Relief.
I applied for an Orientation position at a mid-sized university in the Northeast in the middle of January. I wasn't sure at the time that I even wanted to work for School X in the Northeast but it was January and I had only applied for one job to date and it was in the functional area I wanted so I said, WHY NOT?
I heard nothing from School X and knowing they had a preferred start date of April 1, crossed them off my list early March. Soon after, they called. They said it took them close to a month to review applications (to which I thought, good lord that's a long time...) and they wanted to extend a phone interview to me. I accepted though I was caught off guard and surprised as I had already mentally ruled it out.
After completing the phone interview close to two weeks ago, I hung up and thought, man, I blew that one! I didn't feel confident in my answers and struggled to connect with the other 7 strangers on the other end of the phone. I once again crossed the job off my list.
Then yesterday, they called. They wanted me to come visit campus. I didn't immediately return the call as I was trying to process why I wasn't giddy with excitement or even gleeful. What did this mean? I spent all night thinking about it and trying not to weigh the on campus interview I did last week knowing that job could easily not come my way and I couldn't put all the eggs in one basket. So I kept flip flopping. I'll go. I won't go. I'll go. I won't go. I planned to call the school back today but in the interim, they both called again and emailed me. I was to the point where part of me said, "GO. Interviewing is good. You may love it. You may fall in love with the school and the city and even though you know no one there and have never been to the area, it could be a good fit." But another part of me said, "You love the functional area. But you don't love the title. or the salary. or the size of the institution. It's large, public; not small, private." I felt so torn and so burdened with what to do.
True, accepting the invite to visit on campus wasn't a guarantee I'd be offered the job. But if I wasn't feeling the job in my heart of hearts, then what was I doing agreeing to go visit campus and take the place of someone else who was more excited than me. After consulting several folks and listening to my heart, I called today and declined the invitation. Immediately, RELIEF flooded over me and I knew I had made the right choice. School X was incredibly respectful of my decision and informed me they had over 350 candidates apply for the position and I made it into the top 7 and then into the top of those. They said I'm a catch and will find the right position and job for me and I should know that I'm a highly desirable candidate. So with that, I said thank you! wished them well with the search and hung up.
Here's hoping for good news to come from one school and if not, for the resilience to keep on applying and keep on hoping that it'll all work out in the end.
Cheers.
I heard nothing from School X and knowing they had a preferred start date of April 1, crossed them off my list early March. Soon after, they called. They said it took them close to a month to review applications (to which I thought, good lord that's a long time...) and they wanted to extend a phone interview to me. I accepted though I was caught off guard and surprised as I had already mentally ruled it out.
After completing the phone interview close to two weeks ago, I hung up and thought, man, I blew that one! I didn't feel confident in my answers and struggled to connect with the other 7 strangers on the other end of the phone. I once again crossed the job off my list.
Then yesterday, they called. They wanted me to come visit campus. I didn't immediately return the call as I was trying to process why I wasn't giddy with excitement or even gleeful. What did this mean? I spent all night thinking about it and trying not to weigh the on campus interview I did last week knowing that job could easily not come my way and I couldn't put all the eggs in one basket. So I kept flip flopping. I'll go. I won't go. I'll go. I won't go. I planned to call the school back today but in the interim, they both called again and emailed me. I was to the point where part of me said, "GO. Interviewing is good. You may love it. You may fall in love with the school and the city and even though you know no one there and have never been to the area, it could be a good fit." But another part of me said, "You love the functional area. But you don't love the title. or the salary. or the size of the institution. It's large, public; not small, private." I felt so torn and so burdened with what to do.
True, accepting the invite to visit on campus wasn't a guarantee I'd be offered the job. But if I wasn't feeling the job in my heart of hearts, then what was I doing agreeing to go visit campus and take the place of someone else who was more excited than me. After consulting several folks and listening to my heart, I called today and declined the invitation. Immediately, RELIEF flooded over me and I knew I had made the right choice. School X was incredibly respectful of my decision and informed me they had over 350 candidates apply for the position and I made it into the top 7 and then into the top of those. They said I'm a catch and will find the right position and job for me and I should know that I'm a highly desirable candidate. So with that, I said thank you! wished them well with the search and hung up.
Here's hoping for good news to come from one school and if not, for the resilience to keep on applying and keep on hoping that it'll all work out in the end.
Cheers.
Comments
one of these days we're going to sit down with a couple beers and you're going to tell me who all these schools are. i'm curious!
and yeah - i want to share those beers with y'all as well, and discuss these schools!