Update on The Job and life in general
Just in case someone didn't see my Facebook post I'll put the story of the Best Interview Ever behind this here cut. That way I can spare those who have already read it (because it is a long-ass story)
The background story for those who haven't been keeping score:
I was laid off of my 'paid the bills' job at the end of February. I knew about it in the beginning of February so I had started looking then, but basically the past few months have been nothing but frustration. I had finished school, I've been working part-time at Hallmark and working through my tax refunds and savings to cover expenses.
Come Monday (6/14):
I realize that I have to call unemployment. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with unemployment, there's no stigma for me, but I'd had just enough responses and had just enough money that I didn't want to do it until I needed to. And I was hitting that point. So Monday afternoon I call unemployment. I get a message that all lines are busy, try back later. I say I'll give it half an hour. In that half hour I get a call to set up an interview. For Tuesday. So I don't call unemployment back, figuring that if it doesn't go well Tuesday, I'll come home and call. I start looking at the job description again and the websites and get excited for the interview.
Tuesday (6/15):
I show up just before 2 for my interview. We sit down and start talking right away. Every question he asks me I answer completely honestly and he just looks amazed. Any bookkeeping experience? No, but I worked at a bank, and I was trained on the wrong computer system so I learned the right one on the fly. Worked with spreadsheets at all? Some at the grocery store, mostly Excel, though I have used Access. He's impressed that I've even heard of Access. What about marketing? I'm big into social media, I noticed that you aren't on Facebook. His eyes lit up (not only could I use the free social media/networking, but I had done enough research to realize they weren't there yet). I talked with his wife who runs the Summer Camps. I sat down at that computer, registered 2 kids for camp and sent out the invoice (under his direction, of course) and took dictation for an email. His wife showed me around the events center. I kicked off my heels. She said I can dress however I want for work, comfort is best, but she appreciated that I dressed up for the interview. They introduced me to all the staff that was working that day. He brought up compensation (and I'll be starting just a little higher than I was at the clinic). He said he would sleep easier that night, and that he would call me by noon the next day as he had one more interview scheduled. I was there for an hour and a half, and didn't realize it until I got in my car around 3:30. Unreal.
I couldn't sleep that night. It was like the only thing that could come between me and this job would be if this morning's candidate had been Jesus Christ himself. I kept getting up to jot down thoughts and ideas I had and wanted to bring up to Bruce. So exciting!
Wednesday (6/16):
He called at 10:45 AM. I called him back around 11:30 (on my break at the store). I start tomorrow morning. :o) So excited I can't wait!
Okay, so it just dawned on me that I interviewed a month ago yesterday. Can't believe I've been there for a month. Wow. Moving on...
I. Love. My. Job. Love. I don't know how to make the little FB/Twitter hearts happen here 'cause I'm sure the code is different, but envision them around the word LOVE and you'll be close to how I feel about my job.
This is absolutely what I should be doing at this point in my career. That's right, I used the C word. I've been wanting to get into nonprofit work however I could and I was willing to start at the bottom...but I didn't really have to. Because the work I'm responsible for calls for a little more than entry level experience. I had basically a week of training, and then I was literally on my own for two weeks. My predecessor had moved on to his new job and my boss and his wife were out of town on vacation for two full weeks. It was scary. I said "I don't know" a whole lot, but I only cried once, and at the end of the day I was still happy with my job. I looked at it this way, I had 5 big benchmarks for my performance those first couple of weeks--(1) everyone got paid, (2) people paid us, (3) the camps were running, (4) the building and grounds were still intact and (5) nobody died or got seriously injured--I was doing well. I knew there were things I probably should have been doing, but I didn't know what they were so I couldn't feel too bad about not doing them. My boss and his wife were pleased upon their return (this week) and we got to the hard work of promoting some upcoming events. I love it. LOVE. IT. I'm consistently excited to go to work. I'm really getting to take ownership of my job and responsibilities. I feel competent and capable at least 99% of the time. I'm receiving a LOT of positive feedback from all angles. I find that I want to do things on my own time. I can't stop the ideas from coming. I really like the people I work with and for. I feel valued and I'm doing something that I care about and feel good about at the end of the day. I constantly say I LOVE MY JOB.
I guess I should tell you all a little more about my company and what it is I do...
I work for a nonprofit called Upper Valley Presents, which is the parent organization for 4 other nonprofits and promotes arts and educational programs in the Upper Valley (the area immediately surrounding where we live). The four organizations within Presents are the Upper Valley Rock School, Summer Days Camp, the Open Air Summer Family Concert Series, and Music Together (I have linked to all the websites so you can learn more about the organizations on your own if you care to. I'll spare you the details here.). I am the Administrative Assistant to the Executive Director...or as my business card says "Executive Assistant", and I do a little bit of everything. Answering phones, fielding emails, creating documents, event promotion and logistics planning, running errands, making bank deposits, accounting type stuff, you name it, I do it. And if I don't do it yet I probably will at some point. I love my job. It's the right level of challenging--I get to learn programs I don't know and/or am inexperienced with, and just plain fun for me (like seriously, who else gets excited about the possibility of learning to write grants? 'cause seriously I'm excited about that). My psych background is helpful because I'm working with a diverse range of personalities and I'm able to keep perspective on where each is coming from and work with them instead of against them. And some really exciting things are happening in the organization right now (which I don't want to share too much about because they are still in the works and one never knows how/if they will work out)--but it's something very awesome to be a part of.
