A Midsummer Night's Dream (Summer 2014 Secret Santa) Discussion

[kawaiiwoofs]

Oh and of course TY for the offer I might just take you up on it. How are your interviews going?

They're good!! I'm exhausted though and I picked up a bad cold. I had an interview in Nashville on Thursday and I flew down and back in one day. Literally, 6 am flight, connection, arrive at 11:30, drive to office, interview at 1-4, book it back to the airport for a 6 pm Flight out, connection, home.

I flew 2,500 miles in one day!!! That interview went very well/super casual since it was in the office where I interned last summer but I was interviewing for a different role. I knew all the people, questions weren't crazy...

I have another interview on Monday in Chicago and I'm super excited about that (this is my "top choice" job). I'm still applying around though but I just really want this to be done/really hope I get the Chicago job.

I know a lot of people hate interviews but I like them and after having 100000 internships and jobs, I've had a lot of practice. Its all about you. You go in, talk about yourself and no one knows you better than you. It's a pitch and when they grill you about XYZ, you just bounce back and throw it down on the table and say - Yeah, I know I'm lacking in X but I do have abcdefg and this is what makes me amazing and why you need me.

The thing that breaks my heart the most is when people undervalue themselves and DONT negotiate a salary. It frames your entire time there. I just want to slap my friends sometimes.

Lol thanks for asking. This (and my thesis) are my entire world right now.

 

[tweakabell]

Wow, crazy travels! Good luck w/ Chicago!

I have two issues with interviews, one is my social anxiety and then it's the bragging part. I was taught during all of my formative years not to talk about my accomplishments, it makes other people feel bad. I was taught to play down everything I ever did up until the end of high school. That gets drilled into your head when you're little and then they want you to just flip it all around when you're an adult.

 

[elizabethrose]

@@tweakabell if you need a second person to look over your resume, I'm down for the job too /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />  My last job was doing resumes for my entire company haha.  Needless to say, I'm fairly well-versed at what people are looking for when they're reading resumes.

I totally get the interview process being stressful- I always get really stressed out but once I'm in the interview I'm good to go.  I just be myself and talk about what I'm good at and point things out that are on my resume that frequently get looked over.

TO MY FGM:  You're welcome to send my gift out whenever, however, I will be traveling next Wednesday the 11th essentially straight through the 22nd.  I will be in Chicago for a few days in between there, but mostly to refuel and head out again.  This also means I won't be on MUT much, but I still love all of you!

If anyone has any great book recommendations, I'm going to be flying on 5 separate airlines and through 7 airports in two weeks, I'd love to hear them.  I may or may not be spending the majority of my vacation time getting on flights.

 

[tulosai]

@@elizabethrose what kinds of books do you like? I have recommendations but without any guidance they would be pages and pages.

 

[elizabethrose]

@@tulosai good question!  I love YA novels, series books, and just generally good fiction.  I'm not super into romance novels, but if romance happens in the book, I'm down with that (what I mean to say is, I'm no Nicholas Sparks or Nora Roberts girl /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> ).  I love classics and appreciate good writing!  But other than that, I really will read just about anything!

 

[tulosai]

Ok some of these are kinda mainstream but these are my recs:

YA that's nor romance heavy: Miss Perigrine's Home for Peculiar Children, THE CINDER SERIES!! (this is really a must IMO if you haven't read it), The Book Thief, Anna and the French Kiss (this one is defo romance but too cute), Graceling, The GIrl who Circumvented Fairyland in a Ship of her own making

Fiction: The Night Circus, Before I Go to Sleep, Gone Girl (if you are the only person in America who hasn't read it), The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series, Twenties Girl, The Family Fang, The Paris WIfe

Other: Wild by Cheryl Strayed.  I'ts non fiction but it's really good and I read it recently on a trip.

oh and in terms of Classics, I love them too but it's so hard to recommend something I think you wouldn't have read!

 

[elizabethrose]

@@tulosai I LOVED MISS PEREGRINE'S.  And the second one.  Now if the next one will just come out!  I'll have to check out The Cinder Series, I've never heard of it!  I read The Book Thief- it took me a long time because it was so sad, but so good!  I'll check the others out as well!

I need to read Gone Girl, it's on my list.. I think I might be the only person who hasn't read it yet hahaha!  

Thanks so so much for the recs- I will certainly be checking books out and downloading them today and tomorrow!

 

[lovepink]

@ Yay glad the interviews are going well!  Hope that you get the one you really want in Chicago!  Keep us all posted when it is so we can send good positive energy your way!

@@tulosai Sorry your boss sucks.  I hope your current work situation gets better or that you find something else.  Thank you also for the book recommendations!  I recently finished Ender's Game (late to the party I know) and am currently reading Alice Hoffman's Museum of Extraordinary Things, after that I have Life after Life by Kate Atkinson.  My husband and I FINALLY saw Divergent yesterday and he was asking about a new YA series so I will check out The CINDER series (we saw previews for the maze runner too yesterday!)

Add me to the group that loves books, has a kindle.  Keep the book recommendations coming ladies!  I read a lot and fast so I am always looking for new things!

@@tweakabell I feel you on procrastinating.  I had a job I hated and that made me cry and so stressed out but I could not work on my resume to get out of it.  Finally my boss recommended me for a job at the same company but different program and it has gone well.  I too, fall in the category of feeling uncomfortable discussing accomplishements due to how I was raised.

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

 

[elizabethrose]

@ I also second good luck in Chicago, not only because you want that job the most, but for selfish reasons /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[meaganola]

@@elizabethrose -- _Good Omens_!  I take a copy with me every time I fly.  I may or may not read it depending on what else I end up doing with my time, but it's a tradition for me at this point.  Warning:  You will almost definitely end up laughing out loud in public.

