A friend suggested the other day that I blog about the
experience I’m having regarding a great job for which I applied a few weeks
ago. First, I can’t believe it’s only
been a few weeks!
We have known for a long time that we need to change our
circumstances so that we not only have a steady paycheck but health benefits
for our family. My hubby has been trying
for some time to get a job that would bring those things to the table, but it
has not happened yet. In the meantime, I
have applied for two court reporting officialships in my area (not wanting to
move our kids), and I basically bombed both interviews. It was so hard for my self-esteem to bomb not
once but twice. And then to have to
socialize with the very people who interviewed me as well as those people who
were chosen instead! And then to have a
rare (for me) mistake explode in my face has left me wary whenever I go to DC
for a job.
I ended up being particularly busy for a few days, so I
didn’t get a chance to apply for the job until one Saturday. The job was listed in the JCR, as well. And right next to it was a job opening in a
much smaller location in Montana. When I
clicked on the link for the state, the first job didn’t show up on the site,
but this second job was there. I decided
to go ahead and apply for that one.
Darryl called the state and discovered that the job was closing the
Monday before Thanksgiving, then the applications would be pored over by HR
before the approved ones were forwarded to the judge. I was surprised to receive a call the day
before Thanksgiving. It was one of the
judge’s clerks, requesting a telephone interview time the following
Monday.
I contacted the president of the
Montana Court Reporters Association, telling her about my hopes and plans. There was a great description on their website about living in
Helena, enticing people to apply for the job opening. I was interested to find out whether anyone
knew if the job had been filled.
I was just crazy excited/anxious about my telephone
call. I couldn’t help but talk about
it. My Sunday School kids even had to
hear about it. Monday finally came, and
I had the phone call. The judge himself
conducted the interview, and it went well, although I was feeling very anxious
about some of the details of the job.
There would be some driving involved every week, and I know that part of
Montana gets plenty of snow. I really
liked the judge, though.
So we fretted and wondered.
Money isn’t great, lots of variables.
Tuesday night I was home alone because Darryl had taken the kids to Mutual.
I did some surfing and found myself on the Indeed.com site. I scrolled about
three pages in and was surprised to see the first job was again showing
up. I clicked on the link, assuming it
would lead to a dead end. I was surprised
to be sent directly to the state site and to see the job was still there, not
to mention it had a job number. I
attached my application and sent it in.
Within two or three minutes, I had an email that was referencing that
job, and I assumed it was an auto reply.
Turns out it was from a reporter who works with that same court. She had been contacted by the MCRA president,
who told her that I was interested. She was writing to tell me that the job was
still open if I was still interested in applying.
I sent the reporter my résumé, which she walked down to the
judge who is retiring. The next day I
heard from the secretary for the judge, asking me to interview with them. I agreed and interviewed after my job that
day. That two-hour time difference works
out well. The interview was
amazing. I made such a connection with
the judge and the senior court reporter who conducted the interview. I was elated because I knew I had not bombed
this one. The real me was back. Darryl and I and the kids went to dinner, and
I missed a call from the senior court reporter.
She called me first thing Thursday morning to tell me they wanted to
offer me the position. I accepted, and
she said they would be sending me an official offer letter in the mail.
Over the weekend we told everyone. I turned down the second job, for which I was
then being asked for references. I contacted the depo firms for whom I work and
broke the news, basically giving notice that I’d be done working by
Christmas. We started selling belongings
that aren’t worth moving. My aunt
offered frequent flyer miles so Darryl could fly out to Montana to do some
house hunting. I had literally just
finished talking with her on Monday, finalizing the purchase of those tickets,
when my phone rang. It was an
administrator from the courts, calling to tell me that the judge who hired me
didn’t have authorization do so and that the interview process was not
conducted properly. She was sure sorry
about the inconvenience (if that’s what you call it), but they had to go
through the interview process again.
This came from absolutely nowhere. I was stunned. The rest of the day was a total waste.
Blessedly, I have been working over the past few years to come to terms with
the ups and downs of life and seeking the guidance and understanding my Father
in Heaven can give me. And my husband has been amazing. With his help and the help of some good
friends, I’ve been processing this turn of events. I was finally given a call on Wednesday to reset
the interview for Friday afternoon.
In the meantime, I was scheduled to work every day that
week. And every single day canceled
except for Thursday’s mock depos (which were fun). So I was more than ready and
available for the job interview on Friday.
The telephone interview went well enough, but since it was
conducted by the same court administrator who had called me, with the judge and
court reporter who had been involved in the first interview and the new judge
(my, hopefully, new boss), it was a little weird. I was asked six “canned” questions, for which
I had what I thought were good answers.
I felt I had done my best to sell who I am and what I am about, not just
once but twice. Now the rest is in the
Lord’s hands. Well, people will decide,
but I can’t do anything more to influence them, so that means I’ll let the Lord
worry about it for me.
Maybe I am so amazing that there was really no likelihood I
would not be hired. Maybe the court
administrator found something objectionable about me that the others
missed. If I don’t get this job, I
believe that there is SOMEthing out there for our family to do. And there will be another way to rescue my
sagging self-esteem. But it’s going to be a long however-many-days till they
call back. And then what?
Tracy,
ReplyDeleteYou are going to be fabulous there! I believe in you.
Jill Langley.