The All-Important Job Hunt

So I kinda feel like I haven't quite done with this blog what I originally set out to do - I want to talk about my move, my new job, and what all that does to your life. This includes the ups and downs, and I feel like I haven't completely represented things accurately.

I absolutely love my job; I'm not diggin' on my apartment much anymore...these things I've represented well in my blog.

But there are some things I haven't talked about that I may start doing posts on. Forgive the time-shifting. I will try to reference when these things happened so you'll have a better idea.

I wanted to talk about the time-consuming, boring, sometimes depressing, and just downright horrible time when you are looking for a job - yeah, sorry I made it sound so awful.

Let's start with everyone thinking you must have that job tied down before you graduate. I don't know about anyone else, but I was freaking busy at the end of my last semester. You still have to finish up projects, do presentations, take tests, and turn in papers. On top of that, you're sending out invitations to your graduation, coordinating graduation day activities, and you may be thinking and/or packing for an impending move. I am not all about adding something very important to that already-packed schedule.

So I decided that it was not important for me to add stress to a time when I should be finishing up my last semester and celebrating my graduation. Now I understand that not everyone has the luxury to do this - I feel lucky that I could. I graduated, I celebrated, I moved out of my apartment and back home with a firm idea that moving back in with my mom was temporary and that I really wanted to work at finding a good job. This plan doesn't always work out for everyone but suited me well. My motivation was that I enjoy working, I enjoy having a place of my own, I love my mom but don't really want to live with her, and having all of my stuff in boxes sucks.

I can't say that I was the most tenacious job hunter. I think it was incredibly boring to get up and sit at the computer all day looking at job postings, preparing cover letters, and e-mailing a bunch of companies - you just can't do that all day. I think a better way would have been to reach a goal every day of contacting so many companies, and then spend time doing other things just so you don't go crazy. I hate being un-busy. I actually really love when I have a lot going on so I feel like I'm not wasting time. I think when you're not working it's pretty hard not to feel like you're wasting time...I dunno, maybe it was just me.

The exciting time was when you got that coveted note that you have been accepted to interview. Then there can be all sorts of preparation work to get ready for said interview: do you have copies of your resume and references, directions to the company, confirmation of your interview time, have you gone over potential interview questions, checked out the company, have questions for them, do you know what you want, do you have your most capable outfit picked out, and so forth and so on.

After the interview is the most terrible waiting game. They can give you a ballpark of when you might hear but it's not certain. My waiting game was a month long! A month!! I literally thought I was going to explode every time I checked my e-mail or phone to see if I had heard anything back, every day...did I mention that was every day for a month.

And I was one of the lucky ones, I think. I waited to hear a long time about my job but it was one of the first jobs I applied for and one of two interviews I had before I actually landed the job. The other incredibly lucky thing for me was that it was the exact position I wanted with the kind of agency I wanted (big name but not a huge office), in a city I wanted, and when I interviewed it felt too good to be true. Lucky, lucky, lucky is all I can say. I feel so special that I got the exact job I wanted.

So there is light at the end of the tunnel! I didn't mean to make everything sound so horrible but it just really isn't a great time. The payoff is getting that coveted position with the company you want and things turning out great. Stick with it and all that mindless applying will pay off!