The other day I mentioned something about interviewing for an internship at Georgetown. Well, it wasn't an interview as much as it was a meeting, per se, but I'll get back to that. I told my next-door neighbor, Hemana, that I was interested in finding an internship for the summer. She asked if I would like to work w/her at Georgetown in the Neuroscience dept. and I said, "sure." So far I had only submitted my resume to one other organization, The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS). The communications position that they were offering seemed like a very good fit for me, but there was no response from them yet. I really wanted to refine my resume before giving it to Georgetown. A few days later (on Monday) Hemana came to my door and asked me if I still wanted the job because her boss was reviewing resumes from other candidates. I said, "Yes, of course." She told me that she had put in a few good words for me and that her boss was interested. She also explained that Georgetown prefers to hire in-house or through employee referrals and that I would just need to go through the normal process. I asked her if I could come along with her to the campus the following morning (Tuesday) to go over to HR and she said that was no problem.
I woke up on schedule, got dressed, but not in my suit because I didn't figure that I'd be interviewing that day, and I e-mailed NSCS to confirm that they had received my resume and to see whether or not the position had already been filled (I had waited a week from receiving notification of the position before submitting my resume.) Hemana rang promptly at nine. We rode over and she dropped me off in front of HR. I asked and she said it would be alright for me to meet her boss afterward. I went inside and told the woman at the desk that I was interested in an internship and that a friend was referring me for a particular position. She told me that I needed to call and make an appointment and pointed out a telephone over by the waiting area. I called and was informed that I needed to first apply online. I hung up the receiver and was reaching to retrieve my cellular from my bag when the woman asked, "So, what did they say?" I told her and added, "But I don't have access to a computer here so I'm going to call my friend to let her know." At first she pointed to the computer not far from where I was seated and indicated that I could use that one, but she changed her mind and asked me for more specific information about who it was that wanted to hire me. Good thing I had Hemana write down all of her and her boss's contact info before we left my apartment. The woman xeroxed that piece of paper, along with my resume and references. I asked, "Is that all that you need from me?" Much to my surprise the woman said, "Yes." You see, I had interviewed for Georgetown once before, when Andrew and I first moved to this area. Of course I didn't know anyone at the university at that time and so I had no one to vouch for me or my abilities. I filled out a stack of paperwork, took a few computerized tests, provided references and they did not call me back. The process was infinitely easier this time around.
Once I said good-bye and got out the door I called my friend to let her know that I was all through. She hadn't even made it up to her office yet. Directing me to the building to where she works, over our cells, we met in the middle. In the hallway we passed by the copy room where Hemana's boss was using the copier. Hemana introduced us and Donna and I shook hands. We talked for about a minute and she seemed very pleasant. Donna said that she wanted to speak to me some more and that she needed a few minutes to finish up what she was doing. Hemana and wandered over to the water cooler at the end of the hall. By the time we made it to her office Donna was inside waiting. She asked me to sit down and I did so. I handed her my resume and references. She looked them over and immediately got down to the business of explaining what the position was and what all it entailed (general office work). When she paused I asked her if she wanted to know something about myself. She said yes and leaned forward in her chair. I told her that I'm detail oriented, well organized, efficient, an over achiever, etc. I explained that I'm currently a full-time student at George Mason University, majoring in English and concentrating in linguistics. I said that I was just looking for internship for the summer and that it had been two years since I last worked. She inquired as to when the fall semester would start up. After I gave her my best guess she counted the months I could work on her hand. I interpreted that as a strong inference that I would be given the job, but I assumed that was contingent on all of my paperwork being in order and my references giving positive reviews of my past performance since I had been told earlier by Hemana that I needed to go through the normal process. Unfortunately, nothing was "normal" about this process this time around. Donna said that she would contact Phyllis at HR. I wasn't sure who Phyllis was, but I put that thought aside for the time being. We ended our meeting and shook hands.
Since Hemana's cubicle is just outside of Donna's office I grabbed her and we went outside to smoke a cigarette. We decided that I'd hang around campus and wait for her to go on lunch break. We figured that we'd go somewhere to eat and then she'd take me back home. When she went back in I stayed outside seated in the shade on a bench while I read my book (I had Fast Food Nation w/me in my bag.) After a couple of minutes Hemana came back out and informed me that her boss had just gotten off the phone w/Phillis and she didn't know who I was either so I needed to go see her at the HR office on M Street. My reaction to that was something to the effect of, "Huh?" We discussed how to handle my getting there and decided that instead of going immediately out to lunch we'd drop by there first to fill out still more paperwork. With our plan in place Hemana went back inside to let her boss know our intentions. I guess it was about an hour later that I got a call from Phyllis, asking me if I was coming in or not. I explained that I would around 1:30 w/Hemana.
The sun moved and I went in. I sat on a bench by the door. At one point I saw one of Hemana's coworkers walk by. Neither of us said anything. I kept my mouth shut and my eyes lowered to my book because I didn't want to draw attention to myself because I thought it might look strange that I was hanging around. At another point Donna walked right past me and out the door. We didn't speak to each other either. Hemana came out and we decided to take off a littler earlier than we had planned. She went back to her office to grab her purse or whatever and Donna returned. This time she greeted me. Hemana came back out after Donna went in and we left. We arrived at HR about an hour early. I was given a stack of papers to complete and was showed in to a little room with a wrap-around desk w/a terminal on top of it. There was another girl in there I assumed she was already an employee, but it turned out she was also an applicant because eventually someone set her up on the terminal to take some tests. I finished filling out the papers and gave them to Phyllis. She reciprocated w/some more to take home and read. I asked her if that was all she needed and she told me yes. I was happy that I didn't have to take the computerized tests only because I never do well for any sort of test I can't prepare myself in advance for. Phyllis didn't say that I had been given the job and I didn't expect her to at that time.
Hemana and I went over to Ruby Tuesday (ironically enough, where I last worked as a hostess and a waitress the summer before I started at GMU.) Afterward, Hemana took me to my apartment. Later that evening I went to see if Hemana knew anything more about whether or not I had the job. She said her boss really liked me and that I should get a call soon. The next day (Wednesday) I received a reply from NSCS stating that they had gotten my resume and that they would decide who to interview soon. I got a call from Phyllis on Friday. She said that I could report to work on Tuesday at 8:30. She didn't specifically offer me the job so I couldn't really mention that I while I wasn't turning it down I was still leaving myself open for another one. I just didn't anticipate everything moving so quickly w/Georgetown. I figured that I would have more time to give NSCS to get back to me. Now if NSCS calls and asks me to interview I'm not sure what I'm going to say to them. Andrew and my aunt Lil are of the opinion that I should do it if only for the experience of interviewing. I don't want to screw anything up w/Georgetown should NSCS not work out. Ugh. Why do things have to be so complicated???
-- CrystalShiloh @ 10:42 PM