Interview With ... Everyone

Seeing as neither of the summer internships for which I applied worked out (one said I had too much experience, and that they were really looking for someone they could help "get off the ground" and who had no professional experience; the other has ignored my calls to find out WTH they didn't hire me...jerks), I started branching out. Well, not really. In fact, I'm going back to my roots, so to speak.

My first job, after I graduated from high school, was working for a retail upholstery/interiors fabric company in Plano, TX. We did custom window treatments, bedding, and furniture, in addition to just selling fabric by the yard. It was fun and challenging (especially when you had to tell a customer that, no, you didn't think those two fabrics went together at all).

So I decided, once my internships fizzled into the ether, that I would see if I could get work with a retail company doing something fabric-related.

I have had a life-long love affair with fabric. I used to have bolts of it... okay, actually I still have bolts of it in my closet at my parents' house.

I interviewed Wednesday morning at a prominent retail upholstery/interiors store here in Houston. The interviewer flat-out told me that she was going to have a tough time making a decision, because there were so many great applicants. She told me she'd call me Thursday if they had a place for me.

She didn't call Thursday.

I was sad.

Then, she called this morning.

Happiness ensued.

But...I have to interview again with another manager.

Okay, that's fine, because it means there's still a potential job for me, and it would pay a decent hourly rate. Granted, it's nowhere near what I made hourly before I came back to grad school, but this is retail, not architecture. It's also part-time (most likely 2 days per week).

When I thought that I had been rejected, Thursday evening, I was pretty glum. Okay, I'm glum, right now, for multiple reasons, but I'm not going to get into all of them, right now. I ate some beef fajitas and a chocolate-cinnamon milkshake, and felt better.

Amazing how that works.

After my little pity party, I decided to take the economic bull by the horns and skim Craigslist, to see if there were any ads posted for work in my fields.

There were.

I applied, at around midnight Thursday night, for three different positions.

Today, I received calls and/or emails from two of those. One of them is a company, very close to my apartment, that specializes in custom window treatments of all kinds and needs someone in the shop 2-3 days per week. The hours would be flexible, I would only have to work 1-2 Saturdays per month, and they're willing to work with me around my schedule come Fall Semester.

Sweet.

The other one is an interior designer who needs someone 2-3 days per week to do construction drawings and interior detailing. Her posting offered a pretty low hourly wage, but it was also on the assumption that the person replying would have no experience whatsoever. She stated that, as productivity increased, so would pay (seeing as I'm already pretty experienced, I'm assuming/hoping I'd get to start at a higher hourly wage). There's also the potential for a full-time gig with her company (which is growing, natch) after graduation, along with potential relationship development with clients and consultants that could also result in post-graduation employment. She's willing to work with me around my schedule come Fall Semester.

Double-sweet.

So, in addition to a round two interview Saturday morning, I have an interview set up for Monday morning, and another one to take place mid-week, next week.

Feast or famine.