An amazing past 2 weeks and more... Oh MY!

Of course, I've been knitting and crocheting all this time, but there's lots more that's happened since my last post!

First bit of news. I had sent in an application for an administrative assistant in the ranks of a very large corporation. When I emailed my application, I figured there was no harm done, that my resume would fall in a huge catch all and land on the bottom never to be seen again. Boy was I wrong!!!

A week after sending in my application, I get a phone call from one of their HR advisors who asks me quite a few questions over the phone (45 minutes worth) and by the time the questions come to a stop, I am told to come in for a face to face interview the following week on a Monday! Of the hundreds of resumes I'd sent in since March, this was the first & only response! So off I go to the interview, heart in my throat, have to use the transit bus, transit train to get to the town, then use that city's transit system. Two and a half hours later, I'm standing in front of the building. It's warm, and trying to stay fresh when you're already nervous is a lost cause. I went to the public washroom, brushed my hair, applied cologne, straightened my clothing that had not fared as well through 2 and a half hours of jumping on and off transit vehicles and walked in. This interview had more questions, to which I fortunately had the perfect answers, as well as concrete examples to show what I'd done in the past. It lasted around an hour and a half. At the end of that interview, I was told I'd hear back from them by the end of the following week.

The next day, Tuesday, the phone rings, they want me to come in for an interview with the managers on Thursday at 9 am! Now that I've already done the trip once, I at least know what I'm in for which means I wear something that won't wrinkle to death on the buses and trains. I meet with the two managers, the entire interview is conducted in english and french, switching back and forth as we went. That definitely proved to them that I can speak french LOL Again, I answer a hodge podge of questions, they obviously are looking for someone who has done different types of administrative work and also someone who can handle a fast pace and changing demands at the drop of a hat. I have no problems with that since I've been doing that a long time working for different companies as a temp. Both managers seemed rather impressed with my experience and did not have poker faces as far as showing their excitement. At the end of the interview, I was told that I'd hear back by the end of the following week to which I thought to myself, of course :)

The next morning, Friday, the phone rings, they are sending me the paperwork via email for a background check and reference check and then inform me they will be proceeding with an offer when the results of the background and reference checks come back. This is the Friday before the long holiday weekend, so I fax the paperwork back this Wednesday morning (had a bit of an emergency overnight with my the next door elderly lady. She's fine, but it delayed my sending the papers on Tuesday) I called the HR advisor, explained the situation, apologized and asked if I could fax the papers to which I was told, most definitely.

Yesterday, Thursday morning, the phone rings, I have the job!!! and they are going to email my contract, to please review it, jot down any questions I may have and see you Monday!!! The HR advisor goes over the terms verbally to which I can only nod, despite the fact that I'm on the phone, as if she can see me nod, but I'm speechless! When asked for salary, I had quoted a ball park figure that I knew fell mid-range of what admin assistants receive in larger corporation. To me this amount was above and beyond what I'd made up until now, but I stuck to my guns and quoted it anyway. The HR advisor didn't even bat an eyelid, so I figured I must have done ok. During the 2nd interview, the question of salary comes up again, of course, I assume that it means I quoted too high for a starting salary, so I make sure they understand that it is up to negotiations, that I'm willing to start with a lower salary until I can prove myself, etc etc... The salary offered in the contract is MORE than I quoted!!!! My jaw is still having issues staying where it should. Every time I think about it, I can't fathom the amount quoted. I have a feeling it's going to take me quite a while to assimilate that LOL

So yes, all this to say, that I FINALLY HAVE THE JOB OF MY DREAMS!!!!!!

Catch your dreams before they slip away

Work went great as long as I ignored the over extended supervisor going in 20 different directions at the same time barking at us for nothing.

I had a job interview this afternoon that I'm not sure on. Talk about poker faces. I should know by the end of the week if they're even considering me for the position. I'll consider then if I really want to work for them. Temp work has it's advantages, if you don't like a placement, you complain to your agent and someone else gets the spot. Not that I'm going to complain since I've figured out the supervisor. I just let her rant on and do my job :)

But the best part of today was..... *drum roll please* My darling daughter came with me to visit! You might say, so what? To me this is a gift to be treasured. My daughter doesn't live in the same town, neither one of us owns a vehicle so visiting means a long trip on a train/bus and then walking walking walking to wherever we want to go. After my interview was over, we headed over to the Vietnamese market to pick up a few things and some chicken wings. My daughter's special supper request was my pineapple curried chicken wings with rice.

After getting everything set, and were waiting for the wings to be done, I sat my daughter down in front of the computer and introduced her to my folder of knitting patterns earmarked for her. When I see a pattern I think she would like, I drop it in that folder so she can take a look whenever she's visiting. Apparently my tastes in what she likes is pretty smack on since she only took a few out of the list :) She also added a bunch more from my regular pattern folders. Then I introduced her to Ravelry, she may not knit or crochet, but she has a flair for clothes. Ravelry is one of those awesome places for anyone who has a flair for knowing what looks good and what works and doesn't work in clothing and accessories. She really enjoyed the site and will likely join so she can check out new patterns and let me know which ones she'd like to have knit up for her.

I put in her backpack a couple of facecloths I knitted up as well as a Kinder Surprise egg. One of her favorite treats. I totally forgot to take pictures of the facecloths but these were experimental designs of my own anyway. I can always knit them up again. She will let me know how they perform under heavy usage so I know what alterations to make if need be. I wish we lived closer by each other.

Cold, colder, coldest! No hot potatoes here! My fingers were numb within minutes of walking out the door this morning. Despite being bundled up to the eyeballs, my fingers were cold even after I stuffed them mitts and all into my pockets. Walking with your hands in your pockets doesn't work so well when the sidwalk is snow and ice covered. You never know when you're going to need to use your arms to pinwheel yourself upright again when your feet skid on ice. Learned that one this morning! The rest of my walk to work was done pigeon toed to keep my center of balance over my feet. An old friend who lived up north with the Inuit taught me that walk and It works.

Still working on fingerless mitts and another facecloth. Doing this new facecloth on a plain sideways rib. Once I've figured it out I'm going to try and incorporate some designs into the sideways rib for visual relief.