Their explanation, they were not able to get the $10 million funding that they were expecting last month and they are now getting ready to get acquired. The process means that they will have to clean out their balance sheet. This means that they will have to let go of 30% of their workforce, of which I am a part of. I have had my fair share of lay-offs and I understand that businesses have to do what they have to do to stay afloat. What makes this situation hard to swallow, was that these folks knew that I was moving my family 500 miles from our home, that I just signed a lease and that I am now deep in financial commitments because of this job. They did not have the common decency to just let me go before I made those commitments. This besides the fact that during my interview they presented themselves as a very stable 9 year old company with serious financial backing from the top insurers in the country and that they are growing. In other words, I GOT DUPED!!!

I did my best to be decent during the process knowing that in the end there is really not much I can do, but let me just say that I did my best to paint a picture of having them realize how badly they have handled this situation.

Depressed, I moped at home for the rest of the morning. My wife, who have always been that reliable wall that I can lean on whenever I feel like I am about to fall, somehow made me feel better and got me to think that I can’t just mope around, I need to do something. So I grabbed by laptop and tried to get to the web and restart my job search. So surrounded by unpacked boxes, I logged on and only to realize the sixth funny thing in this whole adventure. My cable internet that has been hooked-up for a little over a week, but never had the chance to configure with my Wireless router is not working. I COULD NOT GET INTO THE WEB. No Web means no Craigslist, no Monster, no Simplyhired, NO DICE!!! Before I went through a complete meltdown, my wife said “just go to Starbucks and get that taken cared of later.”

I decided not to go to Starbucks since I somehow concluded that the folks I will see there have jobs, and I will be really annoyed and then I will just feel very sorry for myself. So I took my laptop and my sulking self into the city’s public library.

First thing I did was send an e-mail to the recruiter who helped me get the offer for the job in Arizona. Remember I mentioned that I politely turned down this job. Let me expound on that a little bit. When I decided that I will not accept the offer and instead stick with the San Francisco job, I took pains to make sure that I talk to the recruiter directly and give him the respect that he deserve by explaining why I made that decision.

You see, I’ve always believed that a recruiter is almost like a business partner. They put their reputations on the line when they introduce you to potential employers. Once you have developed a relationship with really good recruiters, it is always a good idea to maintain that relationship.

So drafting the e-mail to explain that “I bet on the wrong horse” was a little simpler. I explained what happened and that I was hoping to see if he has other potentials for me. The man, bless his heart and soul, replied back immediately and told me that he will look into it and reaffirmed that he appreciated the fact that I was straightforward to him the first time. He also mentioned that he could not guarantee anything, but the job that I turned down may still be available. He said that he will have to do some research.

Then here comes the seventh funny thing, a month before, I received an e-mail from another recruiter about an opportunity with a job description that has the same exact verbiage (typos included) for the same location. I mentioned this to him and forwarded him the e-mail. He said he’ll talk to the hiring manager to see what she says, but no guarantees. I then gave him my word that if he can close the job for me, I will not turn it down again. I also received a couple of other encouraging prospects that afternoon that made my day feel a whole lot better.

The following Monday I received a couple of calls from various recruiters with two leading to really promising interviews.  By Tuesday, I have done several interviews with a few scheduled for a second follow-up. That night, I sent my Arizona recruiter a note asking if he heard anything from the hiring manager and mentioned the potential opportunities I got lined up in a few short days. I intend to keep my promise to him, but I didn’t want to delay my decision while I wonder if I got the job. He replied that I should not make any commitments yet, since he will have an answer soon.

At 10PM on Wednesday, he called me to let me know that I got the job.

So here is the eight funny thing, I got the job that I turned down two months ago. Whodathunk, it would still be available. It is only guaranteed for 4 months, I have lost some money because of moving expenses, I once again have to uproot my family, I will have to break the lease for my apartment (not as bad as it looks since the apartment allows me to break my lease in the event that I lose my job), and I will have to roast in the Arizona heat, but on the bright side, I am now working with a team of nice and very smart people, gaining some really awesome information security and risk assessment experience from one of the largest financial firms in the country and most of all I HAVE A JOB.

I still have a couple of good potential opportunities in the Bay Area, one of which is just waiting on the hiring manager to come back from vacation to learn his decision. For now, I am simply trying to do my best to learn my new responsibilities and be good at it and taking in all the “funny” things that happened and resulted in me landing in the hot deserts of Arizona.

To start off, I have technically been out of a permanent job since the company I was working for closed its doors on September 2009. The owner of the firm had an e-commerce project that I designed and managed for him on a consulting level that allowed me to have some financial resource while I looked for a job in this tough market.

The project has gone through a multitude of ups and downs and suffered major scope creep (long story, but let me just say it was agreed that the owner listened more to his “advisers” than his project manager on where the project should go and ignoring the defined scope). It was a very painful process for me since I was somehow trapped between a bad project and not having a job and also because of pride knowing that I can make the project somehow right.

