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THR Hipster Girl Recovery Thread

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Wow, @Hipster Girl, that's intense. Hearing about a situation like that makes me count my blessings. One thing that's nice about this surgery is that we are curable. It's amazing to me the difference eight months can make. I hope you are doing well.
 
When you meet people in those type of situations (my dear friend was just diagnosed with incurable liver cancer), it sure puts our THR's in perspective. So sad! :-(
 
So true @Cynthia777. My friend was telling me UCLA is the best in the country for what she is dealing with and she is considering going out there to get their take on her condition. Being unemployed, she has the time. Plus she is still on her husband's insurance.

I am very sorry to hear about your friend :sad:
 
@Hipster Girl - Sorry you had to find out about your former co-worker and friend by reading her obituary! Quite a sad shock for you.

I'm glad the network meeting went well. You are brave to speak to a group for 5 minutes about yourself! Public speaking like that is kind of uncomfortable - for me anyway. Just not used to it. I admire that you did it. Nice that you met interesting people there and felt uplifted afterwards.

Glad you had your gym buddy with you. Talk about brave! So sorry about her health situation! I hope she can go to UCLA's cancer center and they can help her in some way.

When I was first coming to terms with having to do the THR's, a PT I was seeing said something like, "This is tough but look at it this way. You can DO something about it!" I try to remember that. I am lucky I could really fix my health situation with the hips. Others have conditions or illnesses that don't have such an "easy fix". Not that THR is a walk in the park (so to speak), but you know what I mean.

Sorry the Stairmaster was tough on you. I'm glad you enjoy that Adaptive Motion Trainer. You've written about it before. I'd like to try it someday.

Hope your week is going well with interesting job opportunities or leads coming your way!
 
I've got a couple things cooking on the job front now. A guy I met in the networking group messaged a recruiter he knew and put us in contact with each other. She messaged me on LinkedIn yesterday. There is also another recruiter who had heard what was happening at work and I met her at my office the last week I was there. I sent her my resume on Friday and she passed it on to her colleague who does permanent placement who called & emailed me yesterday while I was at the gym. She was very enthusiastic in her messages and said the other lady was very impressed with me and she loved my resume. It was too late to call when I got home so I will call today.

I also got an email yesterday from a company I had applied to on Friday. I fully expected it to be another rejection email but instead it was an assessment I have to take online to get me to the next step in the recruiting process. :yay: I have no idea what type of assessment it is but I'm encouraged that at least it is a step forward and not a flat-out rejection.

@Readysetgo I'm with you - public speaking is not comfortable for me at all. You are so right about my gym buddy being brave with everything she is going through. I totally agree with you and have thought the same thing about the hip surgery - while not a walk in the park by any means, it was fixable and not a life threatening condition. We are blessed. :yes:

My 2nd hip is acting up a bit. I need to cut back on going to the gym. I have been going every day and doing just a little something, but I will have to force myself to give it a rest. I have a lot on my plate today anyway so I will skip the gym today.
Hope everyone is doing well and has a good day!:flwrysmile:
 
@Hipster Girl, LOL, I just asked you on my thread what's new in your world. :)
Hey, awesome news about the work related leads! I don't doubt that folks are impressed with your resume. I'll be sending out good vibes for you as you explore these options.
I'm sorry your 2nd hip is bothering you. It does seem like an up and down thing, doesn't it? I generally feel it when I have days filled with lots of activity. It might be low level, but it's definitely there. It can get frustrating.
I hope with a bit of rest it sorts itself very soon.
I so agree with you and @Readysetgo about our hips being fixable. I hit a point in my recovery when I realized that I most likely wouldn't be able to do just anything I wanted with my bionic hips. It's funny because the things I was thinking of weren't really anything I'd want to do anyway, but I think maybe we want to believe that we'll be completely magically transformed after our THRs. While the difference is astounding to say the least, it doesn't change everything. I got to feeling a little sorry for myself at that point, but it didn't take long to realize that I had it pretty darned good and that I'd best adjust my attitude. Thank goodness for the capability to live a life of good quality with these surgeries!
Please keep us updated on the job situation. I enjoy hearing about your journey and I keep you in my thoughts as you go through it.
Has your son made any decisions about taking the job he was offered?
 
Hi @DeepBreath I can sooo relate to your feelings about expecting to be able to do everything we want after THR and then coming to the realization that it might not be possible to do it all. I went through similar feelings about it but am so happy now to be pain-free that I've finally come to a place of acceptance. Just seeing how far our quality of life has improved so dramatically from this amazing surgery - I am still in awe.

I think my son is leaning towards not accepting that job at this point. The 12 hour shifts would be difficult to try to coordinate with a class schedule and still allow any time for sleep and studying. It would most likely be a temporary job anyway as they are likely relocating soon with everybody else. Still nice that they offered it to him though.

