Resume, References and Breath Mints

As I write this article I am currently unemployed, but I still haven't lost my sense of humor, especially in terms of job interviewing disasters. In the summer of 2006 I allowed a gnawing desire to germinate and eventually take shape. My apartment lease in Phoenix, Arizona was coming to an end in late August, and instead of renewing it or finding a new place, I decided to pack up my Ford Focus hatchback and flee the barren desert landscape. I had grown weary of living in such a massive city with no family ties or community connections. The thought of leaving it all behind popped into my head while I was out apartment hunting on a sweltering Saturday afternoon in July. And after a short period of discernment, I put in my two-week notice at the news wire service I worked at, shipped the majority of my belongings back East and made my exodus complete.

Upon returning home to upstate New York, I embarked on an ambitious job-search campaign, targeting the local media organizations in the Utica and Syracuse areas. Sometime around late November, I made an appointment to interview for a director position at WKTV-TV in Utica. But Mother Nature would not cooperate with my plans, as the night before a storm front passed over Lake Ontario and dumped about six inches of fresh snow on the Mohawk Valley.