October 24, 2013

Keeping the balls in the air!


Tuesday
Thought I aced the job interview. I'd set up my portfolio as a Choose Your Own Adventure with the five key stories that applied to the company. All went well. Left on a total high. Loved the job and the group.

Hosted book club to discuss Breakfast at Tiffany's. Had a great talk, lots of fun.

Pulled an all nighter to catch up with all the work I'd neglected while prepping for the job interview. Had very little interest in my current work. Was practicing my resignation speeches/emails in my head.

Wednesday
Met for "Lunch L@b" with a group of folk trying to get protected pedestrian/bike baths put in throughout downtown. We meet once a week and are putting together a pitch document with the goal of meeting with foundations and donors in January. In Big D, you get the money first, then you loop in the politicians and the city. Money talks and it's a proven test of concept here. Got the outline put together and agreed to put it into a Keynote/PDF format.

Ate lunch with a grad student who's helping on the project. Did some mentoring/career advice.

Got home to an email that they'd selected an internal candidate. Total Depression. UGH.

Dragged myself out to pick up Brex, took him to Jrex's office for a networking dinner. They went home together while I dragged myself to a networking event for the area Big Design Association 'meet the board' night. Had some great chats and loved being around people. Left feeling less depressed.

Thursday
Tried to get my head back into my current projects.

Got a call from another agency to come in for an interview next week. They're in the same building as the Tuesday group! 

Met someone for a networking lunch. Thought it would be more personal connection, less professional. Turns out she knows everybody and gave me ten people to contact. She'll be feeding me their emails. She worked with one of the people I interviewed with on Tuesday and told me to say hi. Even more helpful, I could ask her about the weird vibe I've been getting here that I'm 'strong meat'. I feel like I come across too forcefully. Stuff that's totally normal in the Bay Area (she lived and worked in San Francisco) is pushy here. There's enough Southern in the culture that I need to pull back, soften the approach and let there be a velvet glove over the steel. Also, contract negotiations take multiple steps, so I need to be less 'all cards on the table'. I HATE playing games, but if there's a game to play (and there seems to be), it helps to know the rules.

Now I have to do Thank You cards for the job I didn't get. Sigh. However, it's a small community here and everyone knows everyone, so it pays to do things well and honorably.

Small group tonight.

Oh, and I also have to finish revising my 'real' work deliverable by tomorrow morning.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

So sad, your life right now is.

But, keep trusting that the LORD will send you to the right place.