Job Success

After I lost my job back in October, I thought it would be close to impossible for me to find another one.

And when my life started falling apart in Utah, I felt like a loser for having to move back in with my parents at the age of 26. I see most of my friends with college degrees, excellent careers, happy marriages, one or more children, and living in beautiful homes. It depresses me to see what I could have if I had made better choices when I was younger. Being unemployed for about 4 months has left me penniless and unable to pay my bills. I wanted to find a job as soon as possible when I arrived in Texas because I didn't want my parents to have to keep paying for my debts. I started looking for jobs on my third day here. I started off looking online and applying for jobs that had been posted. I looked in the newspaper everyday and sent resumes to offices and emails. I had no success my first week on the job hunt. I decided my second week I would hit the mall and apply for different retail stores. I was immediately discouraged while filling out the applications because they all asked if I had ever been discharged or forced to resign from a job. I have two jobs on my resume that I've been fired from and both with my most retail experience. If I risked not mentioning them, I have 3 years of unemployment making me look like a bum. If I kept them on my resume, I risked being asked why I left those companies. My older brother gave me some advice and told me to keep them on my resume. He said that most companies won't contact the previous employer and if they do, the previous employer (by law) can only confirm my employment dates. He told me that most companies will contact my references before contacting the previous employer. I started to feel better but then I came across another problem. I don't have any good references. I was required to list at least 3 professional references. Where was I going to get 3 professional references when my two most recent jobs fired me? I called an old friend from Macy's to see if she would be a reference. Turns out, she got promoted to management after I left and she told me she would love to give me a good reference. She also told me that the store manager that fired me, got fired himself shortly after I left. That bast**d deserved it! Anyway, I asked her if she would see if my old department manager would give me a reference or any of the other managers. I was beginning to look up. She called me later that night with bad news. Evidently she was the only manager willing to give me a good reference. What was I going to do with only one reference? I turned in the applications anyway in hopes that someone would give me a call. I went to Victoria's Secret first and they asked if they could just interview me right then. I agreed and apologized for my attire (I was wearing jeans). The interview went really well and I got along great with the two managers I spoke with. When they saw my reference page, they didn't seem too happy though. I ended up giving them a personal reference hoping that would be enough. I was told that they would contact me after they called my references. That was a week ago. When 4 days went by and I didn't hear anything, I decided to hit the mall again. On Monday February 22, 2010, I walked into the mall discouraged. I went to Gymboree first and the girl who gave me the application told me that they needed an Assistant Manager really bad. She asked if I had retail experience and to turn in my application before the end of the day. I then headed to Palais Royal. Turns out they were hiring and interviewing that day. I started filling out the application when a manager approached me and asked to interview me then. I agreed and we had a fabulous interview. She told me they would most likely call me back for a second interview with the store manager. I then left and went home feeling really good about this interview. I filled out the application for Gymboree and took it back to the mall (good thing my parents live 5 minutes away from the mall). While in the mall, Palais Royal called me back to set up a second interview for the next day. I was super excited but extremely nervous at the same time. My second interview started off pretty bad and I wanted to leave the room and cry. I think my nerves got the best of me. I ended up pulling myself together and the rest of the interview was perfection. The store manager and I were talking as if we have been friends our whole lives. It was awesome. They made me take a drug test (the whole cotton swab thing) and she mailed it off. She told me they would give me a call in a few days. When I got out to my car, I had a missed call from Gymboree. I called them back and set up an interview with them. Since I was already at the mall, I walked right back in and interviewed at Gymboree while I was still in interview mode. She ended up offering me the job right then and there. I took it since I didn't want to risk not hearing from Palais Royal. She told me that the Assistant Manager position was full time but that she would have some part time sales lead positions available soon. She told me with my experience, I would be a great sales lead. So I may have an opportunity to move up soon.

At about 8:30 this evening, I received a phone call from Palais Royal offering me the job. I decided that I would try and work both jobs until I start school. Palais Royal has agreed to work with my Gymboree schedule and I couldn't be happier. I'm just so glad that I finally was able to get, not just one, but two jobs! Thanks to everyone who kept me in their prayers.