Continued

Yesterday's post was cool enough to stand alone but remember I told you there were two big shutterbug moments as of late...

My early summer goal was to start applying for new positions and to be out of my current full and part time positions by the end of summer. When I came to JHU, it was really only planned to be about a year and within this year I've accomplished a lot but I really feel maxed out right here. Time for a change. As for my part-time job...if you know me...you know that iCant.

My strategy was two fold. 1) Work on the resume, apply.apply.APPLY. I personally don't look for things to fall out of the sky. You have to put yourself in a place where opportunity can recognize and approach you. Like Ivy League Neck Tats said (in a different context)...you can't run around thinking that you just "deserve" something (or someone for that matter). You gotta work for it. Here lies my problem with people who constantly complain about their situation but never get to work on making something else happen. 2) Pray hard. Period. Nope not "God if you love me you will deliver this job to my front door step" but "I'm working hard to change my career. Here's where my heart is and what I'd like to do. Here's my timeline to get this done. BUT nevertheless, not my will...but your's be done." Fact is that God doesn't work on our schedules. Time exists to govern man but it doesn't govern God. And i've tried giving Him an ultimatum before and got played sign that God probably is a man . So I hit the ground running in a very focused way. I wasn't applying for just any job. I knew in my heart what I wanted to do and the direction that I felt God was leading me in. So did I apply to 100 jobs a day? No. But I did hit a few quality picks each day.

One day it happened. I got a call. Someone was interested and wanted me to come in for an interview. My little side note prayer was "God I'd love to have an interview on my birthday, that would be a great sentence to go in the opening paragraph of the next chapter." Sure enough, I scheduled that interview for my birthday. It went well. People went on vacation. I knew they were interviewing others, I had to wait patiently. In the meantime...some changes were happening at my current job. Schedules were changing which would effectively take away my ONE guaranteed off evening a week when I don't work either job. Add to that- my manager at the PT spot was leaving and iCan't work with the others so things started looking real emergent. In the midst of my complaints this- ILYT shares a bible study lesson with me from her pastor. She gave me a few words of encouragement and we got quiet on gchat for a few minutes. That was until I frantically sent her a message and called her in amazement of how after sharing that word with me...a door opened. I'd gotten a call from another company. And i.kid.you.not. 45 minutes later a third called to schedule an interview. CRAZINeSS!

The first interview (bday) was with Children's National Hospital. It went great. The team was great and the position was interesting. The second was with a non-profit. The opportunity here seemed great. It was a policy position and the job required a lot of travel. Just what I was looking for. Again, the team was great. The interview went well. Then there was the third interview. This one with a big "think tank" company. They scheduled me for 8 interviews in one day and so I was a bit overwhelmed at the thought initially...and the interview was scheduled so much later than the others. I worried that I wouldn't have the time to make the decisions. The week before my interview at the think tank...I got an offer from Children's National. The offer was more than I expected. I was really shocked actually. I explained my interview situation and the HR person graciously gave me over a week to get back to her with a reply (virtually unheard of). So I notified the non-profit and because they liked me so much..they brought me in for round two the next day. It was crazy!

Finally, interview day came at "think tank" and they already knew the deal. I'd expected the position to be a lot like my current position but in another arena. I'd looked at the salaries and knew that they were below the offer from Children's National. But this company has a crazy reputation so I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to interview there. Monday-they welcomed me and spun me around the building meeting with researcher after researcher. I did a video interview with "the boss" and he asked me what my other offer was. I felt a sense of relief that they knew what I was workin' with but I still didn't know if they were going to eff with it or not. After my morning interviews, I went to lunch at the Ritz Carlton with two girls currently in the position. Everyone was really nice. Laid back, and super supportive of "future endeavors". We returned and I had a few more interviews and the very last was scheduled to be with this very southern gentleman Public Health big wig from Atlanta. Since he wouldn't be able to meet with me in person, he stopped in to say hello and told me he would call me at the end of the day for a phone interview. When my escort for the day got me to that room with the phone...she said "they are upstairs already putting their heads together for you". That felt good on the inside that's what she said . So my day wrapped. I was geeked. And in that moment...I decided to work from home the next day before running some errands and then taking the day to make a decision.

Tuesday came...and I got the call. I'd gotten the job at "think tank". I also got an email to expect a call from the non-profit in that afternoon. My thoughts were that if all things were equal...my difficult decision would come down to think tank and non-profit. So I prayed that God would make it plain for me. To start....think tank surpassed my offer from Children's. I know and they know that is outside of the range they pay for that position...but he didn't want salary to be my deciding factor. I got the third offer and it really didn't compare. It was really an easy decision in terms of opportunity and potential. So I accepted the position and with in moments I was getting emails from DC, Santa Monica, and Pittsburgh. CRAZY INDEED.

Oh, did I mention that in the midst of all this favor I got a promotion and raise at my current job retroactive back to the start of our fiscal year?

The shutterbug moment take home: make a plan with God. Don't go just tellin' Him what it is...what it not.. and what it gone be (special prize to the person who can name that song), but make your requests known to Him, put in your work, and watch him "werk".