Sunday, September 28, 2008

Random Tidbits

* My temp job is coming to an end on Monday. We have pushed through and are almost on the last of 22 boxes. If I never see another staple in my life that will be fine and dandy. It really wasn't that bad of a job. It was quite easy, just monotonous. I did find it quite easy to get lost in my thoughts while making copies which was entertaining. I also would set small goals for myself, such as, I wanted to finish this box before I go to lunch, etc. And I enjoyed lunch. I had an hour off for lunch which is way too much for me. I was use to 30 minutes at the museum and sometimes that was too much. But I have been bringing a book with me and spent the time sitting at an outdoor table reading and eating. It has been quite delictable.

* My second interview at National Speakers Bureau will be Wednesday afternoon. I will find out Monday exactly what time and what to expect. Hopefully this will go really well and I will be offered the job.

* Travis made it through his two tests and did wonderfully! After his test on Wednesday, a group of classmates planned to meet at Buffalo Wild Wings to celebrate. It ended up being a rather large group--people just kept showing up and we kept adding tables. Most of the people I met at the barbeque, but there were also a few new faces. It was nice to get out and spend time with people. Travis has another test this Wednesday and then he has two weeks without tests. So to celebrate a group is getting together and going to downtown this Friday. Super fun!

* We are getting to know our church congregation more. The preacher and his family took us out to lunch for the second time. We have really enjoyed getting to know he, his wife, and sons better. We told him today that we would like to place membership. I met a really fun lady today: she introduced herself as Katherine with a "K". So I introduced myself as Erin with an "E".

* Texas moment: Saturday I went to get a few necessities at Wal-Mart while Travis studied. As I was loading the car with my purchases, there was a car stopped near me, waiting for someone to back out of a parking spot. I heard the man in the car ask, "Are you really from Texas?" I said yes and he commenced to ask me questions at the major cities: Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas. He also asked about places to eat. I gave rave reviews about all of the cities...it's Texas everything is great there! He thanked me and pulled into his parking spot. Perhaps I persuaded him to change his vacation plans from some back-packing trip across Europe to a more pleasurable Texas excursion. Maybe I need to set up a side business for Texas Tourism.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Interview

My job interview on Thursday went really well. I left my temp job an hour early just to make sure I was there on time and to ensure time in case I got lost. I found the place easily and it only took me 20 minutes. So I drove around the area to kill time.

I met with the general manager who was very nice. We had the interview in the break room. Before we started the president of the company came in and I was introduced to him. He was very nice and had a wonderful, energetic personality. We started the interview of by discussing my ties to Texas and how I got up to Illinois. She told me about a time she went to Texas. She stayed in a ranch house in the Hill Country. The funny story she told me was about an eating experience. The waitress at a restaurant mentioned the specials, one of them being chicken fried steak. She told me that this blew her mind. She could not figure out what that was. Was it chicken? Was it chicken on top of steak? As a southerner I had never thought about someone not knowing what chicken fried steak was. I first filled out a little survey, to find out what my perspectives were on certain aspects of employment. We then discussed the company and the position. She then asked me questions in which I had to state an example from work experience. I always feel put on the spot. Some of the questions you are ready for, whereas others you have to rack your brain for an example. I feel I did fairly well in this section.

Next I had a small "assessment test." She took me to one of the computers and explained my assignment. I was given one of the sheets they use to keep track of the information for speakers at an event. Some of the information was missing, and I was to write an email to the client to obtain information about the speaker's attire, as well as to write an email to the speaker to obtain his travel information. I then was to use the internet to locate the hotel's contact information and email it to the general manager. I suppose they wanted to test my email etiquette and my ability to surf the web.

Once I finished the emails I was done. The general manager thanked me and told me there would be a round of second interviews with the Vice President of Sales and I would get a call if considered.

This afternoon I had a voicemail from the lady at the placement agency letting me know that the company is very interested in a second interview. The VP of Sales is out this week so I don't know yet when my interview will be. Hopefully on Friday they will know something more. I'm pretty excited!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Job Interview

I have a job interview tomorrow at 3:00 with a company called National Speakers Bureau. I have an idea of what the job entails and it sounds very interesting. The position I am interviewing for is Customer Engagement Manager. The CEM supports the sales executives by researching speakers, updating the speaker database, preparing proposals, sending clients info about speakers, scheduling conference calls, etc. I should know alot more about the position after tomorrow.

I meet with the HR person tomorrow and also take some assessment skills tests. Then if I pass this interview I will be called for a second interview with the Vice President of Sales.

I will be going to my temp job tomorrow until about 2:00 and then I will head out to the interview. We shall see what happens.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Employment Venues

This week I have had some employment opportunities. I am still waiting to hear about an interview with the job I talked about in my previous blog. But in the mean time I have been blessed with some other jobs to bring in some cash and keep me occupied during the week.

