Today I did something that pushed me to step out of my comfort zone and into boundless opportunities. Today, I went on a face-to-face job interview for a position within a field I love doing something that I am quite sure I would enjoy in an environment that I’m not yet sure I want to embrace. Let me tell you something. This. Is. Huge.
I’ve been in the same location (as in proximity) for about six years. It’s worked perfectly. I’ve always been within 10-15 minutes of my children’s schools, my home, and our church. It has always been a relief to avoid the long commute of others, especially in a region where traffic is so difficult. But, in recent months, I’ve been feeling stagnant. I started out in my field doing exactly what I loved–writing and editing. It was perfect. An absolutely perfect day for me was finding missing punctuation, catching undefined acronyms, and rewriting technical jargon to regular layman speech. But, as the economy changed and funding in my field waned, I found myself doing more and more administrative and MS Project scheduling work and not enough of the writing and editing that brings me joy. I love to be the team player. I love helping out. But I’ve been filling so unfulfilled lately that my effort has diminished and I know that if I notice it, surely others must as well.
So, I had a candid conversation with myself and my husband. I want to do something else. I want to get back into my field. I want to feel the same excitement I once did about walking up in the mornings, ready to take on another great day. Don’t get me wrong. I experience it still from time to time in my current position. But the moments are so few and far between. I want the drive I had in youth. I want that experience of knowing what I am doing matters a lot more than notes on a paper, but in true impacy. So, I tentatively pushed a resume out to a couple of sites. I was just curious to see if I would get a nibble.
I did. A rather large nibble. A company that I was semi-obsessed with in college had their corporate recruiter contact me. I answered a few questions, provided writing samples, did some research on the company to see if they were still the dynamic brand that I thought they were in college and it appears so. All of that culminated in an interview today with one of the Program Managers and the recruiter.
Overall, I think it went well. I answered the questions to the best of my ability with trut and candor. I also was honest in the fact that I want what I do to matter in some way. I want to leave work at the end of the day feeling like I didn’t just get a lot of stuff done, but that I got a lot of important things accomplished. I don’t know if I will receive a call back or not. That’s okay.
The excitement in today’s post is that I took the step to come out of comfort and embrace things unknown. I think it’s time for it. I’m nervous and unsure, but I’m determined to see how this is going to end.
Wish me luck, either way! (By the way, the interviewer told me I was now moving to round two of three). Wooho!
-K