Here you see a woman in the peak of motherhood and career transition. She was perfectly curated and ready to go crush a second job interview and land the “job of her dreams” after she left her “dream career” as an educator.
As you can tell, I do a lot of dreaming.
This particular job seemed so perfect for motherhood, as it was a hybrid remote training role. It would provide me with the flexibility that I yearned for when leaving public education. It also allowed me to continue to teach people, which is what I loved to do. I had already had a zoom interview for the position with the director when I got the call inviting me to the second, presentation style interview. At that point I truly felt like I had it in the bag. I thought to myself “I am an expert presenter.” In fact, I did it for three years for third graders and that was one of my favorite parts of my job.
For this second interview, I was asked to present a training on any professional development topic of my choice. Paired with the presentation, I would undergo a series of questioning. For my presentation, I chose the topic of active listening. Active listening is a crucial aspect of communication. Communication, you will learn, is something I am very passionate about. When I left the second interview, I felt on top of the world. I believed the job was mine.
Another thing I do a lot of, believing in myself.
I connected so well with the women that I would hypothetically be on a team with. I felt like I didn’t miss a beat during my presentation or in the questions I answered. They must have agreed because the next morning I was called back for a THIRD interview. At this point I was telling people I had to have gotten the job. I boasted things like, “The job is mine!” and “There is nobody better for this job!” I started making plans for all day childcare for my 4 month old son and after school care for my 4 year old daughter.
I showed up to my third interview feeling a little less curated and a little more authentic. Or dare I say, chaotic?
By the third interview I had answered some of the same questions three times. My responses were more conversational and I did not try to sell myself as professionally as I had in the prior interviews. Somehow I knew in my gut when I left, that the tone had shifted. I had left feeling less confident in my security of the position. Never the less, I knew I gave it my everything and if it was meant to be it would be.
Two days later I reached out via email to express my gratitude for the opportunity and I asked for next steps in the process, if any were available. That is when they went ghost. The next time I had heard back from them was three weeks later when the director called to express how impressed she had been with my interviewing but that they had chosen someone more qualified.
Even though that was the news I expected, it still felt like a punch in the gut.
This experience has been a reality check for me. That reality check was that the job market was a scary and difficult one to navigate. However, there was one thing I did know at the time. That was that my path would lead to elsewhere. Mentally, I emphasized the cons of the job that I had just lost out on. It helped me to process it easier. Where others felt frustration for me, I felt like my loss of the position was only making my future more clear.
Due to the chaos that transpired in my life during the interview process, simultaneously, it had felt like a relief. Although, I continued to apply and interview for jobs, this particular situation felt pivotal in my decision to start this blog. Once again, thank you if you have read this far, and if you’re curious about that chaos that transpired, come back for more!
-Curated Chaos Mom
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