Thursday, December 11, 2008

Boredom set in

Honestly, I like not having to get up early, commute, work for 8 hours (okay I probably do non-work stuff for at least an hour), commute again, and they scramble to find dinner before crashing on the couch for the rest of the evening. It's nice to be able to escape the house whenever I choose and do whatever I need to. On the other hand, the boredom is growing.

The truth is that I'm a lazy and very simple person. While some friends who have been unemployed have volunteered, quilt and knit, read books, go cycling for days on end, I don't have any hobbies that I could do day after day and be content. I have a pile of cards, gifts, scrapbooking supplies and laundry all around the house, but all I can do is sit here and feel sad and bored.

I have now been jobless for one month. While the time definitely passes by, I can't say it's been very fulfilling. I also find that I'm at a bit of a crossroad in what would be an ideal job. There's still part of me that is hungry for a challenge and to feel important. On the other hand, I don't want to work from 7am to 7pm every day to get ahead. I want a job where I have some interesting projects but where it's okay to put everything down at 5:30pm and go home. I don't feel like that's possible with what I do now. The problem is that I like what I do.

I just had another phone interview with a hiring manager. This is the same company that I've been talking to off and on for several weeks now. I must say that it was a much more productive conversation. We connected better this time and were straight forward with our concerns about each other. It was revealed to me that the group wasn't sure about whether to continue interviewing with me. Apparently I was very "difficult to read" during the interviews. They couldn't tell how interested I was in the job as opposed to just having decent hours and getting a paycheck . I am on the borderline as a candidate. Argh... .

This was very eye opening and great feedback. When I meet people, I think I tend to be a bit reserved. Coming into this particular interview, I was also overly scrutinizing since the initial contact had been so confusing. The concern on their part centered around how structured I seemed to want things to be. I guess I must have seemed robotic? The company is not in a situation to be a hierarchical place. I was asked to clarify my behavior in case they had misinterpreted. I explained that my mind had already shifted into a mode of trying to assess what actions I would take as the new person on the team. I emphasize my experience in different stages of a company and how that could help the group step up their current practices.

It felt better talking to the hiring manager because I felt like we had a much more personable talk. I don't want to work with someone who's very serious. It must be part of the getting older problem. I was naive and open-minded when I first got out of college. I think now I am very easily suspicious, doubtful and make too many assumptions about things. It's a very difficult habit to remind myself to break. I see from this that I need to improve on that otherwise it's going to take a lot longer to find a job!

My discussion seemed to alleviate the hiring manager's concerns enough to have me come in for a final presentation interview. There are two other candidates who have already completed the entire process. A third person will be presenting the same day as I will. We all have unique strengths though none of us have the perfect resume for the job (so I was told). I am hopeful, but I know not to set my expectations to high.

1 comment:

teahouse said...

Good luck with the presentation!