Second chances. And third! And fourth!

My feelings of failure, rejection, and heart break are no more. I sent resumes out like a madwoman all weekend. And guess what?

I got three calls for three different job interviews today! That makes me really happy and also a little terrified because I despise interviews.

I loathe them with every fiber of my being. They make me feel like a total kiss ass, and the questions are always the same.

For example:

Interviewer: Why do you want to work here?
What I say: Because I believe in this company's mission and I have excellent customer service skills! I want to use these skills and my experience with blah blah blah to make clients comfortable, happy, and returning to this business!
What I wish I could say: I really do think this job sounds enjoyable and like something I can do well; however I also need a paycheck. It is really expensive to live in Chicago. Our rent is almost a grand a month, and I don't even want to disclose how much our parking spot is each month. It makes me gag.

And have you been to Hyde Park Produce? How about Treasure Island? Harper Foods? The produce is cheap, but everything else is so expensive that when I see the price tags my eyeballs bug out of my head a la Pepe Le Pew in love!

Interviewer: Tell me about yourself.
Me: I graduated from college in 2010 and for the past five years I have worked at Blah Blah Clinic. I filled many roles at the Clinic such as yada yada and wah wah waaah. I am punctual, professional, and I have a knack for problem-solving. I also have over 9 years of experience in customer service, and extensive knowledge of medical billing practices. I believe these skills and attributes make me a perfect fit for this position!
What I wish I could say: I love my family, my friends, my husband, my cat, being outside, hiking, and fishing. I have a hefty interest in criminal justice and criminology. I love baseball, and I love footbal. I enjoy wine tasting, and reading fiction for pleasure. Oh wait...you just want to know about my qualifications to do this job? Eh, that's not really telling you about myself, is it you tricky, tricky little man/woman?

Interviewer: What is your greatest strength?
Me: Definitely my positive attitude. I have a can-do attitude, and I absolutely do not believe in the saying, "that's not my job!" I am a fast learner, and I am always more than happy to do what it takes to be a positive, productive employee!

You get the point. I'm sure you've all interviewed before. I hate feeling like a total kiss ass and having to smile until my cheeks hurt. I hate sales, so naturally I do not enjoy "selling myself" (sounds kinda dirty, but we're not talkin' prostitution here friends.) to potential employers.

But you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

 Now, please remember that I don't have any offers quite yet! I may be getting ahead of myself here, but planning is what I do. If you know me, you know that I am a planner extraordinaire. Seriously. It borders on obsessive planning. I say if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. So I've been pretending that each potential employer has offered me the job, and I've started a list of pros and cons for each position.

Position Number 1 is at the Museum of Science and Industry in the gift shop. It is described as "part-time temporary" with the possibility of going part-time permanent.
Pros: The job is part-time. This is a big "pro". I want a part-time job so I have time for school, and so I have time to gallivant around Chicago as I please! It's also very close to our place, so I'd be able to walk to work.
Cons: Weekends and holidays are required. Eww! I haven't worked a weekend or holiday in over 5 years, so I've gotten really spoiled. It may truly turn out to be a temporary position, so I may be out of work again in 4 or 6 months or so. I might have to sell. As I mentioned above, I am no saleswoman!

Position Number 2 is with a small, family-owned dog walking business as a dog walker/pet sitter. M-F 11am to 4pm with occasional weekends/nights/holidays.
Pros: The job is part-time. I would get to spend my workdays with animals! I would get plenty of exercise, and get to spend my workdays outside in the spring/summer.
Cons: It's on the North side, about 12 miles from our place. This means the commute would probably be close to an hour using public transit. I would have to spend my workdays outside in the fall/winter. This means working outside in sleet /rain/cold/blizzard/holyballsthewind!

Position Number 3 is at a Pilates Studio on the north side. I would be their receptionist. M-F 4pm to 8pm.
Pros: Free Pilates classes! More $ than I made at my job at the clinic. No weekends/holidays required as far as I know!
Cons: It's on the North side, so again I'd have about an hour commute or so. The hours are right over dinner, so I wouldn't be able to cook dinner or have dinner with Will. (Yes, having dinner together is important to me, mock me if you wish!) The hours are at night so I would be waiting for/taking public transit at night. (Again, mock me if you wish but sometimes it's sketch at night.) Not such a big deal during the summer, but I would be waiting in the dark in the fall/winter.