Unfortunately, when I finally got to get the owner to realize the error of his ways, he ran out of money and he could not get additional funding. So the first “funny” thing that happened was that he killed the project a little less than two months after we released the first version of the product. Fortunately for me, the second funny thing happened, I received an offer from a software company in San Francisco to be their IT Manager. With my eldest still being in school, my wife and I agreed that I will travel weekly from San Diego to San Francisco until the end of the school year and we can all move up.

One week before my start date with the new firm, the third funny thing happened. I received an offer from a major financial firm for a 7 month contract that can get extended to 18 months and a good potential for a fulltime position. This firm will pay me $14 more per hour than what the San Francisco firm will pay me. However, this being a contract, I will not receive any benefits and the work is in Arizona. After some calculations, even if I pay for my own medical, dental and vision insurance, the Arizona job will still pay me at least $10 thousand more per year over the San Francisco job.

The major sticking point, however, is the fact that it is still a contract and there is no guarantee that I will still have a job come December.  Then there is the hassle of finding the right health insurance provider and seriously who wants to be in Arizona in the middle of summer? Also adding in the factors that I am more familiar with the Bay Area (being from there), and the potential of being able to move to more lucrative positions within the area is better than it would be in San Diego or Arizona. Or so I thought. Therefore, to make a long story short, I politely turned down (we’ll discuss this more later on) the Arizona job and went on my merry way to San Francisco.

For the months of May and June I racked up frequent flyer miles by travelling between my home in San Diego and my work in San Francisco. When my daughter finally finished the school year, we signed a lease for an apartment in the Bay Area on June 28. Then the fourth funny thing happened. On July 2^nd, 4 days after signing the lease, the firm laid-off my boss, the VP of Engineering, the guy who hired me, the guy who was behind the very scheme that created the job opening that I filled. After talking with him offline, he mentioned that he saw the possibility of the company will go through the round of lay-offs, but he assured me that he was assured by the folks that laid him off that my job was safe.

To be continued…

Another area that concerned me the most is the fact that I can’t seem memorize the various formulas presented in the study material. I eventually developed a way to remember these formulas by trying to read them like words (sounding like a Klingon). I will explain this in another post if I get around to it. There were also the different theories in motivation and leadership. Again on top of everything else that I have been trying to jam into my noggin’ this was another bang-my-head-on-the-desk item. For this, I also developed a simple system to allow me to remember them better.
On the week of the exam, I received some really good news that got me very excited in a sense which would have been really cool if I received them in any other week, however, the good news and excitement served as a distraction and made it really hard for me to focus on the week which is typically when I do a complete “brain dump” of everything I studied.

At this point, I was basically resigned to the fact that I may not pass the exam.

The exam was a computerized 200 multiple-choice question test hosted by a company called Prometric. The beauty of this type of exam is that you immediately will know whether you pass or fail the exam on the same day. This is much unlike the CISSP and CISM exams, which still use the old-school fill-in-the-bubble-really-good-otherwise-the-machine-will-fail-your-sorry-butt paper exam. That type of exam will take 6 to 8 weeks before you find out the results and YES it is a torture not knowing.

First thing I did as I started to take the exam was to write down all the formulas and the acronyms that I made up to remember the theories in the scratch paper that was provided by the exam proctor. Only to be somewhat disappointed (peeved more like) that out of the 200 questions less than ten asked about the formulas and none asked about the theories.

The exam allows you to mark the questions that you are unsure of the answer. It was complete downer when I had to mark the first 3 questions of the exam. After that, however, I was able to pick-up my stride.

Out of the 200 questions, 25 are what the PMI calls pretest questions. These questions are not graded and used by PMI to test-out some of the questions they will introduce in the future versions of the exam. The questions are spread-out throughout the exam and there is no way of knowing which of the questions are graded and which ones are pretests. Overall, only 175 questions are graded and I need to answer 106 of the graded questions correctly (approximately 60%) to pass. Factoring the 25 non-graded questions and some using some basic math and statistical probability, I figured I can miss 69 question and still pass the exam.

The exam was 4 hours long and I finished it within 2 and a half hours, giving me time to review the questions I marked. At this point I was completely burnt-out and I just wanted to get out of there. As I went through the marked items, I was surprised that I actually marked only a total of 29 questions. So I thought if I get all these questions wrong, what is the probability that I got 40 more questions wrong from the unmarked questions? Pretty low I thought. So instead of reviewing and stress-out over the 29 questions, I trusted my gut and submitted them as my final answers. And after a few it-looks-like-Windows-is-hanging-hour-glass seconds and answering a few survey questions, I got the result that I was waiting for: “Examination Result: PASS”.

Now where is that six pack?

