Reconnecting

I am an avid user of Facebook.  I pretty much love it and think it is one of the best inventions ever.  I log on everyday because it is a way to keep in touch with those people I do not get to see very often just by taking a few moments to read through some posts on the internet.  Brilliant.

I have a LinkedIn account as well, although I am not such a heavy user of that (maybe because it is not as user friendly, or just not as fun … not really sure).  But, this has served for me a similar purpose as facebook – to remain connected with those who I have worked with or learned with the in past.  Excellent.

While I have participated in these sites for several years, their importance in my life has never been so prominent as it is now.  Recently, I have used both of these sites to reconnect with individuals who may be able to help me find a job.

I knew a couple of people who used to work at the firm that I worked for in Southern California.  Just before I went to law school they quit their jobs at the firm and moved up to the bay area.  I saw them a handful of times, but over the years we lost touch.  As far as I knew, both individuals still resided in the bay area, but I had none of their contact information – enter Facebook and LinkedIn.  I entered both names I had on both networking sites – one popped up on Facebook and the other on LinkedIn.  In a matter of minutes I had email addresses for both people. 

I drafted an email to one and sent it on its way.  Within a few days she replied.  We ended up having dinner and she provided me with several ideas on how to network, things to say at interviews, and places to submit my resume.  Not only did we get to catch up personally, but it was a professionally enriching dinner.

After several weeks of debating, I also recently sent an email to the other person I looked up.  He responded overnight and was more than willing to circulate my resume and meet with me to discuss potential opportunities (as it turns out his firm is hiring!).  We are supposed to meet up at the end of this week so hopefully this will turn into something great!

Using social media sites to reconnect with people from your past for professional reasons (or personal reasons) takes gumption!

Bueller? Bueller?

Searching for a job is hard.  I know most people “know” this, but I am not sure that most people “understand” this.  Knowing and understanding are 2 very different things.  I have been looking for a job for a while, and it is one of the most frustrating things I have ever done.

I am very careful about researching not only the position to which I am interested in applying to, but the firm or company as well.  I work extremely hard to make sure that my resume and cover letters are absolutely perfect – no typos, no grammatical errors, good flow etc.  I tailor every cover letter to the job to which I am applying, including statements of interest for the particular firm or company and relating my experiences to how they will help me thrive in that particular environment.  When it comes to actually sending the application out, I am diligent to check that I have the correct addressee and either address or email address, that the email text is formal and correct, and that the documents attached are the proper ones to be sent.  Searching for a job really is a full time job, but the pay and the benefits really suck. 

While the applying is not fun, it is not the worst part of the job search.  Sure, writing a million different cover letters is tedious.  Yes, researching firms that all sound pretty much the same gets boring after a while.  Definitely, it is discouraging that many firms will not even consider you if you did not work with them in law school or have 5-7 years of experience.  Of course, it sucks when you are told the firm is not hiring at the moment but they will keep your resume on file.  However, the absolute WORST part of job searching, for me at least, is when I get no response at all.

I understand that a lot of firms are not hiring right now, or have too many applicants, or that I am either under or over qualified for positions to which I am applying.  However, I spend probably an hour on each application that I send out, making sure it is absolutely perfect, the least that firms could do is send an email stating “thank you but we are not hiring at this time” or “sorry but you are not a good fit for the position” because at least then, I would know where I stand.  Rejection sucks, but being totally ignored is much worse.  I have heard many times before that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference.  This statement while powerful, never hit home quite as much as it does now. 

I really, really, really want a job, but at the very least I deserve a response.

Dealing with indifference and people/firms ignoring you takes gumption! 

Under One Roof

What a week it has been!  Last Wednesday, my parents and I drive down to Orange County to attend my sister’s graduation from college.  I really could not believe that her 4 years in college had flown by and that she would be done with her undergraduate degree in biology.  It was like I had blinked and it was over.

The graduation was actually a lot of fun.  I must applaud UC Irvine on their fantastic graduation planning – they graduated 950 bio majors in an hour and a half.  They had just one speaker who spoke of the intelligence and abilities of the class and then wished them good luck.  They had 2 speakers alternately reading the names and speaking fast while not rushing it.  The ceremony was very informal, with students standing up on chairs waving or dancing across the stage after receiving their diploma.  One student even stood at the top of the stairs and threw handfuls of glitter into the air as he descended.  The best part though was those who altered their names slightly.  One kid named “Andrew” (last name unknown) wrote “Andizzle fo Shizzle” on his name card, and instead of being chastised or punished, his name was read just as he wrote it when he walked across the stage.  Another more heartfelt change was when a girl included her middle name to be read, but it was no ordinary middle name.  She wrote “iloveyoumomanddad” and it was read as one continuous word.  Very cute.

My sister of course did the standard, her full name, and definitely did not do anything showy, just a wave and a big happy smile.  It was perfect.  

Saturday we had a celebratory brunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Schooner or Later, in Long Beach, CA.  It was a much smaller group than my own law school graduation celebration had been the year before, but it was fun nonetheless. 

