things looking up

When I first moved to Halifax in October, I came here enthusiastic about my job prospects.

After all, I had just come from a job where I had exposure to just about every aspect of the publishing industry and had won national awards for my photography. I felt like I had a lot to offer the local media market.

At first, things seemed to be rolling. I had a couple of positive job interviews and then found what looked to be a perfect situation. A local stationery store was in need of a graphic designer, but also wanted that person to be able to operate a camera to help flesh out the publishing side of the business.

My first interview with the manager went very well. He seemed excited to have found someone with all of my qualifications and experience and was very satisfied with my portfolio.

A few weeks later, he told me he wanted to have me back for a second interview so their sales manager (his wife) could meet me. Apparently she had trepidation in hiring me because I was male. She didn’t think males had the emotional capacity to create flowery stationery, so they’d previously only hired girls.

No problem, I thought. I prepared some samples to show that I could create pretty things.

Since my first interview, the company had opened up a new store location in downtown Halifax. I had a chat with the first fellow who interviewed me and we arranged a time to meet for a second interview at the new store, which was only a short walk from work. I made sure to double-check the location with him before hanging up the phone.

I arrived at the new store at the prescribed time (actually 15 mins early), but neither of them are there. The girls working said they’re probably on their way and to wait. After waiting until 10 mins after we were supposed to meet, one of the girls offered to call them. She then handed the phone to me.

"Why aren’t you here?" he said.

"What do mean?" I answered. "I thought we were supposed to be meeting at the (downtown) location."

"No. Of course not," he replied. "We don’t even have office space over there yet."

"So can we reschedule?" I asked.

"I don’t think so. I’m pretty pissed, so’s (the wife)."

After giving them a few days to cool down, I thought it would be a good idea to call up and ‘apologize’ and ask again to reschedule. I heard nothing back.

Emailed. Still nothing.

I don’t get it. Did they think I was trying to waste their time? Even if it was my mistake – it wasn’t, my girlfriend witnessed me verifying the interview location on the phone with him – I was still punctual and prepared for the interview, just at a different place.

—

That, along with having not heard back from any of the other jobs I had been seeking left me pretty bummed out.

I’d just stick with my government temp job, I thought. This whole process of job applications was messing with my sanity, not to mention my self esteem.

Eventually I thought, if everyone thinks I’m underqualified, maybe I should just go back to school.

So I applied for Applied Communication Arts and Graphic Design at Nova Scotia Community College. The former I was accepted for no problem, but the graphic design application process didn’t go so well (see a few entries back). Another shock to the ol’ psyche.

—

A few weeks ago I finally pulled myself out from under this fear of rejection I had recently developed and decided to get the ball rolling again.

Baby steps, I decided this time, were necessary. 

I decided to advertise my services to other photographers as an assistant. It’s something I had done while still a student and it really helped me to make some industry connections. Basically you just hold lights, organize people change lenses, etc. for a working pro.

Not a day after I posted an ad on Kijiji I got a response from a local photographer who wanted to meet with me. A few days later we met for coffee. Turns out she actually had more weddings booked for 2010 then she had time for, so she was looking to contract out to another photographer. After showing her some of my wedding samples, she quickly decided that not only was I perfect for the job, but that I was also admittedly a much better photographer than even she was.

So little bit a serendipity for me as I am basically handed the one thing I was lacking to get my photography business going: clients.

—

Around the same time as the Kijiji ads I had sent out a "feeler" email to a local web publisher which runs a community news portal online. Again, I immediately had a response from one of their editors asking to meet me.

I met him yesterday at lunch and he said he was thrilled to find someone with my qualifications and that there would definitely be opportunities for me to work for them in the summer time.

So it was a bit of a rough start to my new life here on the East Coast but, if recent trends continue for me, I think everything’s getting back on track now.