Still Searching ...

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs.
That is still what is on the mind.

Yesterday I had a day-long interview down in Indianapolis for a company called ExactTarget.
They are a mass e-mail marketing company -- one of the best and biggest in the nation. It was my first interview that lasted over 30 minutes and let me tell you, it was quite the experience. The day started at 3pm and lasted until 10pm that evening. We went through three formal interviews, two group forum interviews, two separate tours and ended the evening with dinner and a presentation on the software.

It was a great experience overall and I learned a lot, but the main point I took away from the process was the constant reminder to be myself. The program that we were interviewing for is called the Catapult Program. They had over 480 applicants -- finalist day (yesterday) was narrowed down to 23 and from there they will pick 10 people to join the company. Needless to say the competition is fierce. Every single finalist is extremely qualified to become a part of this program; they are all outgoing, personable, intelligent and overall great people.

So how do you stick out? Be Yourself. Capitalize on what separates you from the pack, and know that it is a GOOD thing that you are different from the others in some way, shape or form. For me it was my acting and traveling experience. And that is what I spoke about. I allowed the interviewers to take a peek into the way that I look at life and what I am trying to get out of this journey. I may not have the business experience they are looking for, but I have all the life experience and more that a person my age could obtain. So I was myself: I introduced myself to everyone, I asked questions, I found the topics all interesting, I was a focused listener -- but I also laughed at stupid jokes, expressed new ideas that I thought would be helpful and admitted to my faults and emphasized my strengths. I also told them that I loved my cat and I can't go a Sunday without watching football (both are VERY true).

So who knows what will happen. If I don't get the job then I wasn't the best person for the position. And that is okay, you win some and you lose some. But I can feel confident that I entered and exited the day illustrating exactly what they would be getting if they hired me.
I am who I am and I happen to like it =)!