Sunday, November 8, 2009

handling the galactic job search

"the natural ebb and flow of prons. We have ups and downs" - ten tron

in every pod pilot's career, you're going to change corporations and alliances. sometimes the shift is smooth and intuitive such as corp mergers or group migrations... but sometimes, you're out on your ass with just your wits, your personal belongings and a noob corp chat full or retards

finding myself in a situation much like this, i decided to put a little list together of things i found useful for anyone else that might be in this situation

1) plan for disaster
call it a backup plan, an emergency contingency plan, an overnight bag, whatever... but make it. if you rely on your current corp and their ops to make your isk or to provide you with any necessary resource (ammo, ships, ratting/mining areas, etc), set up your own private line. if that means stashing a ratting ship and a jump clone in a quiet region of low sec or npc 0.0 or leaving a mining rig in an empire system where you can mine alone in peace, do it. also keep on hand a healthy stack of whatever consumables such as ammo and drones that you might need to make cash. consider it your emergency life line to help get you on your feet in case you find yourself in a serious bind

2) stay professional
this is not always easy considering that this is a game we're playing, not real life. try to anyway. you never know when something retarded you've said or done will come back to bite you in the ass. case in point- in my interview for the bastards, one of the first things my RO brought up was a rather uninspired and offensive forum post i made back in march. how embarrassing! being courteous, attentive and demonstrating common sense can go a long way for your cause, though. also, remember to try and keep good relationships with former corporation and alliance mates. you never know who you might need to vouch for you or who might know of solid crews that are looking for people with your skill set

3) update your resume
when you apply for a new corp, they're going to want to know all about your character and abilities. for your own benefit, make a list of all of your experiences and skills in eve. if you're a pvp character, think about things you've done and ships you're trained or specialized in. probing, scouting, fleet commanding, tackling, logistics... knowing your strong points and communicating that to a potential recruiter is really important. also, it's a good idea to look at how you're going to show off your personal stats. first check your character's stats on battleclinic- if those are accurate, save the link to include with your application. if not, griefwatch killboards offer single user killboards for only 5m isk per month

4) find candidates
this really can be the hardest part. you don't just want to apply for the first corp that you see in the recruitment channel. do your homework. you want to find a corp that does exactly what you want to do. piracy? large scale combat? small gang combat? when you find a corp that claims to do what you're interested in, check them out. look at their killboards, look them up on the eve-o forums (eve-search makes this easiest). remember, you need to appraise an organization just as thoroughly as they should you. my personal theory is that you should try to join a crew that will teach you something, not a crew that you could train

5) be choosy
i can't stress this enough. the best analogy i can think of would be a romantic relationship. there are obviously more and less desirable partners based on your preferences. ideally, you don't want to commit to one that's willing to take just anyone... at least not for any length of time. on that same note, you don't want to have a one time thing with someone who's interested in a long term commitment. either situation has potential to make life difficult for you. keep this analogy in mind when you're looking at different corps and don't be afraid to say no to one that you don't think fits you

all that should help you find and apply for some great opportunities for fun in eve