Looking for Work (Again)

And so a job hunt begins again. Funny how life seems to cycle around, no? When I started this blog, I was unemployed. My boyfriend had recently broken up with me. The days ran into each other in mind-numbing monotony, and the only day that seemed distinct from all the others was Sunday--for obvious reasons. I didn't go to church the other six days of the week. And I didn't look for jobs on Sunday. (Because looking for work is a type of work, I decided, and I've never wanted to work on Sundays.)

Right now, life has changed. I've moved. Twice. I took the GRE; I applied to graduate schools. The University of Utah kindly accepted me. And now I'm approaching a phase of life where, though it won't be impossible to work full-time, it will be highly inconvenient to arrange strange eight hour shifts around my class schedule.

So I'm looking for part-time work. Part-time work that has something to do with my English degree, no less, and doesn't pay so little that all of a sudden I find myself wishing for the type of salary Ebenezer Scrooge gives Bob Cratchit.

I had an interview for a proofreading position yesterday, and I felt it went quite well. But who knows how well the other candidates will do? What, truly, are the odds they will call me in for a second interview?

If I have learned anything work in Human Resources for the past year and half (good gracious! I can't believe it's been that long, but it has), it's that all parts of the search for employment are a balancing act. People want candidates who are self-confident but not arrogant, smart but not know-it-alls, questioning but not idiotic. They want people who are personable yet professional.

It's a tight-rope act of more-than-sideshow proportions. And oddly enough, I worry now about my balancing act when I did before. Was telling the assistant editor the anecdote about taking a similar test for my writing tutor position too personal? He smiled. But was it an awkward smile?

I've never been the type to go in for much post-date evaluation. I'm the sort of person who loves to hear details, because I'm a fan of stories--but I beat a quick retreat when the storyteller begins to parse little actions and start to say, "He did this. But what does it really mean?"

But now, I find myself in post-interview evaluation mode, and I've become that girl. The one who says, "Well, the interviewer smiled when I said that. But what type of smile was it? An I'm impressed smile? An I'm smiling because you're awkward smile?"

Hopefully I'll start having so many interviews that I have no time to parse all of them afterward.

(A girl can wish, right?)