As you can see, each position has good and bad aspects. Here's hoping I have a job offer (or three) in a few days!

Wish me luck!

Emme

A waitress for 2 days; a waitress no more!

It is a foggy, rainy, craptastic day in Chicago today; a perfect day to sit at home, get homework done, blog, and continue applying for jobs.

The serving gig I mentioned in the last post was very short-lived, my friends. Two days, to be exact. I used to wait tables at a truck stop, and waiting tables here in Chicago was different than waiting on truckers at a truck stop, but it was definitely not better overall. So why did I quit after two days? Many reasons.

Reason number 1. The manager was giving me extremely bad vibes. He kept telling me he was glad he gave me a chance at the restaurant (on the first day, when I hadn't even proven myself in the least), and when we started talking about my job as a medical biller and office assistant, he asked if I could come to his house a couple of nights this weekend and help him get organized. Um....that is REALLY creepy. Hell no I'm not coming over to your house at night! Or during the day! Or ever! I also caught him just watching me on several occasions, and it seriously made my skin crawl.

He was also extremely bad at handling customers complaints. I had a table that found a HUGE chicken bone in her chicken salad sandwich. I was so embarrassed. I ran back to tell the manager and he rolled his eyes and said "what's the big deal?! It's not processed chicken, so there are going to be bones!"

Really? WOW!!!!! Awesome customer service! She could have CHOKED or punctured her esophagus or stomach. I'm not even joking. The bone was sharp and large. And the manager thinks it's not a big deal, and he doesn't even tell me to offer her anything else? Or a free dessert? Or a free meal?! Of course, I offered her something else anyway but she declined, as she had lost her appetite. Can ya blame her?!

Reason number 2. The restaurant is brand new, and extremely disorganized. They opened up in mid-February, and they have lots of kinks to work out. Both managers that I met did not know how to run the POS (computer system). There were two servers that were considered "permanent" and they didn't even know how to answer all of my questions about the system, about the menu, about substitutions etc.

Reason number 3. People can be really, really awful to their waiters. I showed up Wednesday at 2:45pm and began taking my own tables. It was super busy, and people were up to their same old shenanigans. 

Scenario 1: Making me wait at their table for 10 minutes while they're trying to order because they "don't want to have to wait an hour for the order to be taken."

Awesome. Not like I have 5 other tables waiting that already know what they want.

Scenario 2: Waving me down every two minutes for over half an hour to ask questions about the menu. Literally. I am not joking. Every. 2. minutes.

Then, after I do my best to provide great service for you, suggest menu items that meet all of your diet demands, and refill your hot tea 7 times (yes, I am not joking. This woman drank 7 pots of tea.) And after you sit at my table for well over 2 hours, you stiff me. No tip. Nothing. Awesome.

 Scenario 3: Customers calling me racist. Oh yes, it happened. Apparently I'm "racist and don't serve black people." Ummm. Except that over half of the tables I am serving right now are black.

Luckily this awful comment came shortly before I left for the evening, so when the tears began to stream down my face and I began to do the ugly cry, the only person that saw me was my sweet husband, Will. He hugged me and told me that I am a great person who doesn't deserve to be treated in such awful ways. He reassured me that we'll be okay financially and quitting is a perfectly valid option. So I made up my mind to quit.

Basically folks, my very short gig as a waitress reminded me why I left this awful profession over 8 years ago and vowed never to return... unless being homeless or prostitution were my other options. Well, for right now I feel pretty secure that Will and I won't be homeless anytime soon, thank heavens, so bye bye waitressing gig.

I called the (WEIRDO) manager up last night and told him today would be my last day, and asked if he would he still like me to come in one last time. He said no, but again he asked if I would be interested in working on the side for him this weekend. I told him no.

Now, while I am relieved that I won't be working there any more, I am also a little bit sad. I had met so many funny, wonderful, kind fellow waiters/waitresses in the two short days I worked there. I think I could have made some really close friends.

And despite the terrible way customers sometimes treated me, the money overall was great. I made well over 100.00 on my first night. So the income would have been nice.

One more thing: I had an interview yesterday with a small, family-owned medical equipment office for an office assistant/billing assistant position. I feel pretty confident with how it went, but I am also admittedly a terrible judge about that sort of thing... so hopefully I'll hear back from them soon.

Until then...

Remember to be nice to your servers! :)

xoxo,
Emme