how incrediby awful that can make you feel. But, within minutes of sending my "this e-mail address will no longer be valid" e-mail blast to my friends and coworkers, My PocketPC friends were calling me and sending me e-mails, all to help me make it through my ordeal. They were a tremendous source of help and faith!<br /><br />Well, now that I've got a great new job (at a 77% pay increase!) I think I'll be able to get back into the swing of things. But rest assured, every time I post to this site, I'll be thinking the whole time about my PocketPC friends.<br /><br />Thanks, everyone!

[Ed Hansberry]

That is awesome Brad. I have been praying about your situation though, so the 77% pay increase didn't surprise me too much. :wink:

[deemota]

Great to hear. Did you get your new job because of a fellow Thoughts reader? That would be great if you did....

[Dave Conger]

Congrats Brad!

[Jason Dunn]

77% pay increase? Wow, I should CHARGE you to post here. Hahaha... :lol: Just kidding, congrats on the new job!

[ricksfiona]

Congratulations on everything! I had no idea or got any word, but it's great to hear when good things like this happen.

[baker]

Congrats. :multi:

[timcolling]

Congratulations!

Did you end up at some nice high-tech place that the rest of us would be envious of?

- Tim

[notesguy88]

Hi Brad.

I haven't posted much in a long time but when I saw this, I just wanted to say congratulations! To get a 77% increase is fantastic. :-) I know how it is to lose your job. I've been out of a job a bit longer than you as I was laid off last November just before Thanksgiving. I took a month off right through Christmas and New Year's before I began looking for another job.

Believe it or not, the type of job I'm looking into (I will have a 2nd interview in a couple of days with this organization) will reduce my salary more than 50%. So in some ways I'm going on a different direction. I don't mind it though. I'm leaving the IT field and from a banking institution (where the salaries tend to be on the high side). It took me a long time to contemplate this and with much much much prayer. I do feel that the Lord is leading me to this calling and I do have the trust that everything will work out even though I won't be making as much money as I used to. Sometimes you get a calling that is so strong you cannot just ignore it.

Manuel

[Mike Temporale]

Congrats on the new job (and pay raise) Brad! :D

[Jon Westfall]

Congratulations! Glad to hear that you'll be able to post more now that you're back from job-less land!

[yada88]

Congratulations on your new job. Now you can buy even more PPC accessories. I'd recommend www.raysat.com and get one of those ridiculous hookups, now that you can afford it. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[Darius Wey]

Congratulations Brad. It's great hearing you're making the big comeback. :P

I look forward to more Brad thoughts on the site. §:{›> ;)

[ctmagnus]

Congrats on the joblessnesslessness!

( :confused totally: ;) )

[Newsboy]

Congratulations, that's incredible! I feel your pain, I went through a similar situation 3 1/2 years ago. Lost my job, was unemployed for a year...but then got a Fellowship and have been getting paid to get my Master's degree for the last 2 1/2 years!

A door may close but another one always opens.

[welovejesus]

Brad,
Thank you for sharing the good news. Wishing you the best!

[Iznot Gold]

As you said Brad a lot of us will have been there &amp; know how good it feels to come out ther other side.......enjoy!

Cheers

David

[Steven Cedrone]

Congrats Brad! 77%, not bad! :wink:

[Mike Temporale]

Congrats Brad! 77%, not bad! :wink:

Hey ya... What happened to the other 23%? I think you need to pull up those socks and buckle down young man. Next time we want to see something in the mid to high 90's. :wink: :lol:

[bvkeen]

Congratulations Brad! It's great to see that a turmoil turned into a significant pay increase for you.

[jbachandouris]

Nice to hear such good news. I am entering my 8th week of unemployment, so I can relate. It sometimes gets to the point where I yell at my phone demanding it to ring so I can go back to work. The wife's not too happy right now either. I'm trying to get into the National Guard. We'll see how that goes...

[maximus]

77% increase. oh wow.

anyway, congrats on being employed again =)

[Fabrizio Fiandanese]

Congrats Brad! :D

[fyiguy]

Brad,

Congratualations!!! :clap:

Haven't heard from you in a while and was getting worried...

Glad things worked out for the better in the end!!!

:mrgreen:

Unpaid "sabbaticals" suck...

[alexm]

Congrats Brad! This is always good news! ...and well done on 77%!