My first job was Monday afternoon--a modeling gig. Katrina had asked last week if I would like to pose while she painted my portrait. For family members and friends who do not know Katrina she is a fabulous artist and super fun. So for three hours I posed in a sitting position on a very comfortable ataman. I was welcome to as many breaks as needed and she did a great job! The picture isn't finished yet, but my face is there. When I first saw it I thought I was looking in a mirror. You can check this out at Katrina's website. Feel free to search the rest of her website and see her wonderful work. (Katrina, I'm giving you some great exposure!)

The other job opportunity came Monday as well. The lady I have been in contact with for the job interview had a temp job available for this week. It was for a printing company who needed help making copies of legal documents. I said I would be able to do that. I've been there for two days now and has been good--not like the other temp assignment. It is alot of work though; I don't think we will finish this week. I am almost finished with my second box of documents...the total number of boxes is 22. Another lady is working on the coping, but she is also helping customers who come in. She is almost finished with her first box. We have been told that some of the boxes are only half full. If so hopefully we can knock them out pretty quickly. The client called today asking about the progress and was wanting to pick them up on Satureday. HA! I don't think he realizes what all is involved. We have to take out the staples then put them back in to the originals and copies, as well as make sure the copies are organized with rubber bands. I'm enjoying the work--it reminds me alot of projects I did in the Provost Office during college.

Travis has his first test this Friday. He has been studying very hard. He also is running for honor council and he has to give a speech on Thursday. Needless to say the next two days will be very full for him.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

The Ups and Downs of the Week

The beginning of this week started out not so great. I've decided that I really do not enjoy the temp agency I interviewed with. They are not as professional or as altogether as I had thought in the beginning. Because of this I ran into a problem with them that put me in a major funk for all of Tuesday. I'm typically a very upbeat person who can handle lots of adverse situations. However, no one is perfect and I just felt the weight of not having a job on that day.

It is truly amazing to me how when we are in our weakest moments God comes to the rescue. The afternoon of my "down and out" day I received a call about a job I had applied for. The company that called was not the actual company of the job I applied for. In my mind I was really afraid that it was another temp agency and I didn't want to get messed up with that again. But I agreed to go to an interview the next day. The office was in Lincolnshire which is about 11 miles but takes 20 minutes to drive. I easily found the building and was about 5 minutes early. This building was so much more professional than the temp agency interview I went too. I took this as a good sign. The lady I met with was absolutely wonderful! I felt so at easy with her and she was truly interested in helping me. We looked over my resume and she made suggestions on changes to make it more alluring to employers. The company is actually a placement company. Instead of a company looking over 200 applications, they contract this place to send them a handful of qualified applicants. She told me that she wants to make sure I am in a good place that I really like. That being said she told me that she probably wouldn't call every day. It depended on what jobs came in that she felt matched my skills and experience.

The very next day, Thursday, I received a call from her with a job possibility. Because of confidentiality issues she could not tell me the name of the company (at least until they decide to have me interview) but she could tell me about what they do. The company is in charge of selecting speakers for different corporate events. They find out what the goal of the event is and then find a speaker for the company. Because of my background with public speaking she thought of me. The job would be Administrative Assistant to the VP of sales. In time the job would also entail supporting two other executives. I thought it sounded pretty interesting. Using the information I knew I searched the internet to try and deduce the company. I could be wrong about the company, but if it is who I think it is they are a very well-established business with some pretty famous names as speakers. Also if this is the place I think it is, it is only 4.5 miles from where we live.

Hopefully this next week I will find out my possibilities of interviewing with the company. I will keep everyone informed.

Labor Day

Travis and I had a wonderful Labor Day spent with some wonderful friends. Travis was off from school on Monday. He started the day off by getting some morning study in--I truly am very proud of his good study habits. At around 12:30 Mark and Katrina came up and the four of us went out for a jolly bit of lunch. After our filling meal at Chili's and some good times coloring chili peppers, we made the great divide among the couples: the women went shopping and the men went to play disc golf.

Katrina and I headed to Michael's, Kohl's, and Bed, Bath, and Beyond, all of which are very dangerous. I can easily create major financial damage in all of these delectable shopping venues. I, however refrained from spending since it really wasn't in our budget. Although I did steal a glance at the beautiful scrapbooking materials at Michael's and heard the whispers from the sparkling jewelry (that was almost all on sale) at Kohl's. I also denied the beckonings of the comfortable bed sheet sets at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I remained strong, however if I had stayed any longer I think I might have lost it.

After the shopping and the disc golf we all rendezvoused back at our apartment. We enjoyed some wonderful and pleasant conversation. Then to end the evening just right we headed out for coffee at Caribou Coffee. This was our second time to go to one of these coffee shops and they are really fun! I'm not sure if there are any of these in Texas. I haven't seen or heard of them. The inside is fixed up like a wooden cabin. It makes you feel like you just finished snow skiing in Colorado, minus the skis and the snow...well, at least for now.

All in all it was a wonderful day spent hanging out with dear friends.