I just got off the phone with a recruiter and have an appointment to meet with him tomorrow morning. I also completed the online assessment for the company I applied to on Friday. They estimated the assessment would take 30 min but it took me a full hour. It was basically a personality and work style assessment. Some of the questions were what I would consider "tricks" - example:

"If you were a little sick, should you stay home and take care of yourself if you have an important project due?"

I mean seriously, how do you answer that? There is no place for comments so you can't put that it depends on if you are contagious or if there is anyone else available to help with the important project or if there is the option to work from home.

I will be very pleasantly surprised if I get a call back after they review my answers. I really think these assessments are a lazy recruiter's best friend. It enables them to not have to think for themselves or actually converse with you. Oh well, I'm sure other companies use these same tools so at least I have some familiarity with the types of questions they ask. :yes:
 
Hi @Hipster Girl, I hate those kinds of questions. Ugh. It is exciting that you are getting interest from people, though. It sounds like things are on the up swing for you, career-wise. It's good that you're keeping in touch with those people.

I can understand why your son is leaning away from taking the job you mentioned. 12 hour shifts...yuk. It sounds really intense. (especially since he's a student.) He sounds like he will get lots of offers.

Sorry to hear that your second hip is bothering you. it's weird how much they can act up when you increase the exercise or change it. I'm having to back off, too. I hope yours is feeling better.
 
@Hip Hip Hooray! there were about 200 of those type of questions. Another was if you mind having your performance closely monitored. Again, it depends. I'm not afraid of a supervisor paying attention to my performance, especially if I were new at a company, but I don't like being micro-managed either. I'm sure some computer program will assess my answers and assign me a score, and getting a call-back or not will depend on that score. Seems like a ludicrous way to make hiring decisions but what can you do...

I FINALLY heard back from the outplacement service yesterday. The program is 3 months long and starts when I complete an online orientation which I will do either tomorrow or Monday. They will analyze my resume and make recommendations, help with interview and negotiation skills, allow me to use their office equipment, provide job leads and introductions (??) and otherwise help in transitioning to another job. They claim with their help, it reduces the time it takes to find a new job by 60% which would be great. I am anxious to get started with them. I feel like my search is starting to pick up a little momentum. I am getting up early and approaching each day like it is a workday.

LinkedIn is turning out to be a great tool and one that recruiters strongly encourage people to get on. For my appointment today, the recruiter asked me to fill out an application with phone numbers of references. Instead, I attached two signed letters of recommendation to my application when I emailed it back, along with a note that there are two more recommendations on my LinkedIn page which eliminates the need for them to call. My former bosses were kind enough to write me letters and I prefer they not be bothered nonstop by people calling them, especially a recruiter. If I am about to land "the" job and the hiring manager wants to call, that's another story. Unfortunately, the company I was employed with has a policy that bosses and co-workers who are still employed by the company are not allowed to provide references for former employees, so any references have to come from former bosses who have left the company or are retired. This policy really puts those of us looking for work in a real bind, and I think is a bit unfair to those of us who have worked so hard for the company and given it our all. I understand the company is protecting itself but it greatly hinders us job seekers.

My left hip is feeling much better today. Not exercising yesterday is just what I needed. I also iced it a little. It feels great this morning.

I need to get showered and get ready for my interview. I hope everyone has a great day! :)
 
Hipster Girl said:
I really think these assessments are a lazy recruiter's best friend. It enables them to not have to think for themselves or actually converse with you.
Click to expand...
I think you're 100% correct and that's a shame. We've become a 'faceless' nation. Everybody reduced down to somebody behind a computer screen. I understand streamlining the application process, but they've taken any sort of one on one time out of the equation. Keywords that some preset filter is designed to catch does not fairly represent who the applicant is and the unique skills they might bring to the company.
I'm surprised at your former company regarding its policy of current bosses and co-workers not being allowed to give recommendations. That's preposterous.
It does sound like your job search is amping up! Wonderful. :) It sounds like you are doing everything possible in order to find that perfect situation.
I can understand your son's reluctance to take on the job with everything he currently has on his plate. It was great he got the offer though and hopefully that gives his confidence a boost that they thought so highly of him.
Good luck with the interview! I just know there's something amazing on the horizon. :SUNsmile:
 
@DeepBreath I've read that's the trend now for large companies to refuse to give recommendations. The irony is that the same companies who won't provide a reference would want someone to provide them with one if they were the ones doing the hiring, so it's hypocritical to expect from others what they themselves aren't willing to provide. Fortunately for me, I had the contact info for my former bosses and they were happy to oblige. I feel bad for others who don't have that option.

I had to create an account for the job I applied for that required the online assessment. They show my status as "assessment in review" so at least it hasn't been kicked out by the computer (yet??)

