Life Updates: post-job interviews and stuff
I had an interview yesterday with a lab in my school that I have been wanting to work with for a long time.
It went pretty well, I think. They recognized me from before - when I contacted them the summer of last year, expressing interest to join the team. Since the position was a perfect combination of what I’m qualified for + the exact field I wanted to gain experience in, I contacted them 6 months in advance, took the extra steps to gain relevant experience in the meantime, got to become acquainted with people from the lab, demonstrated knowledge and competence in front of them, spent 3 days + 1 all-nighter to make sure my application portfolio was as perfect as it could be……And when the time came, despite being a nervous wreck before the interview, I acted as confidently as I could, had the right answers (I think) to all their questions, while seemingly impressed them with a bit of extra information about myself and the way I handled things.
Today I got an email response as I was told to expect. They told me I was put on a waitlist.
I was a bit shaken up….trying very hard not to be as disappointed as I was this afternoon. Even though that wasn’t totally bad-news - there’s still a chance I might get the job should someone decline their offer. Plus, I have been mentally preparing myself for a rejection the entire day….. but they didn’t reject me. Instead, I am now still in the same post-interview limbo where the outcome is not more certain than before. To be told that I was on the waitlist didn’t seem much different than not receiving a response at all.
It’s hard not to overanalyze what I could have done better - maybe I should have answered the question this way instead, maybe I could have done more/less to present myself to them, etc. But in the end, I’ll have to swallow the fact that sometimes no matter how hard I tried, taking extra steps that no one else was willing to take, I still wasn’t the most qualified person(s) in the room. Or perhaps, even if I was more qualified than the two final candidates they chose, the feeling wasn’t right with the interviewers and they liked the other person better…..you know. Things that were out of my control. I did the best that I could.
#relevantbeyonceGIFtime
In the meantime, I’m trying to look positively. Even if I don’t get the job in the end, I still have my 1-year Working Holiday Visa in France I applied for earlier as a backup option. I’ll get to spend time with my partner in Paris without having to separate with him again for 4 months (which would be the case if I got the job offer). I’ll use that time to throw myself into a challenging foreign environment, forcing myself to speak French and get my A2 or even B1 (B2 if we’re being very optimistic??) certificate in French, while practicing on programming to become better at it. I’m catching up with my peers….slowly but surely. Realistically, I won’t be able to find jobs other than working at hostels or bartending there - provided that I put in a crazy amount of effort to look for something I’m qualified for, but maybe it’ll end up being an equally, if not more rewarding experience. I hope.
