TO That's All About the Timing
I’ve been looking for years for a job, both teaching and otherwise. And for the last two years, nothing has panned out. That is until now.
There is something to be said for sleeping in some days. On Tuesday, September 19, I was supposed to be getting up early to straighten up the basement. Not in the mood to clean, I kept hitting the snooze button on my alarm clock. A good two hours later, I was beginning to think that I should at least get up to pee before coming back into bed and shutting off the alarm altogether, when the beast in question went off yet again.
The radio went off and instead of playing that FABULOUS Beyonce song “Ring the Alarm,” for the third time this morning, it was instead a commercial for a job fair in Allentown at the Fairgrounds. Listening, I heard them mention that they would be having a variety of employers there, including some Clerical/Administrative work.
I thought, “What the hell!” and decided to go to the festival, er fair. Later that night, I looked up the list of employers attending and did a little background research on them, highlighting the ones that I planned on checking out. One such company was Knoll, International. I picked them for the simple reason that “They make furniture, COOL!”
Well, the job fair was something of a bust. A good 70% of the employers were looking for factory/dock workers, another 20% medical/social services, and about 5% Customer Service or Marketing. The last miniscule 5% was Administrative/Clerical. So, I was not having much luck. I did manage to find Kutztown University [KU] which I had double-starred on my list. If I could work for them, I’d get a free education, PLUS, it’s only 10 minutes from my front door step to theirs. They were offering a job for a Clerk Typist 2---I just got certified for that position from the Civil Service Commission. I was so friggin excited, I bombarded the lady representative with questions and offered to give her my resume. She told me I had to apply online for their jobs. I took a flyer with the job description and URL and continued on.
After an hour, I had found most everyone on my list, with the exception of two, Knoll included. I was on my way out when I looked up and there was Knoll’s booth. I skimmed their list of job offers. Among the many listings for factory workers was one brief line that read: Data Entry Clerk: Typing Speed of a at least 40 WPM. Not impressive, but I still shouted out, “Hey, you have a Data Entry position!” The lady behind the booth nodded and said, “Yes, we do, and I’ve been told several times today that a lot of people were having trouble finding clerical work.” [Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who noticed that their advertisement lied.]
I asked if I could give her my resume, she said yes, and that was the end of it. Truth be told, I never expected to hear anything about any of the jobs I applied for there. I continued on with my life, enjoying my evening out with John Broody et al. for our birthdays and then mourning my afternoon with family the following day.
My Birthday. Notorious for being terrible, I was almost scared to wake up that day. I figured, “It’s MY birthday dammit, I’m gonna sleep in. So, I awoke around 2:00 [hey, when I sleep in, I sleep in]. I lolled about for an hour, cuddling with my puppy and watching some TV until I was ambulatory.
It was around 3:00 when I felt obligated to do something. I went upstairs to finish repainting the paneling in the kitchen. I say re-painting because Mom decided, three months later that she didn’t like the color we had chosen for the kitchen. We ended up choosing a beige that in the can looks like chocolate milk.
The area I was painting houses the jack for the phone. I disconnected the phone so I wouldn’t get paint on the cord. This wasn’t a problem because we have an old phone in the basement that doesn’t have caller-ID capabilities and goes off before all the other newer phones. I heard this buzz [cause it’s THAT old] and quick shoved the plug in the jack. Thinking it was Mom calling to let us know she was leaving work, I didn’t wait for the caller-ID to register, but picked up the phone right away.
It was a man asking for me. This was a little odd, thinking they were gonna offer me a subscription to the latest in crap-azines or possibly hound me for money, I was wary to say, “Yes, this is she.” He replied, “Hello, this is So-and-so from Knoll, International…”
What followed was a brief, impromptu over-the-phone interview, which went very well because he asked me to come in for an in-person interview.
I do hope this means my bad birthday cycle has ended.
The following day, I went over to John and Val’s for my birthday dinner of John’s homemade wings and Val’s potatoes. I brought an ice cream cake. Everything was delicious, even though John got the sauce a bit too hot at first. We watched Little Shop of Horrors and then the big episode of Project Runway, in which we knew what was gonna happen because of the effing previews that Bravo put out, showing Heidi saying, “It’s not going to be three people that go to fashion week.” Sadly, I thought that Michael should’ve gone home. He was the least like himself; and sensuality, sexiness, and seductive are all the same word, hun! Although, Jeff’s was dreadful, too. I personally think that they allowed all of them into the final because they couldn’t decide whose outfit sucked worse enough to get them kicked them off.
