Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait (and WAIT)

Yes, after nearly a month of waiting, my last box of RWA 2010 loot came in, fully intact! Ultimately, shipping my books in three flat-rate boxes cost a bit more than last year and took a bit longer so I guess I learned my lesson. But still! Loot! I won't be creeping into any more book stores for a long time after this. Aren't they pretty?

In other news, after a long, long and incredibly spirit-draining three months of unemployment, I now have a job. A pretty kick-ass job, as a matter of fact. A job that is about a million times better than the last job I held. Good pay, fantastic benefits, a great environment, room to advance, easy transportation, my own cubicle and name plate, work that I like and am good at. The perfect job, really.

Let me tell you, being unemployed sucks. Being unemployed for three months sucks balls. Being unemployed for three months, whilst enduring dozens and dozens of job interviews and placement agency testings that shoot my hopes up only for nothing to come of them, sucks ZOMBIE DONKEY BALLS. I mean, I kept getting all these interviews, so I thought something about my resume must be good. But months passed and I never got hired, despite all those interviews, so the creeping paranoia set in that something must be wrong with me. Something I didn't know about. Something about my interview skills - was it my fashion sense? My references? Bad breath? What could it be? How could I fix it if I didn't know what it was?

Hopelessness began to set in. I felt like the loser slacker in the sitcoms who still lives with her parents and can't get a job. I no longer felt excited about interviews - no, that's not true. I still felt excited when I got to the interview and it seemed to go well and the company seemed great, but I couldn't afford to get my hopes up afterward. I couldn't understand what God's plan for me was.

Now, of course, I know what God's plan was. I went for an interview at the Dream Job. By this point, I'd been to so many interviews I was no longer nervous about answering tough questions like What I Felt My Weaknesses Were, and now knew better than to head into an interview without researching the company first. I could easily recite the well-worn stories about going above and beyond for a client, how my previous job experience was relevant to the current job posting, how I felt communication was my primary problem solver.

But my expectations? Lower than low. This company was too good, too professional. I'd been refused a job in a mailroom. Chapters hadn't even called me back, and they were retail! I'd speed-typed my way through seven different placement agencies with no results. It was obvious I would have to work temp work or for some small, one-room office operation or call centre.

The next day, I got a call from my mum while I was at a festival with my friend. The Dream Job wanted me to call them back. I dared to hope - just a little. Something to look forward to before the very nice regional manager gave me the inevitable "thought I'd let you know that unfortunately we've gone with another candidate" speech. I called them back.

I got the job. THE job. The dream job. The manager said, "I want you to know that you were the first candidate we interviewed, and you made it really difficult to interview anyone else. I wanted to hire you on the spot but I thought I would give it to the end of the day just to be fair, but I knew I couldn't hold another day of interviews. I was so impressed with your skills, your knowledge, your professionalism" -- by this point, over the phone, I was somewhat belying my sense of professionalism by happy-dancing.

In hindsight, I could see Big G's plan. All those interviews, all those months of polishing and waiting and trying, it was all meant to lead up to The Dream Interview. I needed those months of attempts so that by the time I had the Dream Interview, interviewing was so ingrained in me that I could show the best part of myself without being nervous. I had to go through the hell of being interviewed and passed over for crapshoot, poorly-paid jobs I didn't really want (except to pay the bills) in order to be ready to ace the interview for the job I really wanted.

So now I'm hired, and I just had my first day of work today. The office is full of a lot of great people and while there is a lot to learn (and I mean a lot), it's all work that I really like. It's a place where I can really build a career and make a lot of friends - it's definitely not the dead-end, pay-the-bills-until-I'm-published kind of deal I thought I'd eventually have to settle for.

So I'm really looking forward to working my ass off!

15 comments:

  1. So, what do you DO at the Dream Job, generally like? :)

    It's great when you finally know The Plan. It took me a looong time to get there with much despair over the unfulfilling job and angsting over what I'd be good at. But in hindsight it all led up to The Plan, even a chronic illness and trying and failing to buy a house. Pretty cool . . . after the fact, anyway!

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  2. Whoo-hoo! Congratulations. I am absolutely delighted for you.

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  3. Congratulations on your achievement AnimeJune. Hope it continues to go well.

    (I, like MaryK, would also like the dish on your new job, so feel free to share :D )

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  4. Anonymous2:40 AM

    Those books are adorable. I've been in the same company for 5 years but now I am planning to move in a new country so I am back in the "recruiting game" and it's tough, I am out of practice...Congrats on Your new Job!

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  5. Anonymous4:18 AM

    Thanks you for sharing this wonderful story. Congratulations!

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  6. Vorkosigrrl9:00 AM

    Congrats! That's great. So what's the job??

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  7. Congratulations! Excellent use of Zombie Donkey Balls....lmao!

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  8. Yippee for New Job and double yippee for the books finally showing up!

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  9. Awesome!!! Congrats on the Dream Job. He does work in mysterious ways until we stop and look back over everything he's done LOL.

    Oh and all the pretties on top of it was icing on the cake

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  10. A double dose of congrats to you - for getting the books - and for getting the job!! There's nothing more demoralizing is there than going for interviews, thinking you nailed it and then finding out that they went with someone else. You're left wondering what you did wrong what did the other person have that you didn't?
    It took me to my mid fifties to finally find my dream job so sometimes it takes longer than we want it to.
    And I really get what you are saying about God's plan. For a while now I've been trying to get into the supportive care department but for one reason or another I didn't get the jobs that were posted. Finally, just before I left for Florida, I found out that I had it after all. Today I went on my first home visit and the couple we saw could have been Ron and I the situations were so similar - except she was the one with cancer and he was her caregiver. But I felt such immense empathy for what they were going through and I realized it I had of got the job earlier, I wouldn't have been able to handle the emotions I felt seeing them.
    So yup - God's plan isn't ours but it's a much wiser one isn't it?

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  11. Anonymous5:34 AM

    Congratulations on getting the job!! Also, have fun reading the books from RWA. I can't wait to read your reviews.

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  12. MaryK, Kaetrin, Vorkosigrrl --> Admin work at an insurance company. Full time, permanent, salaried, benefits. However, as it is insurance, a lot of what I do regards confidential paperwork so I can't say too much about my job, other than I enjoy it. :)

    Kerry, Emily, RRRJessica, Sarai, Antonia --> Thank you!

    Jen D --> LOL

    Wendy --> SO happy the books were not lost in the mail!

    Kristie J --> Wow. It's sometimes pretty awe-inspiring how life all comes together, isn't it?

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  13. Yay!! My husband was in a similar situation this summer. He starts his new job Monday. Woot!

    Here's to finding good work in a tough economy. Congrats.

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  14. Huge, humongous congratulations to you, AnimeJune!

    What an awesome and rewarding thing--gives those of us struggling to get a better position quite a bit of hope, thank you for sharing it!

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  15. Anonymous3:07 PM

    Try being unemployed 2 years before you complain.

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