[Paragon]

Hey Brad......good things happen to good people. This just proves it. :)

Dave

[Jonathon Watkins]

It's great to hear that things are picking up. You have indeed been in our prayers. :grouphug:

[Jonathon Watkins]

Congrats on the joblessnesslessness!

Nice! I like what you did with that. :wink:

[klinux]

Congratulations!

[Brad Adrian]

That is awesome Brad. I have been praying about your situation though, so the 77% pay increase didn't surprise me too much. :wink:

Thanks, Ed. I knew you were praying for me and pulling for me. You know how they say that getting a job is all about "networking" and "who you know?" The very day I got canned I send a couple of e-mails to some past coworkers. My job hunt went as usual for several weeks, and finally it was one of those earliest e-mails that prompted my past coworker to offer me the job.

Amazing!

Thanks everybody!

[Tari Akpodiete]

so, what will you be doing?

[manywhere]

Hey, congrats Brad on finding a new job! :)

You know how they say that getting a job is all about "networking" and "who you know?"
That is so true, as I found out when searching for summer jobs a few years ago. It can be almost impossible to get the job you want/need (say in computers) unless you know someone with connections to that industry. Otherwise, it is back to cleaning the town's gardens and other not-so-much-fun-outdoors-jobs or something other "less fun"-job... :(

[Brad Adrian]

I do feel that the Lord is leading me to this calling and I do have the trust that everything will work out even though I won't be making as much money as I used to. Sometimes you get a calling that is so strong you cannot just ignore it.

Manuel

You have said it all, my friend. It was my faith in God and my wife's faith in me that made all the difference. During my "leave," God allowed me to spend more time with my 13-year-old daughter, and we now have a wonderful relationship. And, it allowed me to step back a bit and really analyze what I did and didn't like about my old job.

Thanks for the kind words. We'll be praying for you.

[Brad Adrian]

Did you end up at some nice high-tech place that the rest of us would be envious of?
Actually, that was the job I left, being a technology analyst at Gartner Group (the stories I could tell...!).

Now I'm working as a project manager for BlueCross/BlueShield, and the change is great.

[Brad Adrian]

Nice to hear such good news. I am entering my 8th week of unemployment, so I can relate.

All I can say is that, at least for me, it was networking that helped send this job my way (and a little help from above). Literally tell everybody you know that you're looking for a job, because 80% of all jobs are filled NOT via Websites like Monster or cold calling, but because somebody knows somebody who knows something about a job.

[Brad Adrian]

I also want to make sure everybody knows what a great guy Jason was though all of this. When he heard that I was going through a hard time and might not be posting for a little while, he called me and offered to move my membership status to "Contributing Editor Emeritus" (the word "Emeritus" coming from a combination of Greek and Latin roots meaning "somebody you like but don't have the heart to kick out.")

So, Jason you made things a lot easier for me, too, because you made sure I didn't feel pressured about the Thoughts site while I had big things to take care of.

You and all of the Thoughts Team are truly my best friends. Especially Ed (wink, wink).

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

It's always heartwarming to see great things happen to good people! :D

Welcome back Brad and congratulations!

[notesguy88]

You have said it all, my friend. It was my faith in God and my wife's faith in me that made all the difference. During my "leave," God allowed me to spend more time with my 13-year-old daughter, and we now have a wonderful relationship. And, it allowed me to step back a bit and really analyze what I did and didn't like about my old job.

Thanks for the kind words. We'll be praying for you.

Thanks for your prayers Brad! I have a couple of things cooking. I had my second interview yesterday with a faith based disaster response and services agency in New York and will have an interview with New York University tomorrow.

I see that you got a job as a project manager for Blue Cross/Blue Shield. I have a couple of friends here in New York who work for Blue Cross/Blue Shield. :-)

Manuel

[redraiduzz]

way to go, Brad!! Congrats to you! Godspeed! :D

[Kadegboye]

Congratulations Brad! It is great to hear that you are employed again and moreso with a pay increase. It is no fun when you have no job - I have experienced it before even as an MD.
Just a little comment on how you got the job. You said that you got the job through networking with a little help from above. If I were in your shoes, I would have put it in a slightly different way. I would say that "I got the job through networking with the GREATEST help from above". But don't mind my semantics!
I wish you the very best in your new job and welcome back.
Kay.