As extracted from the ever-reliable Wikipedia :

Government, commercial and other organizations employ PMP certified project managers in an attempt to improve the success rate of projects in all areas of knowledge, by applying a standardized and evolving set of project management principles as contained in PMI’s PMBOK Guide.

Professionals obtain the credential to verify their proficiency in project management with an internationally accepted certificate. It has proven especially helpful for project managers trying to find jobs or self-employed project managers selling their services to customers.[citation needed]

Many contractors hire certified PMPs to make their bids and proposals more attractive to prospects. Sometimes, IFBs or RFPs require that project managers must be certified PMPs.

In December 2005, the PMP credential was tied for fourth place in CertCities.com’s 10 Hottest Certifications for 2006, and in December 2008, it was number 7 of ZDNet’s 10 best IT certifications.

I also found an article from About.com that list PMP as the highest paying certifications in the tech industry. Now if I could only put that article into reality for myself, it will be awesome considering I now hold two of the top four certifications listed in that article (the other being Certified Information Systems Security Professional or CISSP).

In any case as I did with my previous cert “conquests” (CISSP and CISM), I bypassed paying for the expensive training and opted to go the hard way, actually hitting the books and doing self-study the best way I know how. There were several factors that made it a little bit more difficult for me to focus this time around. I won’t talk about those factors in this entry as I don’t have any illusions or interest of being in a reality show . However, suffice it is to say that I was actually a little bit worried that I may not pass this one on the first try as I did in the other two.

To add to this is the fact that even though I have been using and somewhat familiar with various project management principles for quite some time, there are quite a number of concepts and terminologies in the PMI’s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) that was very new to me. Another key challenge was the way the PMBOK is intended to be learned. Much unlike the CISSP’s Common Body of Knowledge, wherein one can learn each of the 10 domains independently, the PMBOK is a methodology, whose knowledge areas are interdependent and with process groups that follow a particular road-map and relationships and have independent processes that within themselves have separate elements that inter-relate with other processes.

So aside from simply remembering terms and what-have-you, to effectively master the PMBOK, one must be able to understand how each of the knowledge areas, process groups, processes and elements (process input/output and tools and techniques) inter-relate and which one comes first. Needless to say it was a doozy.

Continued in Yeah Boy! I passed the PMP Exam… (Part 2)

To all those who enjoy the privilege of living in America. There is a cost to this freedom and prosperity and it is paid for by the sacrifices of those who proudly served and continue to serve. We always hear the cliche “Thank a veteran.”… I say here is your chance…

Passing along a note from a colleague and friend:“My name is Dale Ross and I have a true friend of mine that is soon to die with Cancer. His name is John Alapai, he is a retired US Army Command Sergeants Major (CSM) E-9 with over 24 years of service. His last assignment was with the 1st Battalion, 34th Armor, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley Kansas. He was the CSM for 1/34th AR during the Gulf War (1991). His birthday is 07 May and we are not sure if he is going to make that date. All I am asking if you could send him a birthday card and thank him for his 24 years of service, he also served in Vietnam where he earned the Purple Heart.

His address is:John Alapai
PO Box 106
Milford, Kansas 66514

For further information please feel free to contact me at dale@ alphaten.com and address 743 N Russell Street, Portland, Tn 37148.Thank You!”

Source: Wired.com

During that absence one of my projects was finally launched (after much heartache and banging-head-on-table moments). Check-out yPoodle.com, an online debt management platform that allows consumers to directly negotiate and settle their delinquent unsecured debt (i.e. credit card) with their debt collectors. Debt collectors can be the original creditor, collection agencies/lawyers or debt buyers. This has been the biggest project that I have had the opportunity to develop and design the system architecture and also be its project manager. There are plenty more enhancements that will be introduced in the coming weeks and months and will definitely eat up most of my time until this bad boy is able to fully walk on its own.

I’ve also decided that I will focus on pursuing the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. As I have always done with my pervious certifications, I did not want to pay them expensive “must-go-to-pass” schools and decided to study on my own. This means that I end up not having a life . This is my little self-study process:

