Finding a job—a REAL job (part 2)

The interview actually went really well.  I met the boss Sharon who spoke about the company, what she did, and what they were looking for in an employee.  She asked what my skills were, what I could do well, and if I could handle the position.  I told her I was looking to gain more knowledge and would really like to work under someone who I could learn from. She asked why I would be suited for the job and I explained that I’d built websites for my friends and kept using my skills since finishing school.

Sharon explained that she probably wouldn’t hire me because she was looking for web developers who didn’t need much assistance with the programs and could work independently; she wasn’t well acquainted with web development herself. She had already hired one developer but he was still in school and they wanted to hire a second person.  At the end of the interview, she wanted to keep my resume on file: “When I do hire someone else, I’ll ask if they could use your help.” I assumed she was going to hire Lisa.

I left that interview expecting to never hear back.  A week later, Lisa emailed me that Sharon had hired a second web developer and wanted to meet.  I thought, “Why not?” I was in Lisa’s car on the way to the meeting when she said that the company wanted to hire me, not the two of us.  She would still be with me for support but I would do all the web design work myself.  We went and met with the two web developers and I agreed to start October 5^th, 2010.  Sharon made sure I had enough room to get around the office space and bathroom. I was officially hired!

It was hard to be happy to have the job because I kept thinking about Lisa and me.  I thought about whether or not I really wanted this job with her, or whether I should tell Sharon to hire Lisa instead so I could walk away. I spent significant time thinking about what I should do.  This was my first paying job that I had ever had in my life and I wanted to shout, “Look, Shawna got a job!”  But something inside of me was sad.  The relationship with Lisa wasn’t working.  She was being very controlling when I was with her, but I decided to put that aside and accept the job.