Antici …
…
– pation. and if you don’t understand that reference, you’re SO off the island. 🙂
so i got a call yesterday morning while i was at work – the only one in the office at the time, in fact – from a company i had sent my resume to only a few days ago. it was a receptionist/secretary/shipping position, 8a – 5p 4 days a week (M – Th, i’m assuming …) we were talking, but the office phone started ringing, and i kind of cut her off, asking to call her back on my break. she said it was no problem, so when i went out for my cigarette i went all the way to my car so no one could eavesdrop. at the end of our conversation, she asked me to come in for an interview, and what time would be convenient. i told her "today through friday, or starting next week is all open after 2 pm", and she asked me to come in that day! i finally learned enough to give myself a little bit more time to prepare for an after-work interview; i told her i’d be there at 3:15, i left work five minutes early, cruised home, jumped in the shower to wash my hair, and still had enough time to get dressed up, put on a little make-up, and still make it to the interview a few minutes early. thank goodness for short trips. 🙂
i ended up interviewing with the owners of the company – a husband and wife in their late fifties or early sixties – and their project manager. i think i scored some extra points in the near-hour we spoke: they had been describing a scenario where i might have to convince a prospective customer that the company’s experience and talent would be worth the higher price. i suggested that i could find out some details about the electricians we’d be sending out – their names, how many years of experience each of them had under their belts, perhaps feedback about them from previous customers to share with the new ones … they seemed to like that. they also looked impressed when i said i had looked at their website (teeny-tiny though it was – only one page!) and asked about some of the services it listed. i told them i worked in a small, three-person office, and i was front line for the phone, filing, and many other of the office tasks and i felt i was more than capable of taking on a lager range of duties.
as i drove home, i thought the meeting went well, and hoped i’d be getting a call soon, as they had said they wanted to fill the position as quickly as possible.
this morning, as yesterday, i was by myself in the office when the phone rang. i answered, and i heard the lady interviewed with yesterday on the other end, asking for my manager!! i paused in surprise for a second, then cheerfully said hello. she realized it was me and laughed. i explained that my manager was libel to be in and out of the mill all day because we were very understaffed due to the holiday. she asked me to have him call her after 1 this afternoon and said goodbye.
i hung up and immediately called J, my heart pounding in excitement and a little bit of fear. what would my boss say? the man i reported to corporate because he gave me a nice pat on the rump as a means of hurrying me along then arguing with me when i told him it wasn’t okay … even after the two raises in less than four months, i’m by no means certain that he wouldn’t tolerate having to work with me so he could sabotage any effort i mad to escape to a better position, instead of just giving me a decent reference and saying "good riddance" when i left.
J did his best to calm me down, but my heart didn’t really stop pounding until my boss came upstairs and i told him what the message was and what about. he expressed disappointment that i might be leaving, saying he wished i could stay but understood that i needed a full-time position, or at least one with benefits, but that he just couldn’t offer that to me.
it was a little awkward, like a high school breakup … but then again, i felt a tiny bit better about the kind of reference he might give me.
so now i must wait, biting my lips and twitching in my seat, ’til i get the call that lets me know if a better future is soon to come …