Better today than yesterday. Isn't that what it should be?

I had another interview today and it went better than yesterday's. Despite Chef mocking me playfully about making sure I didn't say the wrong company name, I felt pretty good going into today's interview. I got a little nervous when I had a hard time finding parking, but I got in and got there in plenty of time.

Like most of my interviews, I was overdressed. I'm sure the employees were mocking me a little in my suit as they were kicking around in jeans and sneakers. Of course, that just made me want to work there more.

The place had a good vibe and the interview was one that I felt prepared for. Being prepared is the only thing I can control in these interviews. Being prepared and being on time. That's what I can do.

The one thing I will say is that I'm convinced my love of sports will help me out. I know that I'm unusual for my knowledge, especially being a girl, but I am pretty good at being able to gauge when to pull out my sports love and when to pull back.

As usual, I never really know what's going to happen. That's the crappy part. I only know that I can do what I can do and the rest will fall into place. I just feel lucky to be getting this much action from my job searching and to be getting some varied opportunities.

Thank you, everyone, for your support!

Sometimes You Get the Bear. Sometimes the Bear Gets You.

I thought I was prepared for my interview this morning. Based on my lack of experience interviewing in LA, I use my experience interviewing in Tennessee as my baseline. I had a weird phone interview a few weeks back, but I choose to think of that as the exception, not the rule.

Today wasn't really weird. It was for a PR/ Marketing position at a cosmetics company. Sounds pretty cool, right? Yeah, it sounded cool to me too. The only hitch in the giddy-up was that for whatever reason, I had a different company name stuck in my head. Same first name, different second name, but no excuse. When I did google searches to research the company, I had a hard time keeping it straight. It's like when you meet someone who reminds you of someone else and you call them by the name of the person they remind you of instead of their actual name.

Knowing this, I had said the company's name 10 times on my way to the interview to try and drive the wrong name out of my head. Despite all this, what was the first thing that popped out of my mouth? The wrong name, of course. Ugh.

Also, I was trying to make some small talk so I asked if he was off yesterday for the holiday. He replied "No. This is a small company. We don't get every holiday." And then I felt like an a-hole for asking, until he followed up with "Did you have yesterday off?".

"Well, I'm not currently employed and looking for a job, so I'm not really ever off," I said.

The rest of the interview consisted of a few questions about my background. It was scheduled for 30 minutes. I remember making those 30 minute weed out interviews well. All in all, I did my best, but sometimes you get a good vibe, sometimes a bad one, sometimes no vibe. I got a neutral vibe. It wouldn't surprise me if I wasn't brought in for the second round. It wouldn't surprise me if I was.

It's a coin toss. Isn't it always?

Tomorrow is another day with another interview. Keep those well wishes coming my way until I find my new work home.

I Had A Dream...last night about my friends

Last night I went to sleep and in my dreams I had some visitors. All of them made me happy. One of them made me a little sad. Sad as in nostalgic sad, not as in depressed sad.

I had a dream about going on a weird job interview where the other competing candidate and I were at a picnic table and the interviewer was asking her tons of questions. When it was my turn to be asked, she kept spastically interjecting and I was getting pissed. Where were my friends? They were on the bench beside me. They weren't there for an interview or even as my life character references. They were just there.

And it was weird. I mean, the above is weird in its own right, but that's not super dream weird. It's weird enough to be odd, but not weird enough to be easily distinguished as a dream. At least when I was in the dream. So, anyway, the other interviewee was sitting next to me and mocking that I was wearing a suit (She was in a formal top, but jean cut-offs on the bottom--kind of how you imagine newscasters during the broadcasts). When the interviewer was turned away, the other candidate said to me "You can totally tell that you're not from California because you're way too overdressed." After a few times of cutting me off, I completely shifted to her direction and said "I was kind enough not to interrupt you during your interview and I expect the same courtesy or there will be consequences."

Anyway, she ended up throwing a fit and left, and the interviewer said "Sorry about that. She's clearly not a candidate of your caliber, Ashley, but she looked good on paper."

At this point, I left the picnic table interview in the park with my friends--Anne, Amanda, Schultz, Brooke and Lara. They all supported me and even let me blow off steam about how I wasn't sure if I wanted to work for a company that interviewed girls in cut off shorts in the park at a picnic table.

We went from the park to my old house in Evansville. What made me happy was that I know the type of conversation we were having was making me laugh in my dream and could and will probably be replicated in some form at some point in my life. Maybe not the conversation, but the feeling of being with my true friends having a fun, funny moment.

What made me sad was that I haven't seen or talked to one of these friends in years. There was no falling out, just a falling off. As in, she seemed to fall off the face of the earth. Not that I was all that much better, but I did make several calls and left messages with no return before I gave up. About 18 months after my last attempt, I got a birth announcement for her second baby. I felt horrible because I didn't know she was pregnant. It was then that I realized that we'd really drifted apart.