And my boss and I bonded over Elvis Costello today, so that's always a plus. :o)
Work aside I have a lot of very cool things on the horizon right now. Next weekend we are going down to Mass to see Jonathan Coulton with our friends and neighbors and the weekend after that I'm "performing" as one of the main characters for a photo-comic written in part by my friend Dan Barlow.
guess that's all for now. Thanks for listening. :o)
The background story for those who haven't been keeping score:
I was laid off of my 'paid the bills' job at the end of February. I knew about it in the beginning of February so I had started looking then, but basically the past few months have been nothing but frustration. I had finished school, I've been working part-time at Hallmark and working through my tax refunds and savings to cover expenses.
Come Monday (6/14):
I realize that I have to call unemployment. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with unemployment, there's no stigma for me, but I'd had just enough responses and had just enough money that I didn't want to do it until I needed to. And I was hitting that point. So Monday afternoon I call unemployment. I get a message that all lines are busy, try back later. I say I'll give it half an hour. In that half hour I get a call to set up an interview. For Tuesday. So I don't call unemployment back, figuring that if it doesn't go well Tuesday, I'll come home and call. I start looking at the job description again and the websites and get excited for the interview.
Tuesday (6/15):
I show up just before 2 for my interview. We sit down and start talking right away. Every question he asks me I answer completely honestly and he just looks amazed. Any bookkeeping experience? No, but I worked at a bank, and I was trained on the wrong computer system so I learned the right one on the fly. Worked with spreadsheets at all? Some at the grocery store, mostly Excel, though I have used Access. He's impressed that I've even heard of Access. What about marketing? I'm big into social media, I noticed that you aren't on Facebook. His eyes lit up (not only could I use the free social media/networking, but I had done enough research to realize they weren't there yet). I talked with his wife who runs the Summer Camps. I sat down at that computer, registered 2 kids for camp and sent out the invoice (under his direction, of course) and took dictation for an email. His wife showed me around the events center. I kicked off my heels. She said I can dress however I want for work, comfort is best, but she appreciated that I dressed up for the interview. They introduced me to all the staff that was working that day. He brought up compensation (and I'll be starting just a little higher than I was at the clinic). He said he would sleep easier that night, and that he would call me by noon the next day as he had one more interview scheduled. I was there for an hour and a half, and didn't realize it until I got in my car around 3:30. Unreal.
I couldn't sleep that night. It was like the only thing that could come between me and this job would be if this morning's candidate had been Jesus Christ himself. I kept getting up to jot down thoughts and ideas I had and wanted to bring up to Bruce. So exciting!
Wednesday (6/16):
He called at 10:45 AM. I called him back around 11:30 (on my break at the store). I start tomorrow morning. :o) So excited I can't wait!
Okay, so it just dawned on me that I interviewed a month ago yesterday. Can't believe I've been there for a month. Wow. Moving on...
I. Love. My. Job. Love. I don't know how to make the little FB/Twitter hearts happen here 'cause I'm sure the code is different, but envision them around the word LOVE and you'll be close to how I feel about my job.
This is absolutely what I should be doing at this point in my career. That's right, I used the C word. I've been wanting to get into nonprofit work however I could and I was willing to start at the bottom...but I didn't really have to. Because the work I'm responsible for calls for a little more than entry level experience. I had basically a week of training, and then I was literally on my own for two weeks. My predecessor had moved on to his new job and my boss and his wife were out of town on vacation for two full weeks. It was scary. I said "I don't know" a whole lot, but I only cried once, and at the end of the day I was still happy with my job. I looked at it this way, I had 5 big benchmarks for my performance those first couple of weeks--(1) everyone got paid, (2) people paid us, (3) the camps were running, (4) the building and grounds were still intact and (5) nobody died or got seriously injured--I was doing well. I knew there were things I probably should have been doing, but I didn't know what they were so I couldn't feel too bad about not doing them. My boss and his wife were pleased upon their return (this week) and we got to the hard work of promoting some upcoming events. I love it. LOVE. IT. I'm consistently excited to go to work. I'm really getting to take ownership of my job and responsibilities. I feel competent and capable at least 99% of the time. I'm receiving a LOT of positive feedback from all angles. I find that I want to do things on my own time. I can't stop the ideas from coming. I really like the people I work with and for. I feel valued and I'm doing something that I care about and feel good about at the end of the day. I constantly say I LOVE MY JOB.
I guess I should tell you all a little more about my company and what it is I do...
I work for a nonprofit called Upper Valley Presents, which is the parent organization for 4 other nonprofits and promotes arts and educational programs in the Upper Valley (the area immediately surrounding where we live). The four organizations within Presents are the Upper Valley Rock School, Summer Days Camp, the Open Air Summer Family Concert Series, and Music Together (I have linked to all the websites so you can learn more about the organizations on your own if you care to. I'll spare you the details here.). I am the Administrative Assistant to the Executive Director...or as my business card says "Executive Assistant", and I do a little bit of everything. Answering phones, fielding emails, creating documents, event promotion and logistics planning, running errands, making bank deposits, accounting type stuff, you name it, I do it. And if I don't do it yet I probably will at some point. I love my job. It's the right level of challenging--I get to learn programs I don't know and/or am inexperienced with, and just plain fun for me (like seriously, who else gets excited about the possibility of learning to write grants? 'cause seriously I'm excited about that). My psych background is helpful because I'm working with a diverse range of personalities and I'm able to keep perspective on where each is coming from and work with them instead of against them. And some really exciting things are happening in the organization right now (which I don't want to share too much about because they are still in the works and one never knows how/if they will work out)--but it's something very awesome to be a part of.
And my boss and I bonded over Elvis Costello today, so that's always a plus. :o)
Work aside I have a lot of very cool things on the horizon right now. Next weekend we are going down to Mass to see Jonathan Coulton with our friends and neighbors and the weekend after that I'm "performing" as one of the main characters for a photo-comic written in part by my friend Dan Barlow.
guess that's all for now. Thanks for listening. :o)