After some words of encouragement from John, “I love interviews! They’re all about meeting new people and schmoozing them,” I left.
But I digress. The next morning was my interview. And, of course, I had a “sour belly,” although I am still not sure if it was from nerves or the wings. Either way, it was bad. I arrived early, wearing my black pant suit with the red shell, and of course, my ladybug pin for luck as well as the diamond ring Hope gave me after graduation and Mom’s diamond earrings. Also, I was genuinely embarrassed that I was going to an interview with the roots so bad on my hair, but Holly couldn’t fit me in.
All things considered, it was great. And you know that’s something because I never think interviews go well. It went so well, in fact, that by the end of my nearly three hours there [I did a bit of meeting of others, had two subsequent interviews on top of the one with Mr. So-and-So who called me, and also sat and watched a lovely lady named Yvonne do the job] that they were talking about hiring me through the company, not through a temp agency as per the original agreement.
The job, were I to get offered it, would be doing something extremely similar to what I did at the store from hell Boscov’s, except without the horrid work environment. And, of course, it’s bad etiquette to bash another company in a job interview, but they asked questions, so I told them, as kindly as I could, that Randy told us repeatedly when we tried to solve problems in order to avoid getting yelled at later, “You’re monkeys. You worry about what I tell you to worry about.” They were sufficiently appalled and indignant on my behalf.
I came away feeling decent. All that was left was to fill out the application for Knoll that was given me by Interviewer #3, and wait for them to check my references.
In the mean time, as some of you may recall from another post, I had been sent a letter from the Liquor Control Board [LCB] asking me if I’d be interested in an interview with them. After my interview with Knoll, and the horrible conversation with Hope, I decided I’d at least try at the LCB, figuring it couldn't hurt, and returned their letter. A few days later, I applied online at QVC after a very sad Friday night which was spent watching the Joan Rivers Classics 16th Anniversary Special. Finally, I went to the KU website and filled out their application for a Clerk Typist. I figured it was a smart move. Incidentally, I've decided that if it should come down to it, I’ll take KU. It would most likely be a pay cut, but I’d be saving money on gas as it’s only 10 minutes away. Also, it’s 10 minutes away! Their work day, as opposed to Knoll’s at 8 - 5, is 8 - 4. I’d get better vacation at KU, AND the ultimate bonus---FREE EDUCATION!!!! I could go back to school and get a different degree. Possibly that BS in Chemistry which is what I should’ve done in the first place. Then I could go and be a Chem teacher.
Then, in an interesting twist of fate, I called So-and-so last Friday, just to check up on the status of the job. Later that day, when I brought the mail in, I discovered that I had been sent another “are-you-interested-in-an-interview-with-us” letter, this time from the PA Unemployment office in Allentown. I filled that out, but it has yet to be sent off, and that is because…
So-and-so called me back yesterday evening before closing and informed me that I have been offered the position at Knoll. I’d be making $10,000 more a year to start than I did at Boscov’s, for doing pretty much the same thing. I accepted. I start Monday. I’m still a bit ambivalent about the whole thing, maybe because it happened faster than a teenager losing her virginity on prom night, but I figured if nothing else, it’s a job. It’s steady money. It’s health insurance. It’s gonna help me pay bills. It’s gonna help me get that new car I so desperately need.
Over the last week and a half that I’ve had to think about the whole strange situation, as well as Hope’s harsh words, “I couldn’t help but wonder” [to use an over-used phrase of Carrie’s], was it always really all that easy? Was Hope [and the Slytherin mentality] right? Didn’t I fight hard enough? Possibly. What’s more possible, is that everything happens when it does for a reason. Those extra jobs I had interview offers for only came because it was AFTER I took the Clerk Typist exam. Knoll came about because I heard the advertisement for the job fair on the radio while slacking off one morning.
The lesson to be learned from this children, is that it’s all about the timing.
NB: As some of you may have noticed, I made a new icon. Which, ironically, came from a Sex and the City montage video someone posted to the community---on the same day I got the job offer.
Watching that scene of the final episode always makes me cry, because Charlotte, the dreamer, the ultimate Idealist, finally has it all. Everything she ever wanted: Harry and a baby on the way. Sometimes, I’m such a girl.
NOTICE TO MYSPACE FRIENDS - I double-posted this into my myspace blog. I am leaving notification of the double-post here because there are some people on myspace to whom I do not wish to make my LJ known.