1. First I fast-read the main study material from cover to cover and highlight (I essentially used up over 6 highlighters by the time I’m done) all the key items that I believe is important. This process took me a little bit over two weeks. (My fast-reading is not fast enough –> it was a damn thick book and despite all the indications to contrary, I DO have a life). Not too concerned about understanding or fully digesting the material at this point. The key is to simply identify the overall concept of each topic and find the important elements to be highlighted.
2. The next phase (the phase I am in at the moment as of this writing) is to start taking down notes from the items that I highlighted. I’m a little behind schedule on this one. But the process essentially entails that I type this items. Typing (sometimes writing – I abandoned this process a long time ago since it is quite tiring –> hands hurt after a few pages) the words allow me to now slowly digest the material. It builds up my memrory and therefore I am able to remember what I was reading. I am hoping to finish the note taking within the next two weeks. I am in the early part of chapter 3 of a 12 chapter book.
3. Third phase is typically the quickest, since I have already condensed the material into my notes. For example, I am on page 103 of the book while I have only used up 23 pages worth of notes. I will then reread the notes, try to understand what I’ve written and also do some additional research and enter in more notes if there are items that I feel seems unclear. I project this to take about a week.
4. The fourth phase of the process is digging into the practice exams. Understanding why I answered a question wrong is key. I try to go through as many practice exams I can get my hands on until the day of the real exam.
5. Finally, I did this when I was working on my CISSP certification, but did not do it for the CISM and I have no plans on doing it for this one. I bought audio CDs of the study material and practice exams. Ripped the CDs and loaded the audio into my iPod. For about a month that iPod was connected to my ear whenever possible (even in my sleep! Osmosis, baby, osmosis). I had a shorter study window for the CISM exam and also for this one. The materials are also a little bit smaller than the CISSP, so I think I can manage without this step.

Yep, it is a very long and strenuous process. But this is what works for me. I have not tried any of the schools out there, but I have talked to a whole bunch of folks who fessed up $2500 or more for these schools. I’ve talked to folks who took the school who failed and also to those who said that they would have never passed the exam if they have not went to the school. Not a scientific measurement by any means, but I feel it was a 50-50 chance where the school will not help you pass the exam at all. So I’d rather not spend that mondo-bucks and simply try to digest the material my way. It has worked well for me so far.

I’m scheduled to take the exam in about 7 weeks, April 24. So I will be pretty much deep in the studying trenches during that time period.

All that said, going back to the beginning of this post. I do feel a little guilty not being able to post anything new in this blog. I’m not even sure if people actually go here and read my rants, but I started it so I’d like to maintain it (this time …). The key purpose of this blog is provide another resource for folks who actually have the same interest as I do in technology, security and business, so I figured I will for now and until further notice, I will bypass the other segments that I try to introduce in this blog and focus simply on providing some resource info. This means I will continue to post the CISSP review notes and also the notes that I am taking right now for the PMP exam. Every now and then, if there is a really cool topic that pops into my head, I will post it, too. But I’m pretty sure you all can continue on with your lives without it …

You can send a $10 Donation by Texting ‘Haiti’ to 90999 or You can make a donation by calling 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish) or visit the Redcross site and click on the Donate Now button.

If $10.00 is a little bit more than you can afford right now, musician Wyclef Jean’s organization Yele Haiti also receives donations via text for $5.00. Yele Haiti’s website is http://www.yele.org/. You can text “YELE” to 501501 to give $5 to help with earthquake relief efforts.

In Canada, people can donate $5 to the Salvation Army by texting “Haiti” to 45678 through a system set up by the Mobile Giving Foundation.

Unless you have personally researched any other organization and know that they are trustworthy, be careful. YOU DON’T WANT YOUR WELL-INTENTIONED DOLLARS TO FALL INTO THE WRONG HANDS.

Not all “text to donate” services are created equal. Unfortunately, however appalling it may be, opportunistic scammers typically come out of the woodwork in the wake of catastrophes, hoping to strike it rich through fraudulent schemes.

In any case, not much really has happened in the past several weeks. I still haven’t seen Avatar (probably won’t see it til it comes out on video). Most of you would probably be saying, you don’t know what you’re missing. You should see it on 3D… Yada-yada-yada… Dunno, but I don’t really think it’s that big of a deal, I guess I’m one of the few out there. I prefer having a quiet, relaxing in my couch, watching a good story line over any movie that is over-hyped with effects and explosives.  Not much of a movie geek to begin with. Don’t get me wrong, I like movies, but I don’t go bonkers over it. As a matter of fact, I like technology also, but you’ll never see camp out 3 weeks, 2 weeks or even 2 hours in advance in front of an Apple store awaiting the next iPhone release. Seriously, I just don’t get the point why someone would. Can someone explain?

Just rented “Up”, “Cloudy with a chance of meatballs” and “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” and I still have to put in Transformers in the DVD player. Yes, that bad… …

All that said, this being a tech/business blog I figured for the first full entry of 2010 I share some of the tech/biz news that has hit the web in the first 11 days of the second decade of the 21st century:

1. Google is discovering the their Midas touch may not be as good in the physical world as it is in the virtual world as they they tried to release their first consumer hardware: The Honeymoon is over.

2. New Year’s Resolution – “I will attend CES 2011.”: Computer Electronic Show

3. It takes an orange to spill the beans on an apple: I could care less, really.

4. Mark is my Big Brother: Sucker for Zuckerberg.

5. And tad-ta-ra-ra!!! Drumroll, please… Presenting Your New True Companion…: Can you say creepy?

It’s time for that cheesy classic…