I have had several interviews that I felt like I nailed without trying. However, I got that dreaded email, "While you were a strong candidate, we decided to go in another direction." GRRR! My brother recommended that Paul try to apply at Unisys, and when I saw a part-time opportunity on Monster.com, I applied too. I didn't think I was going to make it, but I got an email for a phone interview. Okay. That's good I guess. I signed up for the interview, and when the day came that I was to get the call, I was VERY tired. Phone clutched deeply in my hands, I napped on the couch until the call came. Don't tell Unisys, but I had to pee so bad that I peed during the interview. I tried to space it out, but...I don't know.
Surprise, surprise, I got a call in a few days for an in-person interview. Of course, Paul didn't recognize the phone number, nor area code, so he let it go to voicemail. Unfortunately, he didn't tell me about it for a few days, and it took my cell phone FOREVER to charge so I couldn't call Unisys back right away. When I did, it was March 13th, and the voicemail message I was met with said my agent would be out of town until Tuesday March 14th. So I left a message expecting her to call me back within about 48 hours. Last week, on the 22nd, I got a call back from the agent. If you could see it from my perspective, I had written Unisys off as a no go because they hadn't contacted me. I thought they moved on, and left me behind. Before the end of the call, I had a interview set up for the following day.
Fast forward to the interview. I get really nervous when I know I have something good/important to go to, and I tend to leave the house VERY early. I can get there between half an hour, and,at most, even two hours early. When that happens, I'll listen to music in the car, or maybe my mysteries that I've been listening to lately (maybe I'll talk about that later or not). There was nothing there! I looked as my GPS guided me, and it was all business and industrial parks for miles around. So, I pulled up, double checked the number on the door, and listened to my book as long as I could hold out. As I signed up at the security desk and got my name tag, I noticed that I was still like a half hour early. My agent told me that the person I was to interview with was in meetings from 1-2pm, and 3-4pm. I expected to wait, and wait even longer when the guard said that he wasn't picking up. So I wasn't sitting all professional like. (yes, there is a difference), and I think that I was even picking at a zit/blemish on my face when I was startled. Someone has stealthily snuck up behind me and said,"Elizabeth?" Holy cow! I felt like I jumped fifteen feet in the air. Some guy named Steve, (I could write another blog post about my paranoid observations in relation to him/the person I was scheduled to interview with), had appeared to guide me into a conference room.
Onto the interview. Paul had read an article about getting work that said, basically, you can BS yourself in as long as you are confident and appear to know what you are doing. "Remember LE, confidence." Paul had told me on the way out. I answered every question but about two, and I was confident. The words, "uh, um, er" did not escape my lips, I was rocking this. Scot said I had done good, and he would like to make me an offer. The next thing I knew, he was escorting me out, and accidentally spilling coffee on my shoes! (His coffee cup was twisted one way while was was fiddling with papers the other way; we've all done that.). On the way home I was thinking about what he had said and what had happened, and of course, I'm over analyzing things.
When I came back home, Paul and I decided to take a family nap with X. Paul had the phone and we got a call. I was half asleep at the time, and again Paul has the tendency to hang up on phone numbers he doesn't know. Guess who he hung up on? My agent from Unisys. Thankfully the phone goes straight to voicemail when you hit ignore. She said that they would love to get me on board and she would be rushing the background so I could start on April 6th! I immediately told Paul, and we were so excited that we woke up prematurely so we could jump around and hug and what not. FINALLY! A solid job offer. The agent did say that it required a Top-Secret clearance because I would be working with the DoD (Department of Defence). My dad says that Top-Secret would mean my family gets a visit from the FBI, and my brother-in-law says a Top-Secret clearance requires a year of investigating. He's got a Secret clearance. and apparently that took some-odd months to complete. My agent said it would take 5-10 days to complete, so it's not likely Top-Secret, but maybe instead an In-House clearance. I guess it doesn't really matter, and I have obtained a security clearance before, so I don't see what the issue will be.
