job search

A bad story and a good.

The bad. I had applied to be director of financial aid for a law school of a public institution in DC. It was supposed to be an easy get for me. I had all the qualifications, I knew the computer system they were installing, and I had a good contact for the position. Then when I got back from Louisville and got an email from my contact asking if I had applied. I replied in the affirmative and said I got a letter back from the HR department saying they received it. So I was instructed to call the woman who was the current director. And she was apologetic and said that the hr department never forwarded me on and she was upset b/c they probably would've hired me since the person they hired didn't have financial aid experience. yadda yadda. And then she said something that a few other people have said, which is "You're probably lucky to not work here anyways." Now i understand its not the greatest place to work, but if i hate that job and i hate my current job but that job pays 25,000 more a year why would i be lucky not to work there?

The good. Another job interview in Philly next week. We'll see what happens. Maybe the third time is the charm.

Keep your fingers crossed.

I just want to be friends...

So, over the holiday break I had three experiences (with two guys) in which it was someone who I don't really want to be friends with who decided they want to be friends and hang out etc etc. Both are guys that at some point I was marginally interested in, but when I made a move (which takes balls btw), they told me they just wanted to be friends or we went out a few times and then i got the friends talk.

And for the most part these guys are very nice individuals, i just have enough friends and wasn't interested in pursuing friendship with them. In one case, I just got an email from one of them saying he wanted to hang out and catch up because we always had such a great time together... Truth of the matter is he had a great time, I had an ok time that I played up because I was flirting. But when he said he wasn't interested in more then I didn't have to pretend and I stopped pursuing altogether.

The other guy I'll give more credit to because we actually went out a few times, but he stopped by a group that I was hanging out with on Wednesday night. Then at some point in conversation asked the group if we thought he was sexy... really? I got rejected by someone with low self-esteem. And how am I supposed to respond to that question? No, I haven't though that since you rejected me? Or do I flirt and say I always found you to be sexy.

And in truth this really hasn't bothered me... i'm just bored and had nothing else to post about :) But i had a realization... as i strive to improve my self-esteem. Its not good to surround yourself with people who tell you that you're not good enough, or I don't like you enough. Its hurtful to be surrounded with people who have all said you're not number 1 and doesn't do me any good.

Am I right? Or do you think I have sour grapes?

on the dancefloor

DC opened up a new gay dancebar this weekend called town. I went and realize how sad it was that i knew tons of people there, more than the group of friends i was with who seem more social than i am.. guess i was wrong.

But at some point in the bathroom, I ran into this guy that i went on a date with like 2 years ago. A Peruvian guy named Cesar. We started talking on the dancefloor where he complimented my hair (he knew me before it went buzzed) and my weight loss. He said he barely recognized me. Take that bitch! I'm thin and beautiful. Then his tongue went into my mouth :)

Good times being thin.

on the way to work

So yesterday as I walk to work, this cute Latin guy crossed the street in front of me and checked me out. Then he walked a ways ahead of me for two intersections. At which point he crossed the street to head to the YMCA. Then he turned and saw me looking back at him. He smiled. I smiled. He waived. I waived. I posted a missed connection. He hasn't responded yet :)

But at least I'm starting to realize that boys are checking me out.

Conferencing

So over the past week I have been at two separate conferences. From last Wednesday through Saturday I was at the ASHE conference in Louisville, KY. I went for the pre-conference policy sessions, which was really good. I was able to make a lot of contacts with people, like all the big names in my research area. I also made some new friends, which was nice.

I presented my paper. I got some nice compliments on it like "it was well written," "I enjoyed reading it." and "Your reference list was so complete I feel I could now teach a class on college choice." But then the reader/discussant said he didn't feel comfortable giving feedback because he was unfamiliar with the panels methodologies... (copout answer if i ever heard one). So I didn't really get any feedback on how to improve my paper. Afterwards there was one person who asked a question and it was totally not a question, just him ranting about lottery scholarship programs. Afterwards the chair of our session asked if we'd like to answer and one woman said... there was no question, just a rant. hahaha it was great. In addition to that I was talked to by the editor of a journal who said i should submit when i finish my dissertation. YAY.

Also, conference men (much like the latins) seem to love me. I had men eating out of my hand left and right and checking me out all the time. I even made a conference boyfriend. It was a great relationship... sadly he has a real life boyfriend so we wont be more than conference boyfriends (let me know if you need this concept explained). But that story is cute. I interrupted he and his friend talking about something to ask where the bar was at a social. He said there was none, but you had to grab it from the waiters when they came by. I looked confused and distraught.... so he offered me a sip of his wine, which i took. And then we introduced ourselves. But we made sure to hang out at some point each day at the conference.

and of course shenanigans ensued at north america's largest gay bar.

In coming days for my catch up: the second conference, this boy flirting with me on the way to work, and more.

Funniest Thing Ever!

Note: This link is not safe for work or for school, but is hysterically funny and you need to read this. Oh how i love DC

http://keithiskneedeepinmud.blogspot.com/2007/10/crack-is-whack.html

What they teach in the business school...

I had to go to an awards ceremony at work yesterday morning. It was the customer service awards at my institution and somehow I was nominated and became a finalist.... which is hysterically funny to anyone who has seen me or heard me talk about work. But while I was there, I ran into this woman I interviewed with a long time ago for a job that I know they hired someone else for, but at no point did they ever tell me that they weren't going to hire me, or they completed their search or anything like that. Which is unprofessional, but not the worst unprofessionalism that occurred.

So I'm walking up these stairs with my boss right next to me and this woman i interviewed with for a job at our business school grabbed my shoulder. I turned thinking who the hell is touching me. I say hi and she says do you remember me? I said yeah, you're (insert strange woman's name here). She said she talked to a friend of mine the other day who said i said something like "is she EVER going to tell me I didn't get the job?" Which I sort of said, but only in retaliation for what my friend said about my office and I didn't quite phrase it that way... which is what i said to the woman (the second part, not the first). So she goes on and on and on about how long the search took then she was embarrassed to contact people, but how i was a great candidate and whatever. All with my boss in earshot.... Great! I get fired on customer service day because this crazy woman tells the world how i've applied to other jobs.. wonderful.

And truth be told, at one time I cared about the job and would've liked some feedback, but by not hearing until now in such an unprofessional way, clearly I'm not going to take any criticism well and have no desire to work for this woman....

But I assume that she has learned her professional techniques from what they teach at our business school, so I'm a little worried about that.