@ @@tweakabell and anyone else out of the workforce -- I cannot recommend temp agencies highly enough.  I got my last two jobs that way.  I have a *lot* to say about temping that I'll just hide here because RAMBLY LIKE WHOA.

Spoiler

I was hired a year and a half after starting the assignment for the first one, and I stayed for something like twelve years and about six different companies (acquisitions, mergers, and spinoffs, oh my!).  The other is the job I currently have, hired after a year (literally *on * my one-year anniversary) and just past my third anniversary as a "real" employee.  It's best to register at several agencies, including at least one small local company (those are the ones that led to my jobs).  I could not get even a confirmation that my resume was received when applying for jobs, but agencies got me out on quite a few interviews, which helped me not panic about them.  

In fact, for the job I currently have, the agency sent me out on an interview for a job that I quite honestly DID NOT want because it was a customer service position, which would mean dealing with customers all day on the phone.  I *hate* the phone, but I was on unemployment and *had* to do a certain number of job-hunting activities each week, and going on that interview meant I hit the requirement and could relax for the rest of the week since it was a bad time of the month to even find jobs to submit resumes for.  I cared so little about the interview that I didn't even wear *deodorant*.  

It turned out there was a second agency involved in the interview (I guess they were a national agency that farmed positions out to smaller local companies), and they had given my agency slightly incorrect information (they told my agency I would be interviewing with someone from the second agency, but I was actually interviewing with person who would be the direct supervisor on the client's end), and they had *completely neglected to tell the interviewing manager I was coming in*, so she didn't even know what job i was there for.  And then she looked at my resume, got a bit confused about why I was there for a customer service position, and proceeded to interview me for a completely different job that I had no clue was on the table that was much, *much* more in line with my skills set and job function preferences, although we spent very little time actually talking about the job.  We just chatted for most of it.  That was a Tuesday.  I was told that the decision would be made by Friday, although they would probably decide by Thursday.  I got a call about three hours later while I was out for a nice, long walk.  They wanted me to *start* Thursday.  

ANYWAY.  t's hard if you have to work around childcare schedules because sometimes clients are looking for someone *that day*, but they are also using temps to hold off on headcount increases and to give potential employees a trial run before hiring, and you would have the same amount of time to sort out childcare as if you were getting any other non-temp job.  I've had assignments ranging from same-day emergency coverage to "well, we don't know how long it's going to be, but we need someone in there before the higher-ups will justify a headcount increase."  

Teal deer:  I've had assignments that lasted just a few hours, and the last two "permanent" jobs I've had started as temp assignments.  A good agency can get you enough interviews that you won't freak out at them any more, and they can help you polish your resume because it's not just a marketing tool for *you*.  It's a marketing tool for *them*. Just make sure to sign up with multiple agencies, and try to sign up with at least one small local agency, and *call them a lot*.  Most of them will have a check-in phone number/email address/website where you pop in and basically say, "Hey, I'm free this week!  Pick me pick me pick me!"  It's all on you, though, so if you don't reach out, they won't reach out.

(And if you want to write, temping will give you a whole lot of material to base your stories or novels on!)

 

[Lolo22]

@@tweakabell the odd mix of experience probably does you a bigger favor than you realize! I was the same way.  My experience consisted of retail, weddings/events. door-to-door sales for an exterior remodeling company(I kid you not) and food service and I got hired at a huge law firm.  I hyped my well-roundedness during the hiring process and they loved it.  A lot of people are extremely educated/experienced and still don't know how to handle different types of situations because they've only ever done 1 thing.  If you've worked in 10 different fields, you can pretty much tell them that you can handle anything.

I second @@meaganola's recommendation of temp agencies too, because you may be able to bypass the interview situation all together that way.  They'll do all the bragging for you, at least that was my experience with one I used before.

eta:  Also, looking at your previous post you sound like you would be perfect for a social media position!   

 

[meaganola]

I second @meaganola's recommendation of temp agencies too, because you may be able to bypass the interview situation all together that way.  They'll do all the bragging for you, at least that was my experience with one I used before.  

 
Unfortunately, the craptacular economy means that the temping landscape has changed.  I temped in the mid-90s when this was true.  I would get a call from the agency, I would accept or decline, and that was pretty much that.  Nowadays, even for a two-week scanning position, most clients want to interview you, at least in my area.  But!  If they send you on a bunch of interviews, you get used to it and might even develop a spiel so you can rattle off how awesome and perfect for the position you are.  It's hard to have a panic attack when it's your fifth interview of the week.  Your freakout button gets worn out, and you end up in a weird sort of zen here-we-go-again space.

 

[puppymomofthree]

I was having a bad pain day and decided to indulge in three glasses of wine instead if narcotic pain releavers, now I am trying not to impulse shop since I have no impulse control! I would take Riesling over narcitics any day--especially with sharp white cheddar cheese!

 

[chelsealady]

@@elizabethrose -- _Good Omens_! I take a copy with me every time I fly. I may or may not read it depending on what else I end up doing with my time, but it's a tradition for me at this point. Warning: You will almost definitely end up laughing .

I'll second it as a good vacation book. It has one of my favorite lines about the human condition.

"It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people.”

 

[chelsealady]

Guess what? I've mailed!!!!!!! Somebody should have a gift Wednesday. I hope she likes it.

 

[SOSRedAlertSOS]

Guess what? I've mailed!!!!!!! Somebody should have a gift Wednesday. I hope she likes it.

GAHHHH! So exciting!

 

[puppymomofthree]

Eeeeek! So exciting! I am sure we will all be watching our boxes/front steps!

 

[Kristine Walker]

 I can't wait to see the next reveal!

 

[tweakabell]

Yay, so exciting!

 

[bonita22]

Can't wait to see who the lucky lady is /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />