How and When I Got Hired

The quote "If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life." from Mark Anthony has been very meaningful to my young career. Even before I had a career, I was not interested in any job that would pay me to work, I was somewhat selective. Now this may have been for better or worse, but that is still to be seen.

When I was hired as an Intern I knew that my time was limited and that I had to make a long lasting impression, whether or not I wanted to remain at the company. While I have thought my work ethic has always been one of my strengths, I wanted my coworkers to realize this on their own.  This went along well with my goal of self promotion, even if it did not lead to a career with the company. Self promotion is a big part of networking. There is only one reason someone will truly remember your name, and that is if you made a lasting impression. Here is where it gets difficult. That may have been a bad impression. Showing up to an interview in cargo shorts, bad impression. Being able to comfortably address someone and relate to them on a personal level, good impression. If I could pick one outfit to wear for the rest of my life, most of my family and friends would be able to recognize that I would be in slippers, gym shorts and a t-shirt. However, when I am at work, you would never know.

I was hired as an Intern in May and accepted a full time position in August. Once again an opportunity presented itself and I capitalized on it. This was not handed to me, nor was it expected, but it was earned. There was an employee in an entry level position that decided it was in his best interest to leave the company, thus opening an entry level position for me to pursue. I slept on the idea of applying for the position since I am still in school I wasn't sure that I would even qualify for it. After a quick discussion with my boss the next day it was clear that they wanted me to stay with the company. That night I submitted my application on the companies website, and the nerves came flooding in. I cannot remember what I did the rest of the night, but I remember the next day couldn't come soon enough. I did not hear anything at all during the next business day, so the nerves continued to build. This was when I realized I had just watched a video that related to this.

I am a big fan of the author and motivational speaker, Simon Sinek. He has talked on a lot of large stages and brought to attention a lot of curious things that as humans I believe we are quick to overlook. The video I watched was a little over an hour long, but here is a clip describing how he feels about being nervous. There wasn't much time between applying for the position and hearing back from my company, but because I interpreted it as being nervous, it felt like decades. It took them 3 business days to offer me the job, of which I excitedly accepted.