My interview with the recruiter went pretty well except I got a little tongue tied and didn't articulate as well as I would have liked. It's weird - I was actually pretty calm and relaxed but my mouth wouldn't cooperate and I couldn't get my thoughts out as well as I'd hoped. I still had a nice dialogue with the recruiter and he offered some constructive feedback on my interview after the fact that will help me going forward in an interview with a hiring manager. I was impressed with this firm and feel like they really be able to assist me in my job search. The recruiter encouraged me to follow up with him every week or so. I am going to send a quick email to him today to thank him for his time yesterday.

I also got ahold of the other recruiter at another firm whose colleague I had met in person before I left my former job. She asked if I could meet with her today but I figured I was already dressed up and in interview mode so why not do it yesterday so I asked her if she had any time yesterday afternoon which she did so I went and met with her. It was downtown and I really dislike going downtown because I get so lost and confused and I am one of the last people on the planet without a smartphone so I don't have GPS. Anyways, I finally made it and we hit it off right away. The other lady who I had already met popped her head in to say hello as well.

The recruiter told me about one job that she thought matched my qualifications but in reading the description, I know I am nowhere near qualified. She wants me to try anyway because I have a unique skill set and she doesn't have other applicants with my skill set. I don't see the point. The job is manager level and requires a degree which I don't have so it's a waste of time and I don't want the stress of overextending myself way beyond my capabilities. I am trying to lessen the stress in my life, not add to it. I feel like my former co-worker is VERY qualified for the job and I told the recruiter about him and asked her how I could get her in touch with him. I am going to email him today to see if he found another job yet or not, and if not, see if maybe he is interested in this one.
 
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Hi @Hipster Girl, That's great that you two hit it off right away. Maybe she knows something that you don't see. If she wants you to try anyway, you probably have a good shot at it. With your intelligence, personality, looks, and charisma, they might realize that you don't need a degree. You have so much experience. I would still go. (Sorry, I don't mean to give advice.) I just have a feeling you might get it, and that it pays well. I understand not wanting stress in your life, and the nerves. I get that way, too. You have so many skills.

I think staying in touch with these people and following up is so important. I've been doing that, too. They seem to appreciate it. That way they think of you when there's an opening.
 
@Hipster Girl, wonderful! I'm so glad you hit it off with the second recruiter. I agree with everything @Hip Hip Hooray! said about your excellent skills and that this lady obviously sees something in you.
I do understand the desire for less stress though. I think it's so amazing of you to be thinking of your colleagues and giving them a heads up as far as possible jobs. You're a fantastic person, Hipster. I believe in Karma and I think you deserve the best variety of that! :)
I also think it's a great idea to send the first recruiter a 'thank you' email. Being a squeaky wheel (especially a positive, courteous one :wink: ) is a good thing.
Sending tons of positive vibes your way, friend. Keep up the great work! :flwrysmile:
 
Hi @Hip Hip Hooray! oh gosh no, not at all, absolutely NO need to apologize for the advice - I greatly value your insight!! :yes:

The recruiter asked me to take the job description home and think it over, then email her, so I tweaked my resume to include more things I have done that were related to what the hiring manager was looking for, and I deleted some items that weren't pertinent to this particular job, and I sent the revision to the recruiter. I reiterated that I thought my former co-worker was a much better fit but that I was open to new opportunities and for her to feel free to pass my resume on to the company. She emailed me back and was very appreciative of the effort I put in and said we will talk next week. We'll see what happens.

I agree @Hip Hip Hooray! about follow-up being so important with these people and will try to be better about that going forward. :)
 
@DeepBreath awww, thank you - I know exactly what my former co-workers are going through so if I can help them in any way, I am happy to do it. I emailed the one I thought was perfect for this job to see if he has found something yet or not and to tell him about this job opportunity. Unfortunately, the phone number I had for him was his old work phone which he had to turn in on his last day, so I can't text him but hopefully he is good about checking email.

I am really happy with how busy this week was. The first couple weeks off work I didn't know what to do with myself because it was unfamiliar territory so I would sleep in and then go to gym mid-morning, then come home and have lunch, and by that time, the day was half over. Now I am approaching it differently with a little more structure which fits my personality better and allows me to feel more productive.

I sent the recruiters a "thank you" email and intend to follow up every week to 10 days just to touch base with them and be that squeaky wheel so to speak, so they will have me in the forefront of their minds when something comes up like @Hip Hip Hooray! mentioned.

All in all, a great week. I took a couple days off from the gym but I went yesterday and did cardio and my left hip is bothering me again today, so I'm not too sure what to do about that or why it's bothering me all of a sudden. :what:
 
Hi @Hipster Girl, That's great that you tweaked your resume. I've done the same thing. You are such a good writer. You can really zero in on the talents and experience you have that will help them.

I'm sorry to hear that your left hip is bothering you. That's the one with the fresher surgery. It's weird how they can act up at this point. I keep having to readjust my exercise level, and not get too overzealous. I've noticed that anything new will cause a reaction. My surgeon told me to work very gradually.

Your new schedule sounds excellent. I like structure, too. It's a good feeling to spend time each day on your career goals.
 
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