Let's talk about this week first.
This week has been a somewhat productive, yet tiring week. Last week was all fun and games with my mom and brother here. But after they headed back to China, it was time to get serious again.
Five interviews in three days. Three days of driving back and forth from Milpitas to Oakland/Berkeley. Sounds productive right? But in reality, it sort of felt like a waste of time. I've done so many interviews for the same type of positions that, every single time I leave from an interview, I pretty much already know that I'm not going to get the position.
Interviews are all about selling yourself. Same with cover letters and resumes. But the problem is, I don't know how to sell myself. I just know that I want to be myself. Interviews should feel more like a conversation rather than a drilling Q&A session. But it rarely ever feels that way. People kind of just shoot questions at you and you just shoot answers back. So impersonal and feels so fake at the same time.
But if that's how it goes, what can I do to change it? I've done my share of interviewing people as a coordinator so I thought I had a good idea of what a good and bad interview feels like. But I guess I was wrong. I don't know.
Anyways, five interviews sounds like a good thing to most people. But for me, it was just a frustrating thing. It just felt more like a waste of time because I already had a feeling that they probably weren't going to go well. I was just about to give up because I was having a hard time juggling job hunting and researching and applying for grad schools.
But then 老天爺 decided to give me a chance. At my third interview of the week, I ran into an old acquaintance, someone who I had worked with before at OASES. She was my group leader when I was just a tutor, and also one of my references when I was applying for summer jobs. And then her year term ended and I haven't seen her since the two years I've been coordinator. Turns out she went off to be a site coordinator for a different afterschool program.
Anyways, I ran into her. And told her about my job situation. She asked about OASES. Told her that didn't pan out. And then she asked for my resume. Told me that her site was already staffed, but that she knew other people who were still hiring and would pass on my resume to them. And next thing I know, a couple hours later, I receive a call from one of her colleagues to set up an interview. Had the interview, and the next day, received the job offer.
I really thank 老天爺 for this chance. It has shown me that having connections really make a difference. And it has made me feel really appreciated for my work in the past with OASES. It really makes me happy to know that someone appreciated my work and truly believes in me enough to vouch for me to her colleague and land me this job. And I'm very thankful that all my hardwork and dedication has finally paid off.
I know that I am really behind in life. I started the job hunt late. And definitely started the grad school prepping late. I have only myself to blame for not spending the time during my last semester in college wisely. And now I am suffering the consequences. But I'm trying. I'm trying hard to catch up. And I'm slowly getting there. =]
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