Employment…Excitement?

Had a job interview yesterday.

"But, wait, Bran, don’t you already have a job?"

Why, yes I do, thank you for asking.  

I’m sure this will come as a huge surprise but I really dislike my current job.  I disliked it from day one and it’s basically only gotten worse with each consecutive hour I’m there.  I just took it because my mom has been nagging me to take it ever since I graduated from college.  It’s the only thing around that’s offering full time and benefits.  Honestly, it’s not worth it.  It’s near minimum wage and there’s just way too much B.S. to put up with for it to be worth the money and my mental anguish.  It’s not even so much that I have to be in love with every job I have.  I’ve worked jobs that I really liked and other jobs that were just okay and I went in everyday not really feeling one way or another about it.  It was just a blah job, a paycheck and nothing that affected me too badly.  But when you just genuinely hate something, it really does have an effect on your well-being.  So, I immediately started putting in applications in other places and got a call to come into this one business.

I would say, for the most part, the interview went really well and I’m pretty excited about it.  It involves something I’ve never really done before but would be interested in learning more about.  I’ll be getting paid about a buck and a half more than I am now, plus tips!  That’s decent money, at least for around here.  Well, it’s not exactly around here.  It’s two hours away.  And that was the first concern the guy brought to my attention.  I simply explained to him that it had been a short-term goal of mine all along to move to that town where the job is located.  I told him I was hoping to find a job like this that paid well enough for me to eventually get my own apartment and live there.  And after a few paychecks, I’ll be able to do that.  So, the drive situation won’t be a problem.

I’ve put my dreams of animation on hold for something slightly more practical like moving a few towns away to start some semblance of a life of an independent twenty-three-year old guy.  I just want a nice job and my own place and be an eligible bachelor.  I don’t think that’s too much to ask for.  I mean, I would say I’m definitely compromising here.  When I first got to college, I thought I’d end up graduating and immediately moving to New York or California and working on big budget movies.  Obviously, that didn’t work out so at least let me get outta my parents’ house!  Geeeeez, man.

I also didn’t ask a lot of questions and that was mostly because I was so focused on trying to maintain eye contact with this man.  I have a real problem of not looking people directly in the eye and I usually look at their face as a whole or focus on their nose or lips or the table and so I was trying to look into his eyes and pay attention to what he was saying at the same time and it was so much work that I couldn’t generate enough mental facilities to come up with good questions.  Of course, as soon as I got in my car, my head spilled over with all kinds of great questions.  I’ve always heard if you don’t ask a lot of questions, it makes it seem like you aren’t actually interested in the company.  A small blow against me. 

Despite the gas/distance and no questions issue, the interview went really well and let me just say, I am pretty proud of how I handled myself.  I wasn’t too terribly nervous and answered all of his questions quickly and with graceful articulation.  That is such a huge improvement because a few years ago, I probably would have doubled over with anxiety cramps when faced with an interview.  I just went in confident, knowing I am capable of doing the job.  I am intelligent and experienced and well educated and there is no reason why I can’t do this job or be hired to perform the duties as assigned.  And the guy seemed like he liked me.  While mentioning some of my qualities, he said he shared some of the same so we made a small connection over that and I basically just explained my situation to him and told him I could handle all of the job duties he threw at me, citing my previous customer service experience as examples of how I would handle certain situations.

I’ll find out next week if I got it.  The wait is going to be excruciating.   

As much as it hurts to do, I’m just desperate enough to dip my toes back into the positivity pool.  I’m trying to be positive about this job, trying to will it to fruition.  I feel good about this and want this to work and so it will work.  This is hopefully the beginning of some serious changes.  Hopefully this is my chance to come back to life, to breathe once again.  This could be my hope for happiness.

wish me luck.