New Job!

Well, yesterday I accepted a job offer!  I am very excited about this new opportunity and even more excited about the way it all came about.

Over a month ago, I was at a career networking event and met Lisa, the woman who ran the group.  We got to talking and decided to meet the next week to go over my resume and talk some more to see if there was anything she could do to help me in my job search.  We got together the next week, and she gave me a lot of awesome advice... before I left she pulled up an email she had from a company, we will call it "Company A."  The HR department of Company A was looking for someone to be an assistant to their CEO and asked Lisa if she knew anyone that would be a good fit for the position.  She seemed to think I would be a good candidate for it, and sent them my resume.  I had my doubts about whether or not they would want to interview me, because the job description called for five years of experience, and I graduated college less than a year ago.

Despite the fact that I didn't fully qualify for the job, Company A called me about a week later!  They wanted to set up an interview.  The day before the interview, I was researching the company on LinkedIn and realized that my neighbor, Todd had just been hired on there.  I called him to see if he had any advice for me going into the interview process, and he was able to give me some information and said I could put him down as a reference.  He also wrote a very nice recommendation email to the HR department.  I was excited, to not only have Lisa's recommendation, but Todd's as well.  In addition, I had a family friend, Bill who retired from Company A, who I was also able to use as a reference.  They say it's all about who you know, and I was able to go into the interview feeling well-connected.

The interview lasted three hours!  I spoke to three different people individually and extensively.  I found out one of the women in the HR department had graduated from my college (it's rare to meet fellow alumni because the school is a small Christian university), and another woman I interviewed with had visited my school with her daughter, so she was familiar with it.  I rarely run into people who have heard of the school I went to.  I left feeling like I presented myself really well and that I would fit in well at this company. I was told I would hear back by the end of the following week about whether or not I had been selected to continue in the interview process.

That next week, I went to the beach with my friends, which was really nice because, although I was eager to hear back from them, being on vacation definitely alleviated some of the stress that comes from waiting.  The week came to an end, and I hadn't heard anything.  Early the following week, they got in touch with me and told me they wanted me to complete some online assessments as the next step in the interview process.  So, I gave Company A another three hours of my life and did their online tests.  It tested proficiency with different types of software, and lengthy business assessment at the end.  I kept thinking to myself I don't have an MBA... how am i supposed to know this stuff???  I felt like I did absolutely horrible on the assessments and was honestly embarrassed to submit them.

That same week, I had a phone interview with a company in another city.  We will call it Company B.  The phone interview went really well, and they invited me to travel to their office the following Wednesday for a second, in-person interview.  I was convinced that it was God opening another door, because I was sure my poor performance on the assessment had cost me my opportunity at Company A.

When Company A called me the next Monday and left me a voice-mail... I was really nervous to call them back because I knew they had seem my exam results and I was convinced that they couldn't possibly have been good.  I returned the call and spoke to a woman in HR (one of the ones I had interviewed with).  She told  me they had decided to fill the position with an internal candidate with more experience.  I was thinking to myself companies always use the "internal candidate" excuse to let other applicants down easily. She went on to say that they really liked me and thought that I had a lot to offer.  I was only half listening because I was thinking they tell everyone this, she just feels bad for not hiring me, so she's just saying nice things about me to make me feel better.  My thoughts were interrupted when she went on to say that because they liked me so much, she and the other two woman with whom I had interviewed got together and created a position in their marketing department for me!  Suddenly I was all ears... I realized she wasn't just saying nice things because she felt guilty for not hiring me, she was offering me a job!  It was very exciting news, but I knew that I was interviewing with Company B  that Wednesday, so I asked if I could get back to them with my answer.

Two days later, I traveled to Company B to interview with them. A family friend who works for the company told me that she got the impression from the head of marketing that I was the favored candidate for the position. I had been praying for weeks on end about these interviews and the whole job search process in general.  I was beginning to think that God was answering my prayers in an unexpected way and was perhaps leading me to relocate to a different city.  I was extremely prayerful as I traveled to Company B and spent time there.  I was begging God to make it clear to me if he wanted me to relocate to this city.  I felt very uneasy the entire time I was there.  I went into it expecting to feel a strong confirmation that I was being led there, but instead I felt the opposite.  As a traveled home, I felt more and more peaceful the closer I got to home.  I felt like God was guiding me right back to where I came from.  I was honestly a little confused that I felt that way because I went into it expecting to feel led to this other city.

When I got home, I had a week before Company B was to get back to me regarding their hiring decision.  I felt almost certain God wanted me to stay where I was but continued to pray about it and be very open to moving if God were to lead me to.  As each day passed, I became increasingly convinced that I should accept Company A's offer.  Yesterday, I finally called them to tell them I accept.  When I spoke to HR they told me that they were just about to call me that very day to increase the amount of their offer!  I called them before they contacted me, and they still chose to give me the higher offer.  I was blown away and just took that as one more sign that I was making the right decision.  When I look back over the process I can see that God led me to Company A in several ways:

-They let me in the door to interview for a position I wasn't even qualified for
-I am sure I did poorly on the assessment, but they still called me back
-They CREATED a job for me.  I don't know how often this happens... but I know in this economy, companies are cutting positions more than they are creating them.
-They increased my offer, after I had already accepted a lower amount.

God is so good and has shown his provision to me in so many ways over the past month or so.  I'm excited to begin this new chapter and I confident that God led me here and has great things in store for this next phase of my life!