Third time's the charm

[Copied and pasted from the meant-to-be-but-didn't-make-it Australian blog of mine.]

There's another email in the inbox starting with thank you for sending your application. The mouse pointer is readily situated above the mark as read button as I keep reading. I'm sure it'll say they would love to keep my information on the record and contact me in case any upcoming opportunities arise.

When you're sent out close to 300 applications, checking your emails becomes somewhat disappointing. If not immensely. You know what's coming next and you can almost predict the next set of neatly arranged phrases which should make you feel a bit more at ease.

Since I'm a bit nerdy, I keep on reading and alas!, am I surprised. This is where the patter breaks. They'd be interested in some more information regarding the visa and the requirements thereof and would be most grateful if I could get back to them with some additional information.

Having done all the research considering the paperwork, the requirements and the procedure itself, I forward all the information at once. Neither I nor them are eager to spend five weeks ping-ponging emails back and forth, trying to establish that it's all just a big mess. So I email them all the info (in fact it's a woman, but I keep saying them) and keep on with the usual.

The usual being checking my email, all the job pages as well as some additional ones, and hoping that something's changed. The next day there's a glowing line in my inbox once again. I click it to see a thank you for all the information and would I be willing to schedule an interview. We clarified some more details about acquiring the visa and what it involves and agreed on a meeting that would include them being in the office and me being awake - 3 PM their time, 9 AM their time.

Waiting almost a week for the Skype interview, I had plenty of time to read up on the company, re-read all the legal documents, do some research about the current situation and prepare myself for the interview. More mentally than preparation wise, since the interview nowadays don't really enable one to prepare fully.

The next Thursday I get online early, almost 20 minutes before the interview. I was a bit worried, since there were no notifications or anything, but my iPod started showing an incoming call. I press the green button and utter a half-excited and half-confident hello!

(Being that interviews are pretty much considered confident, I won't share the info itself, but the results.)

After the introduction to all the people that were on the other side of the conference call, I was given a brief introduction into the company and its goals, tasks, and responsibilities. I was then asked a couple of quite direct questions, since it was already known what I did from the résumé. I gave some practical information regarding my research, certain life situation and, generally, why I applied for the position.

This is the type of the interview one can't prepare for. Especially not being a native speaker, I didn't really have the time to think about the answers and thus answered honestly and directly. Maybe it was something that is appreciated and, surely, I got a positive feedback.

What I love about Australians is that they give you feedback after you finish your answer. Great, that is a good answer, with a defined opinion and an interesting solution. When you get asked what I call Google-questions, there's no time to ponder upon them. That's the point after all, isn't it?

From what I got in the feedback and from what I felt in my gut, the interview went quite well. Some of the committee were really satisfied with my answers and openly impressed. That's it as far as I'm concerned was heard, but I was informed that there is another interview scheduled in a week's time and I shall be informed about the income by the end of the next week at latest.

I thank everyone for the interview and say bye, at the same time thinking about how I'll survive the following 10080 minutes. As I'm pressing the red button, a notification pops up saying that (let's say her name was) Helen would like to add me as a contact, so that we can conduct the interview.

So, that's where it went...

I email Helen saying that I have to apologize for not adding her, but this and this happened and I thank her and the whole committee for the interview and their time.

Feeling a bit relieved, but really excited and immensely hungry, I go upstairs to make a snack. Since I'm not really able to eat in the morning, my stomach had been rebelling for a while now. I heat up some water and start making sauce to go with the pasta. I text my brother saying I had the interview and it went quite well, I think.

As I'm preparing the sauce, fixing up some cabbage salad and stirring the pasta from time to time, I hear the sound of receiving another email. I get a lot of spam, a lot of job notifications and a lot of crap mail all in all, so I didn't really check it straight away. I was busy in the kitchen and managing texting my brother anyway.

I see the email's from Helen. She's saying how it's no problem not adding her and that it all worked out in the end. But she doesn't stop there. She's pleased to say the committee is impressed and they'd like to offer me the permanent position and start dealing with the paperwork as soon as possible.

Holding my iPod in one hand and a big wooden spoon in the other, I start circling around the little coffee table in the living room as if I just the winning numbers on the TV. I re-read the email which says they'd pay all of my expenses and they'll come up with the contract and send it over after the Easter break.

The water's boiling and the sauce is burning, but I'm out of hands to stir with, being that they're both up, clutching my head, then the arch of the wall, then the window sill, then the iPod, then the wooden spoon and so on. I text my brother saying I got it, I got it! and he calls me straight away, so I tell him all the details. He's happy for me and tells me to get him a job too (even though he's older and a manager in a big firm), but he knows it's a big deal, so he's all yay on the news.

I call my mum after a while and I tell her the news, but she's not really sure what to say. At one point she's really glad and determined and at the other she's obviously calculating the miles inbetween Croatia and Australia.

So today I got an email saying they're working on finalizing the contract and that they're moving forward with the application process. And even though I'm all clogged up and have a super sore throat and can barely breathe and am sleepy and had nightmares and whatnot, I'm happy.

And I grin.