Ladies and gentlemen, if you love reading posts about my mishaps and unfortunate situations, this ain’t the blog post for you! No laughing at my pain here! This is a good ol’ fashioned praise report! 😀

So, I got a new job. Not just any job (because I wasn’t about to leave my job until the perfect opportunity opened up). This will all make so much more sense if I start from the beginning.

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The Position

For a while, the only constant in my career goals was that I wanted to work for a school system doing communications. I had many failed attempts along the way ( like this one :/ ), but for some reason, I kept at it. It was the only thing I wanted to do. Yes, I took some breaks here and there, but my mind was still set on my goals.

I even created a “Life Wheel,” as Dr. Charles Stanley calls it. It’s basically a board where you post all your life goals. I sectioned mine off into the categories of spiritual, physical, social, and professional. And I kept looking at those images when I got discouraged along the way. ^^’

Now let’s fast-forward until a few weeks ago.

I’m at home messing around on the internet when I get an inkling to visit my desired company’s website. And there it was—a vacant position in the communications department. Mind you, I looked about two months ago at the same site and no such position was open. (And who says the Holy Spirit won’t guide you?) 💡

Anyways, I turn in my application praying to hear back; and the day after the application deadline, I did.

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The Initial Call

My heart had to have stopped for a good 1/2 second. 😮 OMG! They called! What do I say? “Hello?” Nah… I sound too nonchalant answering like that. “Hope speaking.” Boo… how stuffy does that make me? Oh! I got it!

“This is Hope.”

“Hi, Hope. This is Lisa. I was calling you for the position you applied for. We were wanting to schedule an interview with you. Is Monday okay?”

Monday? That was two business days away.

“Yes, ma’am. That would be perfect,” I said after trying to stop my heart from beating out of my chest.

“Great! See you then.”

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The Preparation

I spent more time studying and researching the organization than I did on any mid-term exam I had in college. My investigative skills were in full gear, and I was determined to walk in there knowing my stuff. 😛

I didn’t only study the facts. I had to study how to give off positive and confident nonverbal body languages through power poses. 😕

What’s a power pose, you ask? It’s something that a speech professor enlightened me about through this Ted Talks video. Basically, if you do certain poses before a presentation or interview, it will make you more confident. The theory is that you’re faking it until you make it and truly become it.

Now, I had to worry about my interview look. 😉 The day before my interview, I was running around town like a mad woman trying to make the finishing touches on my appearance. I needed my eyebrows threaded (which is 40 minutes away from my house), I needed the right blouse to go under my power suit (because I wasn’t feeling the rags I had), and I needed accessories from the mall to make the look come together.

My mantra for the day was: “You look good, you feel good; you feel good, you do good.” So, I was determined to look my best. 😎

The day of the interview, I got up early in the morning, prayed, worked out, took a shower, and tried to make myself look BEAT, huntaay!

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The Interview

I arrived at the location about 15 minutes early.

“Hope? Nice to see you! We’ll call you in when we’re ready. You can have a seat for now.”

Nope! Wasn’t going to. According to what I learned about power posing, you were supposed to stand up and practice the poses prior to being called into the room. So I got up, walked around, and posed on ’em! 🙂 (Luckily, there was no one around.)

“Hope?” I heard about 10 minutes later.

“Yes?” I responded in my hand-on-hip power stance.

“We’re ready for you now.”

I took a deep breath and gathered all my papers together. Here goes nothing… more like everything!

I can’t even remember everything that happened word for word, but I can say that I kept my smile, my answers were direct, and I payed attention to everyone’s positive body language.

I felt very confident in the interview and my nerves didn’t get the best of me.

After some laughter, a firm handshake, and the handing over of my sample work, the interview was over.

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The Wait

Did I do good? What does everyone else think about my answers? Was the interview long enough?

I replayed the interview in my head over and over again. I nearly thought myself crazy! o_O

They said they’d contact me by the end of the week, and it was only Monday. Every alert, ringtone, and notification that came from my phone made my heart drop.

Don’t emails mean rejection? Do phone calls usually mean acceptance? What if they call to reject me? Let me get my loser speech ready. Do employers text people now? NO MORE PHONE CALLS OR TEXTS UNTIL I HEAR FROM THIS JOB!

Sounds crazy, huh? Well, welcome to the inside of my head. 🙄

The very next day, the phone rang from an all-too-familiar number.

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The Fake-Me-Out

Oh shoot! Let me close the door… and clear my throat… oh no! I’m taking too long. Is my phone still ringing?

Trying to act all calm, I answered, “Hello. This is Hope.”

“Hi, Hope! We’re calling about your interview. We wanted to let you know that you are a finalist, so we need your permission to contact your references.”

“Ummm… yeah, sure! Call whomever you need to!”

“Great! I’ll keep you posted. Bye!”

What just happened? What does this all mean? Am I A finalist or THE finalist? ❓

My references are great, so I wasn’t worried about that aspect of it, but what if they call my references, and I still don’t get the job? Ugggh… I don’t want to tell them the bad news one-by-one when they ask me. :'(

One of my references texted me saying he was just called, so the ball was already rolling. I figured I wouldn’t hear from the job again until the next day, so there I was again… left with my running thoughts.

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The Offer

The next morning, my phone rings. I recognize the number, so I answer it hoping for the best.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Hope! I was just calling to let you know that you are the unanimous finalist for our communications position…” XD

And that’s where I stopped listening, started praising God in my heart, and thinking how grateful I am to achieve this next level in my career. (I had to tune back in when she talked about salary, of course. 😉 )

Great compensation. Great benefits. Great vacations days. Great team. Great organization. Great proximity. Thank you, Lord!