I've been going back and forth about writing this blog entry. I didn't see myself in this position so soon. For the past month and half I've been trying to convince under-qualified recruiters that I'd be the perfect fit for their organization (side note: not all recruiters are under-qualified, I've just received too many emails from hr departments with misspelled words, poor grammar and even calling me by the wrong name that I'm a little bitter!). Trying to explain that I had the skill set necessary to be successful and to grow with their company was far from easy. At one point when I was asked where I saw myself in five years I was tempted to say, "In the exact same position, applying for jobs that I'm over qualified for." Of course I bit my tongue on that one, but it is so easy to get bogged down by all of these emails that read along the lines of: We've moved forward with another candidate. Best of luck in your job search. But, you've got to keep pushing. And like everyone says, eventually, something great will come your way.
And it did. On one of my late night job hunts I came across a brand new posting on Meeting Professionals International's (MPI) job listing. It was for an "Internal Sales Assistant" with Windy City Limousine and I thought to myself, I could do this! The job description wasn't exactly screaming event planning, but it was right up my alley in the hospitality field. Plus, not to mention I've always loved being on the vendor side of things (shout out to Kramer Events). I applied and the next morning I saw that someone from Windy City Limousines had checked out my Linkedin! I received an email 30 minutes later scheduling my interview!
Fast forward and now I'm starting my career on monday! I couldn't be more excited to be starting my next adventure with Windy City Limousine. Check them out, they're pretty great! Not to mention- we're not limited to only Chicago, we do global transportation too!
I kept getting stuck trying to come up with a title for this blog post. During college we always joked about what the real world was going to be like. At our Senior Predictions with Alpha Chi Omega, my best friend Purser predicted I'd moved to Chicago (check), land a full time job with Red Frog Events (not check), meet a hot yopro (Young Professional: suit wearer on the weekdays, Sperry Top-Siders on the weekends) and settle down (hahah! yeah right!). I haven't exactly lived up to that prediction yet. Along with so many other recent grads, I fell into the movement of Post Grad Problems. The life after college. Going from the mega high of having an incredible position, to barely being able to switch from my pj pants to my yoga pants and opening a new rejection email each day. But, in all honesty, these last few weeks have been as real as it gets. My little unemployment phase has helped me become a stronger person, an avid reader, a news follower and most importantly more appreciative for the things I do have than ever before. So although the career world starts monday, the real world has already begun!
Thanks again to all of those who have continued to show their love and support. I couldn't have done it without you! Especially you, Zach- as harsh as you were at times, I needed someone as real as you help me kick it into gear!
xoxo
Kaitlyn
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
The Water Pipe
This all began about two weeks ago. After he hit the snooze button about 6 times my roommate Cody sleepily stumbled into the bathroom to take a shower. To his surprise when he went to turn on the shower nothing happened. He called to me to come check it out (like I knew how to fix it?!). We put our heads together to come up with what could be causing this and decided we should check the other faucets around the apartment and with the girls that live above us. Cody had an interview that day and needed to shower so he headed to his girlfriend's place leaving the water sitch up to me.
I contemplated calling our landlord but figured I'd put it off until I finished one more job application. And then I started another and sort of forgot about the little situation we were having when there was a knock at the door. It was a man with the silliest hat on his head. He let himself into the apartment and started rambling on and on. I looked at him in shock. I'd never met this man and he was trudging through my apartment with snow still on his boots! He made it into the living room, turned back to me still standing at the front door and said, "Oh by the way, I'm Emmett the property owner." I let him look around and call his plumber friends. He discovered a frozen pipe that had burst on the back side of the apartment. I knew immediately we'd be seeing a lot of this guy over the next week. And despite the labor and construction costs he was about to endure, I couldn't help but think he was making plenty of money off our rent, why the hell is he wearing a child-sized Spiderman beanie?!
As the week progressed we did see plenty of Emmett. He worked side by side with a construction crew and a plumber to get things fixed. He listened in on a few of my phone interviews and gave a some words of encouragement here and there. He asked Cody and I what the heck Linkedin was and why he should have one. It was kind of fun having this guy around.