After the brunch it was time to get to work.  Not only were we there to celebrate graduation, but my sister was going to be moving home with us when we left.  This meant we had to pack up everything she owned and move it back to the bay area.  Although I knew there would be a considerable amount of stuff, I was not prepared for the volume that was presented … a lot of stuff accumulates in 2 years of living in the same place. 

As we were weeding through clothes and packing up pots and pans, I really started considering what this move meant.  My parents, my sister, and I would all be under the same roof again in the matter of a few short days.  The 4 of us would be sharing 2 bathrooms and 1 kitchen.  We would all be getting ready at the same time in the morning.  AND most concerning of all, we have not all lived together under the same roof for more than a week or 2 at a time in nearly 8 years … that is a long time. 

I am not sure how this is going to work.  It could be just fine or it could be an utter disaster.  I do know however that accepting this transition takes gumption, and surviving this transition will take even more gumption! 

Failure is NOT an Option

Monday I woke up to another overcast sky after a weekend of rain.  I hate the rain … most of you know that.  So needless to say I was not in the best mood.  The day went downhill from there. 

I went to the gym for my Monday morning training appointment.  We weighed in as usual on Monday mornings, and much to my surprise I had not lost a single pound over the last 4 days.  This was disappointing considering my diet had been perfect and I was working out twice daily (morning and evening to boost my metabolism).  I tried to look on the bright side … at least I had not gained anything … but realistically, that did not help.

I felt better after working hard in my session and doing some cardio (endorphins!) but still not great.  I went home and stood under the shower for a long time, just letting the scalding water pour over my back.  I felt a lot better when I stepped out of the shower.  (I took a science class in college and the only thing that I remember from it is that a shower creates a negative electric field because of something to do with the water droplets, and we feel more positive when in a negative field.  I am not even sure if this is true, or if I misconstrued something along the way, but a long hot shower typically does make me feel better.)

Unfortunately the good feeling would not last long.  I have been in the long process of interviewing with Apple.  I have had 3 rounds of interviews (1 on the phone, and 2 in person).  They have been drawn out because of scheduling issues, not mine, for nearly 3 months.  Anyway, I was excited about this job, and optimistic following the final interview.  Yesterday I received an email from the recruiter that they thought I had a “good skill set” but that they had decided to fill the position internally.  It took them 3 months to decide this?!  I was pretty much devastated, crushed, destroyed.  I spent a good hour yelling and throwing various things around my room (the yelling was good, the throwing I do not recommend as you just have to pick it all up later).  Then next hour or so I spent crying. 

I keep thinking about all of the stuff I did in high school, college, law school.  I immersed myself in my work.  I always graduated at the top of my class with honors.  In high school I was ASB Vice President and editor-in-chief of the newspaper while I coached both basketball and volleyball, took AP classes, and maintained a high GPA.  In college I held more than half of the positions in my business fraternity including President, while minoring in both Leadership and Communications and majoring in Business with emphases in Finance and International Business.  I was part of the Gamma Beta Phi, the honors society, Lambda Pi Eta, the Communications Honors Society, and Beta Gamma Sigma, the Business Honors Society.  I joined Phi Alpha Delta, pre-law society when I decided I wanted to go to law school and was a founding member of Mortarboard at Chapman.  I wore the Presidential Scholars medal at graduation and graduated Magna Cum Laude.   

 College graduation with a good friend.  

The stoles, cords and medals represent all the things I was involved in in college.

In law school I graded onto law review and in my 3L year assumed the position of Senior Symposium Editor where I proceeded to put on a fantastic event that included a welcome dinner at the Nixon Library and speakers like former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, former head of the DEA Asa Hutchinson, former Orange County judge Hon. Jim Gray, and former congressman and current Orange County judge Hon. James Rogan, among others.  I was a teaching assistant for 2 years and was a student ambassador.  I graduated cum laude in the top 15% of my class at number 24, and I was the peer selected graduation speaker.  And almost the entire time I went to school I found the time to work and to volunteer in various ways.  

At the Symposium Welcome Dinner with Asa Hutchinson (middle) and another member of law review.

 At the Symposium Welcome Dinner with the Editor-in-Chief of the law review.

Since I have been out of school I have passed 2 bar exams – California, the hardest bar in the country, and Colorado, one of the bars that has the greatest reciprocity.  I have worked as a post-graduate research assistant, started studying for the real estate broker’s exam, and contemplated taking 2 additional bar exams.  And so I asked myself … what more could a firm ask for?!  What more could I possibly do?!

 Being sworn in to the California Bar by Judge James Rogan!

Yesterday I woke up to a new day, a new sunny day!  I had begun to think the sun had actually burnt out … I was glad to know I was wrong.  As I got dressed to go to the gym I thought about what I was going to do now.  I pulled out a t-shirt to wear.  It was one from my senior year of high school.  My AP English teacher (who I was fortunate enough to have twice) had created this concept called Cota University for her senior students.  She had a ceremony and “diplomas” and t-shirts made and everything.  The t-shirt had a statement on the back “where failure is not an option.”  I repeated this as I pulled it over my head. 

When it comes to my life, failure is NOT an option.  I just need to keep looking, keep trying, keep pushing forward … something great will come along soon enough.

Dealing with frustration and disappointment takes gumption!