There is something to be said for sleeping in some days. On Tuesday, September 19, I was supposed to be getting up early to straighten up the basement. Not in the mood to clean, I kept hitting the snooze button on my alarm clock. A good two hours later, I was beginning to think that I should at least get up to pee before coming back into bed and shutting off the alarm altogether, when the beast in question went off yet again.
The radio went off and instead of playing that FABULOUS Beyonce song “Ring the Alarm,” for the third time this morning, it was instead a commercial for a job fair in Allentown at the Fairgrounds. Listening, I heard them mention that they would be having a variety of employers there, including some Clerical/Administrative work.
I thought, “What the hell!” and decided to go to the festival, er fair. Later that night, I looked up the list of employers attending and did a little background research on them, highlighting the ones that I planned on checking out. One such company was Knoll, International. I picked them for the simple reason that “They make furniture, COOL!”
Well, the job fair was something of a bust. A good 70% of the employers were looking for factory/dock workers, another 20% medical/social services, and about 5% Customer Service or Marketing. The last miniscule 5% was Administrative/Clerical. So, I was not having much luck. I did manage to find Kutztown University [KU] which I had double-starred on my list. If I could work for them, I’d get a free education, PLUS, it’s only 10 minutes from my front door step to theirs. They were offering a job for a Clerk Typist 2---I just got certified for that position from the Civil Service Commission. I was so friggin excited, I bombarded the lady representative with questions and offered to give her my resume. She told me I had to apply online for their jobs. I took a flyer with the job description and URL and continued on.
After an hour, I had found most everyone on my list, with the exception of two, Knoll included. I was on my way out when I looked up and there was Knoll’s booth. I skimmed their list of job offers. Among the many listings for factory workers was one brief line that read: Data Entry Clerk: Typing Speed of a at least 40 WPM. Not impressive, but I still shouted out, “Hey, you have a Data Entry position!” The lady behind the booth nodded and said, “Yes, we do, and I’ve been told several times today that a lot of people were having trouble finding clerical work.” [Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who noticed that their advertisement lied.]
I asked if I could give her my resume, she said yes, and that was the end of it. Truth be told, I never expected to hear anything about any of the jobs I applied for there. I continued on with my life, enjoying my evening out with John Broody et al. for our birthdays and then mourning my afternoon with family the following day.
My Birthday. Notorious for being terrible, I was almost scared to wake up that day. I figured, “It’s MY birthday dammit, I’m gonna sleep in. So, I awoke around 2:00 [hey, when I sleep in, I sleep in]. I lolled about for an hour, cuddling with my puppy and watching some TV until I was ambulatory.
It was around 3:00 when I felt obligated to do something. I went upstairs to finish repainting the paneling in the kitchen. I say re-painting because Mom decided, three months later that she didn’t like the color we had chosen for the kitchen. We ended up choosing a beige that in the can looks like chocolate milk.
The area I was painting houses the jack for the phone. I disconnected the phone so I wouldn’t get paint on the cord. This wasn’t a problem because we have an old phone in the basement that doesn’t have caller-ID capabilities and goes off before all the other newer phones. I heard this buzz [cause it’s THAT old] and quick shoved the plug in the jack. Thinking it was Mom calling to let us know she was leaving work, I didn’t wait for the caller-ID to register, but picked up the phone right away.
It was a man asking for me. This was a little odd, thinking they were gonna offer me a subscription to the latest in crap-azines or possibly hound me for money, I was wary to say, “Yes, this is she.” He replied, “Hello, this is So-and-so from Knoll, International…”
What followed was a brief, impromptu over-the-phone interview, which went very well because he asked me to come in for an in-person interview.
I do hope this means my bad birthday cycle has ended.
The following day, I went over to John and Val’s for my birthday dinner of John’s homemade wings and Val’s potatoes. I brought an ice cream cake. Everything was delicious, even though John got the sauce a bit too hot at first. We watched Little Shop of Horrors and then the big episode of Project Runway, in which we knew what was gonna happen because of the effing previews that Bravo put out, showing Heidi saying, “It’s not going to be three people that go to fashion week.” Sadly, I thought that Michael should’ve gone home. He was the least like himself; and sensuality, sexiness, and seductive are all the same word, hun! Although, Jeff’s was dreadful, too. I personally think that they allowed all of them into the final because they couldn’t decide whose outfit sucked worse enough to get them kicked them off.