Speaking of Linkedin, our friend Amy was over having Cody take head shots so she could update her profile. We like to refer to Amy as the most interesting woman in the world. You name it, she's probably done it. She isn't afraid to give something new a try or strike up a conversation with anyone. Naturally, she was intrigued by Emmett's Spiderman beanie and asked him if there was a story behind it.
Emmett told us a quick story of how he was running late to court one day (he's an attorney) and he couldn't find his hat. Desperately trying to get out of the house, he grabbed his son's Spiderman beanie. When he arrived at court all the other attorneys made fun of him and joked about his lack of professionalism. It's been seven winters since that day Emmett was running late. He wears the beanie as a reminder not to take himself too seriously and that there are things in life that are more important then what you wear on your head to keep warm.
For a bunch of fUnEmployed folks that was the best thing we could hear. He wasn't trying to tell us we'd find jobs, or that we're better than the other applicants. What he was telling us is that life is too short to take yourself too seriously and that you can still have fun and enjoy life no matter what it is you're doing or wearing.
Prior to knowing the meaning behind the beanie, I contemplated including a new one along with our February rent check. I'm so grateful that Amy asked that simple question and prevented me from the embarrassment. I've always been a believer that everything happens for a reason. But the water pipe fiasco couldn't have come at a better time to learn a life lesson from our friend Emmett.
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I contemplated calling our landlord but figured I'd put it off until I finished one more job application. And then I started another and sort of forgot about the little situation we were having when there was a knock at the door. It was a man with the silliest hat on his head. He let himself into the apartment and started rambling on and on. I looked at him in shock. I'd never met this man and he was trudging through my apartment with snow still on his boots! He made it into the living room, turned back to me still standing at the front door and said, "Oh by the way, I'm Emmett the property owner." I let him look around and call his plumber friends. He discovered a frozen pipe that had burst on the back side of the apartment. I knew immediately we'd be seeing a lot of this guy over the next week. And despite the labor and construction costs he was about to endure, I couldn't help but think he was making plenty of money off our rent, why the hell is he wearing a child-sized Spiderman beanie?!
As the week progressed we did see plenty of Emmett. He worked side by side with a construction crew and a plumber to get things fixed. He listened in on a few of my phone interviews and gave a some words of encouragement here and there. He asked Cody and I what the heck Linkedin was and why he should have one. It was kind of fun having this guy around.
Speaking of Linkedin, our friend Amy was over having Cody take head shots so she could update her profile. We like to refer to Amy as the most interesting woman in the world. You name it, she's probably done it. She isn't afraid to give something new a try or strike up a conversation with anyone. Naturally, she was intrigued by Emmett's Spiderman beanie and asked him if there was a story behind it.
Emmett told us a quick story of how he was running late to court one day (he's an attorney) and he couldn't find his hat. Desperately trying to get out of the house, he grabbed his son's Spiderman beanie. When he arrived at court all the other attorneys made fun of him and joked about his lack of professionalism. It's been seven winters since that day Emmett was running late. He wears the beanie as a reminder not to take himself too seriously and that there are things in life that are more important then what you wear on your head to keep warm.
For a bunch of fUnEmployed folks that was the best thing we could hear. He wasn't trying to tell us we'd find jobs, or that we're better than the other applicants. What he was telling us is that life is too short to take yourself too seriously and that you can still have fun and enjoy life no matter what it is you're doing or wearing.
Prior to knowing the meaning behind the beanie, I contemplated including a new one along with our February rent check. I'm so grateful that Amy asked that simple question and prevented me from the embarrassment. I've always been a believer that everything happens for a reason. But the water pipe fiasco couldn't have come at a better time to learn a life lesson from our friend Emmett.
Yes, I took a sneaky picture of Emmett's Spiderman Beanie :)
Have a wonderful day friends, and remember don't take yourself too seriously!
Cheers,
Kaitlyn
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