At the current moment, it is 11:20pm. I was supposed to be asleep at 8 because the shift I am doing starts at 4am.That's not long to sleep, and I am trying to get used to being up at 4am without needing to go to bed. I can't sleep. I blame it on swim class (I will tell you about that later, maybe). I am feeling under-qualified, overstressed, and under-confident. I don't know if I can actually do the job I am hired to do. I don't know a lot of thing lately. I just don't know. Anyways...
Surprise, surprise, I got a call in a few days for an in-person interview. Of course, Paul didn't recognize the phone number, nor area code, so he let it go to voicemail. Unfortunately, he didn't tell me about it for a few days, and it took my cell phone FOREVER to charge so I couldn't call Unisys back right away. When I did, it was March 13th, and the voicemail message I was met with said my agent would be out of town until Tuesday March 14th. So I left a message expecting her to call me back within about 48 hours. Last week, on the 22nd, I got a call back from the agent. If you could see it from my perspective, I had written Unisys off as a no go because they hadn't contacted me. I thought they moved on, and left me behind. Before the end of the call, I had a interview set up for the following day.
Fast forward to the interview. I get really nervous when I know I have something good/important to go to, and I tend to leave the house VERY early. I can get there between half an hour, and,at most, even two hours early. When that happens, I'll listen to music in the car, or maybe my mysteries that I've been listening to lately (maybe I'll talk about that later or not). There was nothing there! I looked as my GPS guided me, and it was all business and industrial parks for miles around. So, I pulled up, double checked the number on the door, and listened to my book as long as I could hold out. As I signed up at the security desk and got my name tag, I noticed that I was still like a half hour early. My agent told me that the person I was to interview with was in meetings from 1-2pm, and 3-4pm. I expected to wait, and wait even longer when the guard said that he wasn't picking up. So I wasn't sitting all professional like. (yes, there is a difference), and I think that I was even picking at a zit/blemish on my face when I was startled. Someone has stealthily snuck up behind me and said,"Elizabeth?" Holy cow! I felt like I jumped fifteen feet in the air. Some guy named Steve, (I could write another blog post about my paranoid observations in relation to him/the person I was scheduled to interview with), had appeared to guide me into a conference room.
Onto the interview. Paul had read an article about getting work that said, basically, you can BS yourself in as long as you are confident and appear to know what you are doing. "Remember LE, confidence." Paul had told me on the way out. I answered every question but about two, and I was confident. The words, "uh, um, er" did not escape my lips, I was rocking this. Scot said I had done good, and he would like to make me an offer. The next thing I knew, he was escorting me out, and accidentally spilling coffee on my shoes! (His coffee cup was twisted one way while was was fiddling with papers the other way; we've all done that.). On the way home I was thinking about what he had said and what had happened, and of course, I'm over analyzing things.
When I came back home, Paul and I decided to take a family nap with X. Paul had the phone and we got a call. I was half asleep at the time, and again Paul has the tendency to hang up on phone numbers he doesn't know. Guess who he hung up on? My agent from Unisys. Thankfully the phone goes straight to voicemail when you hit ignore. She said that they would love to get me on board and she would be rushing the background so I could start on April 6th! I immediately told Paul, and we were so excited that we woke up prematurely so we could jump around and hug and what not. FINALLY! A solid job offer. The agent did say that it required a Top-Secret clearance because I would be working with the DoD (Department of Defence). My dad says that Top-Secret would mean my family gets a visit from the FBI, and my brother-in-law says a Top-Secret clearance requires a year of investigating. He's got a Secret clearance. and apparently that took some-odd months to complete. My agent said it would take 5-10 days to complete, so it's not likely Top-Secret, but maybe instead an In-House clearance. I guess it doesn't really matter, and I have obtained a security clearance before, so I don't see what the issue will be.
At the current moment, it is 11:20pm. I was supposed to be asleep at 8 because the shift I am doing starts at 4am.That's not long to sleep, and I am trying to get used to being up at 4am without needing to go to bed. I can't sleep. I blame it on swim class (I will tell you about that later, maybe). I am feeling under-qualified, overstressed, and under-confident. I don't know if I can actually do the job I am hired to do. I don't know a lot of thing lately. I just don't know. Anyways...
No comments:
Post a Comment