The story of the end

Now that I am gainfully employed and absolutely loving my job (you'll get to hear about that in a post soon), I figure it's pretty safe to tell you the story of how it all happened.

I was unemployed for a little over 6 months. For about 5.5 of those months, I did not have one job offer. I went on interviews (sometimes 2, 3, even 4 interviews), I got calls saying I was overqualified, I got calls saying "We think you're great, but we already had someone for the job. Good luck!", and from lots of jobs, I heard nothing at all.

But in the last two weeks of funemployment, I was offered 3 jobs. I was even offered a job I didn't apply for. And each of those jobs wanted an answer. Immediately.

The first job offer I received was from a place that had the potential to be really interesting, but I was a little turned off by the fact that the person who had been there the longest had only been there for 7 months. But it was a job. And for about a week, it was the only job I had been offered.

They offered me the job on a Tuesday and they wanted an answer by that Friday (I found it interesting that they only gave me 4 days to decide even though they had taken 4 months to give me an offer). Thursday of that week, I found out that Friday I would be interviewing at CIEE for the job I ultimately took. Knowing CIEE wouldn't be able to give me an answer the same day as my interview, I was stuck with a tough decision. Do I take the job that I'm only a little excited about because it's a job or do I take the risk of having no job at all hoping I get the job at CIEE?

Remember a few weeks ago when I wrote about my dad and him always knowing the right thing to do? Well this was one of the times I was reminded just how lucky I am to have him to be able to ask for advice. In the middle of feeling completely overwhelmed, I called my dad. He knew exactly what to do.

Friday afternoon, I emailed the first job and asked for more time to decide. They gave me another week.

The next Thursday, I got the call. The one I had really been waiting for all those months. I didn't know how I'd feel when I got that call, but when it came, it felt right. And that's how I knew the six months were worth the wait.

Today I visited my grandparents after work. When my mom called my grandfather to check on him, he told her I looked great and that I seemed so happy. It's amazing how feeling needed can do that to you.

So far, working for CIEE has been just what I hoped for. The work is interesting, the people I've been working with have been great. I'm going to Houston in May for a conference and may even be going to China (!!!) in November. Some days I'm not sure it's real. But then I remember that they chose me. And in the end, I'm so happy I chose them too.

p.s. Happy birthday to my daddy. I love you man!

Nice glasses, Paul. Very manly.