27 April 2010

The Hunt is OVER! VICTORIOUS!!!!!

That's right! I got a job finally! It was nearly a three month project, including (but not limited to, and these are not in order):
  • Spending a week down in Utah (thanks Brouwers!) trying many different places and learning many valuable lessons about how to effectively look for a job.
  • Going to EVERY network that I had asking if they had any connections.
  • Joining LinkedIn (and it didn't work too well for me, probably because I didn't use it much).
  • Joining LDSJobs.org (and that helped a bit).
  • Finding Optimal Resume.com (from LDSJobs.org) which helped me out a TON!
  • Learning how to make a professional cover letter.
  • Starting Kent Dodds Productions up again (which entailed a LOT of work, and still has a long way to go...)
  • Checking jobs.byu.edu just about every 2 hours to see if there were any new postings and applying to every one of the jobs posted I was qualified for (except I thought I'd wait a bit before I applied to custodial.... Didn't want the terrible hours...).
  • Spending 4 hours straight (yesterday) in front of this laptop looking up every multimedia/computer place within a 15 minute bike ride to campus. That turned out to be pretty extensive. There are a lot of places like that around here. I called/applied online to over 30 different companies.
  • The transmission in my little red car going out on the way to an interview with a job that would have been GREAT (but not as great as the one I got!)
  • Learning that it's a good idea to be spectacular at work so that nobody will ever forget you (like they forgot me at the Data Center... I did only work there 2 months, but still, the FORGOT me :'( oh well, I'll do better in the future).
  • Praying again and again and again, getting a blessing, and going to the temple a lot, every time with a prayer in my heart that I would find something...
Essentially, these last few months, my occupation has been to find an occupation. I've learned some incredibly valuable lessons which I hope will help me in the future looking for a job. By the end of it, I had gotten really good at applying to places online, and I've actually today had a few places call me back for an interview, ha ha! The day AFTER I finally get a job! Oh well.
Well, do you want to hear about what that job is? I work at the BYU Conference Center, mapped bellow:

I will be working as an Audio/Video Technician. Basically, setting up A/V Equipment for conferences in the Conference Center, for clubs, and other organizations. This weekend, we'll be doing the Women's Conference! That's pretty sweet. That will be my first day at work :-)
One thing that really helped me get this job was a letter of recommendation that I got from one of my former investigators. I wrote to her and in our correspondence, I mentioned I was looking for a job. So, she sent me a wonderful letter of recommendation. I think that's what got me the job.
Spencer Hansen, the man who hired me, told me that he's never had so many students apply for the job. In previous years, he had to do some searching to find someone who would be remotely qualified and interested. This year though, he's had a LOT of applicants. Not only a LOT of applicants, but ALSO applicants who were highly qualified (he said there were a lot of very technology savvy foreign exchange students from Asia who applied). So, I feel so very fortunate and blessed that I got the job.
I made sure to show up really early this morning for my little orientation (actually, mostly just schedule-making...). He really appreciated it, so I'm off on a good foot! It's great! I'm pretty excited about this job!
Three not-so-good things about this job are:
  • Many jobs on campus, (like many computer jobs I would be interested in, like when I worked at the data center) you can do homework during down time, not this one. But that's alright, because I'm going to be able to learn a LOT from this job.
  • I'm only getting $8.00 an hour, but that's ok because he said if I perform well, he can give me a raise pretty early on...
  • I'm only getting 8-10 hours a week until the Summer starts because they don't have enough going on for more, but that's ok because I'm just getting back into school, and if I need to fill time up with something productive to do, I have KD Productions stuff I can do too!
So, all-in-all, it's a great situation! I'm pretty happy about everything! And THAT'S the BRIGHT-SIDE of Life :-D

3 comments:

Rachel said...

I'm so happy you got a job! It sounds like something you'll love. :)

Lisa said...

That's awesome. And, just for the record, most jobs that you can do homework at on campus don't do as much for you resume and future-wise as the ones where you're actually working and learning new things all the time. :) Congratulations! You da bomb, dude. :)

Clayton & Amanda said...

congrats!! Sounds like a perfect job for you :) oh and....did you know the picture you have is a girl? :S haha just sayin...it threw me off on whose blog this was at first...hehe still..congrats!!