Job??!!

After doing so much job hunting, Claire and I decided to go to Baylor last Tuesday for the Job Fair at the Ferrell Center. The last Baylor Job Fair that I attended was pretty lame. It was last spring semester and the Non-profit Job Fair. I had high hopes for it because Non-Profit Organizations really interest me; I would really love working for an organization or company that is geared towards making people a priority and making the world a better place besides just turning a profit. But bluntly put, that fair was crap. There were very few organizations in attendance and the few that were there didn’t actually have jobs to offer. So, naturally I was a bit skeptical, but also super nervous because so many other perspective employers had rejected or ignored me. I really did not want this job fair to be a dead end.

That Tuesday morning, Claire came to my house and we merrily left for Waco. We got there in time to meet the wonderful and lovely Nikki and Kelcy for lunch at Teriyaki Park. It was fantastic! I absolutely LOVE those girls. After lunch, we left for New Student Programs to visit some Baylor family members, receive some words of encouragement, and change into professional attire for the fair. After a few practice runs with Keane working on my (“Hi, I’m Elizabeth. Please hire me,” and*smile*) introduction, we were ready and headed to the Ferrell Center.

As we walked in, we encountered an old transfer student that we knew from Welcome Weekend, Bruke. He briefly wished us luck at the fair and told us that his life at Baylor has been fantastic. He then told us that we influenced his life and helped him get involved at Baylor. That made me feel really warm and fuzzy inside. I really made a difference. It gave me the extra boost of confidence I needed to walk into that room and pimp out my rockstar resume.

I went to many different tables and handed out more resumes than I expected. The Hastings table was one of my favorites. The chick recruiting was super cool. The job is in Amarillo so I’m not really interested in it, but it did make me think of this summer and my trip to see Cole in Amarillo filled with our almost daily Hastings/Roasters visits. Anyway, one of the tables that I forked over my resume to was Travelers Insurance Company. It seemed that all the reps there were Baylor Alumni, and after a brief conversation with the Manager, Chris, I was asked to meet him after the fair for an interview at Starbucks!! AAHHH!!! What a spur of the moment interview, but I accepted. :-)

By the time Claire and I left the Ferrell Center, it was time for my interview! She dropped me off at Starbucks. My heart was pounding and blood rapidly shooting through my veins. I thought that getting a Shaken Lemonade Tea would calm my nerves. Yea… I spilt it down my blouse. In the minutes I had left to panic, I tried to clean myself up. Luckily my blouse had some ruffles down the front that I could shift around to hide the largest of the tea stains. When he arrived we sat in Chili’s Too and interviewed for a full hour… or more. During the course of the hour, I answered most of his questions extremely well, while others… let’s just say I gave him a thumbs-up during the interview. If I had read a book about interviewing, I bet there would be a chapter providing a list of things NOT to do which would probably include giving your interviewer a thumbs-up. I also walked away without giving him that final good-bye handshake. Ugh. Despite the tea-stained blouse, thumbs-up hand gesture, and lack of a parting handshake, I was asked to come by the office on Friday to take an assessment test. Phew…

After the interview, I meet back up with Claire down in Keane’s office and the three of us headed off to dinner at Food For Thought. It was delicious and so good spending time with Papa Tarbell. Then it was off to meet the glorious, John K. at Common Grounds. Before we finished the night, Claire and I decided to make a trip to Braum’s for ice cream.

Something had happened at the job fair that had left me feeling a little crummy all day. As I explained it all to Claire, I couldn’t hold it in anymore… the water works came. I didn’t talk about this earlier, but one of the tables at the fair made me feel as if I were one inch tall. I stood there trying to explain and validate my International Studies degree only to have the recruiter from an international import/export company say, “Oh, that’s interesting. I’m sure that’ll be useful somehow.” I’m sure that she had no intentions of hurting my feelings or making me feel insignificant, but that’s exactly what she did. It bothered me through the entire fair, throughout my interview, through dinner, and even into coffee. Clearly, my other posts have explained how miserable being unemployed makes me feel. For months I have thought about my degree and what it means to me. I felt and still sometimes feel as if my degree was a bit worthless, especially in this economy, but after that recruiter’s statement, it really hit me that everyone else might think the same way, too. All these months of unsuccessful job searching! About 120,000 dollars later, I have a degree that no one cares about. Also, it wasn’t just that one recruiter that made me feel like an inch of worthless post-graduate poop; other tables were recruiting for specific majors like education, business, accounting, finance, engineering, and even psychology, but NOT one table looking was in search of an international studies major… big surprise there. It was just frustrating and heart-breaking walking around, and feeling so unwanted/un-needed/ hopeless.

I was actually too upset for ice cream that night. I was happy about my interview, but really… I never thought that getting a degree in international studies could potentially land me a job at an insurance agency. My heart is devoted to helping others, and I would love to travel overseas to help others. But I feel like I have been fighting with God since the middle of senior year. The things that I want to do, I can’t do or at least not yet. It feels as if I’m this untamed puppy trying to roam, but God has put me on a short leash. Maybe if I’m good here, I’ll be granted a bit of slack to go elsewhere. But like I mentioned before, I’m really just looking for any job at this point. I just need a salary and benefits. My short leash has left me with very few options.

When I finally got home that night, I found comfort in the arms of my mother. Nothing beats crying in your mom’s arms and letting her tell you everything will be okay. She assured me that my degree is real and not worthless. She assured me that I am not worthless. Thanks, Mom.


(Days pass… insert more rejection emails, boring days, and random happenings here.)


Friday arrived. I got the email from the company telling me where to go that morning. The office is in Richardson and less than two miles from my Dad’s office, so we carpooled together, and then I took the car to Travelers alone to take the assessment test. I was nervous about it. I knew little about the content or format, just that it was timed and would take about three hours. Well, I took it, and yes, it was indeed three hours long: some multiple-choice sections and some computer sections. Most of the test just insulted my intelligence; there was some matching, picking out accurate diagrams, grammar, basic math, writing, and a bit of typing. I started the test around 8:30 AM, and finally finished around 11:45 AM. When I finished, Teresa, the tester lady, asked if I could come back at 1 after lunch for another interview. Sure! I had lunch with my Dad at his company picnic, and when I returned I met with two managers this time and had an hour and half long interview followed by a peer interview where I sat with a claims rep at his desk and watched him work. He explained the job and the computer system as we clicked our way through the claims process. He was pretty nice, too. He was probably in his early twenties, American Studies major/ psychology minor, and hoping to one day advance to auto liability stuff. Eventually I was sent home…by that time it was 3:40 PM. I had been there ALL day. Since I was already in the area, I meet up with Claire to hang out. This was super convenient since I had planned on seeing her later anyway for her brother’s concert. Garrett, Claire’s brother, is super talented, so the concert was great. Jason came, too, and all of us hanging out turned out to be pretty dang awesome. Friday turned out to be a fantastic day.

After much grief, praying, the fair, misery, interviews, tests, and fun, the week ended and now I just have to wait for a few days to finally hear back about a job offer. I hope and pray that I get it. Getting this job would be such a big blessing for me, and I would really appreciate a paycheck. It seems like a decent job, something I could definitely do for awhile, ...or at least until I get things figured out and my leash gets lengthened. So, cheers to that.