It Was 20 Years Ago Today...

It was 1992.  The unemployment rate in California was between 9 and 10%.  President George H.W. Bush was in California raising money for his re-election campaign.
And 20 years ago today a small software company based in Menlo Park held a job fair for 100 openings, mostly in tech support.

Let's clear the air right now.  I left work early that day because I was sick.  I headed to the urgent care clinic and was diagnosed with bronchitis.  I went home and went to bed.  I may even still have the doctor's note from that visit.  I debated whether I was going to head to that job fair.  I finally decided to go. 
If I had stayed at work, I would have left at 3 since I started at 6 am.  I would have arrived at the job fair on my own time.

Several hundred people showed up for the job fair.  I was the second person in line.  According to the article in the SF Examiner, the guy in front of me showed up at 4 pm.  I was probably not much later.  The Examiner reporter interviewed me, I asked him not to use my name, but he did.  Here's my quote, "I've been doing technical support work, but this looks like a better company.  I've got a job, but I think there's a better future with this place."  I really wasn't that far off.  The company I was working for had been in receivership for much of my tenure there.  During that time we weren't sure if we were going to get paid.  I liked my immediate co-workers, but the owner of the company... (My mother taught me that if I can't say something nice, to not say it at all.)

I had a friend at the software company who kept telling me for two years that I should check it out.  I stuck it out until this job fair and decided to see what was out there.  I don't remember specifics about the interview, but remember being freaked out by the panel interview.  I must have done okay because I got through the process and am still employed there 20 years later.

The next morning at work a co-worker got a phone call, which I wouldn't have paid attention to, but she was rather emphatic and left the office.  I had a hunch and followed her. Sure enough she went to buy the newspaper.  I didn't know about the paper until that point.

After I gave notice, the aforementioned owner of the company tried to knock me down by telling me I won't make my mark with the new company: I'd be just a number, not a person; I would be a small fish in a big pond, etc.  I had a response to every one of his statements.  This was a man who didn't like people standing up to him, so his parting shot was about my making up a story to leave early to get to the job fair, and he left the office.

I am grateful for my job with that first company.  It was my first job out of college.  I learned a lot.  I don't regret taking this opportunity with the new company.  I have made my mark, I have learned a lot, and my life has been changed in many ways.

I want to thank the people at both companies who gave me a shot.