After some words of encouragement from John, “I love interviews! They’re all about meeting new people and schmoozing them,” I left.
But I digress. The next morning was my interview. And, of course, I had a “sour belly,” although I am still not sure if it was from nerves or the wings. Either way, it was bad. I arrived early, wearing my black pant suit with the red shell, and of course, my ladybug pin for luck as well as the diamond ring Hope gave me after graduation and Mom’s diamond earrings. Also, I was genuinely embarrassed that I was going to an interview with the roots so bad on my hair, but Holly couldn’t fit me in.
All things considered, it was great. And you know that’s something because I never think interviews go well. It went so well, in fact, that by the end of my nearly three hours there [I did a bit of meeting of others, had two subsequent interviews on top of the one with Mr. So-and-So who called me, and also sat and watched a lovely lady named Yvonne do the job] that they were talking about hiring me through the company, not through a temp agency as per the original agreement.
The job, were I to get offered it, would be doing something extremely similar to what I did at the store from hell Boscov’s, except without the horrid work environment. And, of course, it’s bad etiquette to bash another company in a job interview, but they asked questions, so I told them, as kindly as I could, that Randy told us repeatedly when we tried to solve problems in order to avoid getting yelled at later, “You’re monkeys. You worry about what I tell you to worry about.” They were sufficiently appalled and indignant on my behalf.
I came away feeling decent. All that was left was to fill out the application for Knoll that was given me by Interviewer #3, and wait for them to check my references.
In the mean time, as some of you may recall from another post, I had been sent a letter from the Liquor Control Board [LCB] asking me if I’d be interested in an interview with them. After my interview with Knoll, and the horrible conversation with Hope, I decided I’d at least try at the LCB, figuring it couldn't hurt, and returned their letter. A few days later, I applied online at QVC after a very sad Friday night which was spent watching the Joan Rivers Classics 16th Anniversary Special. Finally, I went to the KU website and filled out their application for a Clerk Typist. I figured it was a smart move. Incidentally, I've decided that if it should come down to it, I’ll take KU. It would most likely be a pay cut, but I’d be saving money on gas as it’s only 10 minutes away. Also, it’s 10 minutes away! Their work day, as opposed to Knoll’s at 8 - 5, is 8 - 4. I’d get better vacation at KU, AND the ultimate bonus---FREE EDUCATION!!!! I could go back to school and get a different degree. Possibly that BS in Chemistry which is what I should’ve done in the first place. Then I could go and be a Chem teacher.
Then, in an interesting twist of fate, I called So-and-so last Friday, just to check up on the status of the job. Later that day, when I brought the mail in, I discovered that I had been sent another “are-you-interested-in-an-interview-with-us” letter, this time from the PA Unemployment office in Allentown. I filled that out, but it has yet to be sent off, and that is because…
So-and-so called me back yesterday evening before closing and informed me that I have been offered the position at Knoll. I’d be making $10,000 more a year to start than I did at Boscov’s, for doing pretty much the same thing. I accepted. I start Monday. I’m still a bit ambivalent about the whole thing, maybe because it happened faster than a teenager losing her virginity on prom night, but I figured if nothing else, it’s a job. It’s steady money. It’s health insurance. It’s gonna help me pay bills. It’s gonna help me get that new car I so desperately need.
Over the last week and a half that I’ve had to think about the whole strange situation, as well as Hope’s harsh words, “I couldn’t help but wonder” [to use an over-used phrase of Carrie’s], was it always really all that easy? Was Hope [and the Slytherin mentality] right? Didn’t I fight hard enough? Possibly. What’s more possible, is that everything happens when it does for a reason. Those extra jobs I had interview offers for only came because it was AFTER I took the Clerk Typist exam. Knoll came about because I heard the advertisement for the job fair on the radio while slacking off one morning.
The lesson to be learned from this children, is that it’s all about the timing.
NB: As some of you may have noticed, I made a new icon. Which, ironically, came from a Sex and the City montage video someone posted to the community---on the same day I got the job offer.
Watching that scene of the final episode always makes me cry, because Charlotte, the dreamer, the ultimate Idealist, finally has it all. Everything she ever wanted: Harry and a baby on the way. Sometimes, I’m such a girl.
NOTICE TO MYSPACE FRIENDS - I double-posted this into my myspace blog. I am leaving notification of the double-post here because there are some people on myspace to whom I do not wish to make my LJ known.