In the end, I woke up mostly happy because I have great friends who even in my dreams are right by my side supporting me. I think my dreams are telling me that I miss my friends and I'm tired of interviewing.

The Ocean to my right, the hills to my left--Not too shabby

Today I was on the Pacific Coast Highway (aka PCH) for the first time. I was coming back from a job interview and got to take a coastal route home. I literally could've pulled off to the side of the road to dip my toes in the ocean. I should've, but I also wanted to get home to Chef. Plus we have a plan to go to the beach on Monday. It's supposed to be really nice weather and I've got to make use of my free afternoons while I can.

But just the afternoon. My morning will still be spent working on more resumes and researching. I have to keep with the routine because it's working. I got 2 more interviews scheduled for next week. Both were off of tailored letters I sent out this week. All in all, I feel like my days at home during the week are numbered. It's a nice feeling.

I had two interviews this week. One was in person and one via phone. The phone one was fine. Typical questions and I gave some succinct and truthful answers. The in-person one was actually three interviews in one. One with the hiring manager, one with a manager in the department and one with the VP of HR. The company seemed to have some interesting benefits and the vibe from the people was that they all really love working there.

The only thing I hate about interviewing on a Friday is that I always stick out like a sore thumb in my interview suit while everyone else is in casual gear. Actually, come to think of it, that's probably not just a Friday thing. I tend to be overdressed. But I will continue to be overdressed until I get a job, because I don't want someone seeing a casual outfit and thinking "This is as good as it gets?". I can bust out all the jeans and cardigans I want when I'm in a job.

So, it's the weekend now. I'm "off" of the job hunt until Sunday night and still "on" the workout kick until I physically can't do it. I tend to make Sundays a little lighter than regular, but that's the only variance. Lunch tomorrow with some friends from high school. Good times!

Clearly, not meant for me

I had a phone interview today unlike any I've ever had before. It was so different that I had to call a few friends to make sure that my experience was not the norm. I mean, it's been a while since I've been actively ON job interviews, but I spent the better part of last year conducting job interviews. So I'd think it wouldn't be too different than what I was asking.

Clearly, I was wrong. Or maybe my expectations were off. But normally a phone interview is a brief screening call. You ask a few questions about the resume, the background, etc. Use the call to see if the person can put a full sentence together, speak intelligently and is more than just a piece of paper.

That was what I was expecting. I had done some research on the company. Checked out their client list. Their vendors, their executives, etc. Checked out the verbiage they use on their site. All that good stuff. When I go for a face to face is when I really spend some time researching. I only did THAT much because I wanted to be able to craft any questions that I had around the position and corporate culture. Apparently, I didn't do enough.

First, she began by explaining the process. A phone interview, an in-person interview with herself and another EVP PLUS a writing test, an in-person interview with their entire sales team, and an interview with the CEO. I thought the AHA was bad, but they've got NOTHING on this place. Did I mention the position they're offering is NOT a management position?

Anyway, instead of the "getting to know you" questions, I got the following:

• After checking out client list, who would you say is missing?
• What would you do to bring a new client on? What if you didn't have a travel budget to visit them? (At this point, I mentioned reading Business Week and using critical thinking to come up with some prospects. In one of her comments later, she said "Business Week is good and all, but it reports on things that have happened in the past. We need you to read things that predict the trends." I thought that was a little condescending.)
• Who are our biggest competitors?
• What is our business model? (I had to ask for clarification as to what she wanted me to answer. The next question was: How do you think we make our money?)
• How do you feel about building relationships with brilliant minds? Do you feel you could handle carrying on conversations? (I was a little offended by that one)
• Clearly you don't have a tech background (this was for a company that deals in the tech industry), how do you think you'd learn about tech?
• What kind of hardware, software and social media do you use?

So, I'm trying to tell her about her own industry without having any background and I'm trying to guess at what their company does with only a very convoluted website to go by (tech people aren't generally naturally good writers). I'm getting no feedback, so I could be completely wrong (although I knew I wasn't that wrong--it's a basic business, not performing open heart surgery). As I'm trying to answer these questions, I feel two things: 1) I don't really want to work for this place and 2) they clearly aren't sold that I'm not a idiot.

When it was my turn to ask questions, I asked what qualities they were most looking for in someone to fulfill the position, what the most pressing issues would be when someone was on board and what the company's vision was. She seemed a little perturbed to have to answer my questions. When I asked her what the vision for the company was, she read off a mission statement. When I asked her the vision for the future (expecting something about growth, increased membership, increased prestige, etc), she said--"that is our vision for the future." Clear as mud.

So, please make me feel better and let me know that all interviews are not like this one. Especially not phone interviews. Luckily, I got another bite today and two more loose ends, so there's always hope.

In fact, there are five words that inspire and terrify me at the same time: "This is only the beginning."