Delaware

After all was said and done Short finally convinced me that it would be worth it to head up to Delaware and do some flooring and get off my duff and into some action.  I agreed and thought that it would be great to get away from the computer screen and out of Austin for awhile and make some much needed money.  Earlier the Valentines weekend I had gotten an email offering an interview for an awesome position however, I was emailed and told that he was unable to contact me at my phone number.  So I called and left a voice mail as well as wrote an email and heard nothing back.  Monday we headed off to Delaware and got in later that night.  I made another phone call to try and set up the interview which failed again.  We spent the evening looking at all the snow that was around and watching the Olympics as most people spend their evenings this time of year.

The next morning we woke up rather early and headed off to the job site to start working on the floors.  About 5 minutes away from the site Short looks at me and informs me that he has forgotten the tools needed to do the flooring and that the day was going to be a total waste.  Although, Short forgot a very important thing, me.  I decided that we would spend the entire day ripping up and prepping all the floors so that they would be ready to be floored the next day.  The entire day was spent ripping out carpets, chopping up carpet tacks and tiles, and sweeping everything up.  Mid day I called my father to talk with him about then interview request email and how I was unable to contact the person and to ask for some advise on what to do about the situation.  He advised me to make another phone call and email and if that did not work that I should contact his supervisor to try and set something up.  I headed out to the balcony of the apartment that we were working in during a low point and made another attempt to call.  Well wouldn’t you know the phone is answered on the first ring and I was able to set up an interview for the next day persistence finally paid off.  Also in a strange turn of events I got another email requesting a phone interview with a company based in Austin.  Seems like if you go to Delaware things will start happening for you.  The rest of the day was spent finishing up the units we had said that we were going to do and in the end we had 7 units ready to floor for the next day.

Day two was an eventful day.  We started by loading up the flooring into the apartments that we were going to do and Short got right to work once we had enough in the first place.  I loaded up one more apartment and had to step into the office for my first interview of the day which was with the Austin based company.  By office I am talking about the Nissan Sentra that Short rented for his vehicle.  So there I was sitting in the drivers side seat having an intense conversation about the position and my qualifications.  The interview went extremely well and I was informed that they would get back to me on Monday.  There was still floors to be done so I headed back to Short and started working with him on getting the floor done.  We worked flat out till lunch finishing about half the floor.  After lunch it was time for my other interview.  Back in the mobile office I had a great conversation and interview that ended with an invitation to a second round.  Elated, I made a couple phone calls since I was extremely excited and went back to work.  I was informed that I would be called sometime within the next week to set up the next round.  Turns out that was actually an hour later and my second round was to be done the next day.  We finished up the floor and got some dinner and I went home to prepare for the interview and ready myself for some of the questions that I was going to be asked.  I called my father for some advise and to settle myself down so that I would feel comfortable in the interview.  After a couple hours of research and Olympics it was time to head to bed.

The next morning we headed out early and got right to the flooring.  After a couple hours I headed back to the office and sat down and relaxed for a minute until I got the phone call.  The interview started off extremely well and then dipped a little low as I thought by the end of the interview that it was not going that well.  I finished the phone call definitely not feeling so hot.  It was right back to the flooring to get my mind of the situation and it was actually a productive day.  Short and I found our stride and were working extremely well together.  Everything was going fast, cuts were being made and both of us were working on separate areas increasing our speed.  The 11 and a half hour day ended with two completed floors and two extremely tired workers.  We barely made it home without falling asleep.  We didn’t last long we ate dinner and just about an hour later we were both asleep.

Friday was our last day as I decided that it would be a good idea to head back to Austin since things were starting to happen on the job front and it would be a good idea for me to be at home base.  We woke up late and decided that we would only be doing one floor that day since we were both overly tired from the previous day.  As we were headed back up to the job site my phone started to ring, thinking it was my cousin or a family member I looked at the phone and noticed it wasn’t a number I knew.  I quickly turned off the radio and answered the phone.  It was an invitation for a 3rd round interview in Austin!  I wasn’t expecting anything to come from the 2nd round interview but like my father said sometimes things go better than it seems.  This made work on Friday really easy.  We finished the floor with great speed and headed back home to relax and enjoy the night after all we had to be at the airport pretty early to catch the flight back.

Delaware was an awesome adventure.  I got to get off my duff and out into the working world again and got to help a friend who really needed the help getting things done.  For me personally it was a great week to be interviewing and having such success after I had been trying so hard and for so long to get these opportunities.  It was no easy task though.  Taking these interviews in an uncomfortable setting and not having all the things around me that I would have liked was a bit stressful but I guess that you have to be ready for the challenge whenever they arise.  I just want to say thank you to all the people that were there to answer my calls and give me advise as well as the people that were sending me best wishes while I was taking my interviews.  Persistence is key and you have to be ready to roll with the punches.  My trip to Delaware was much needed and really put me back in the mindset that I needed to be in!

Posted: February 27th, 2010 under Travel, What's going on.