I deeply apologize for my two week hiatus from the blogosphere.
Last week I started my new job with Barbara T. McCall Associates (aka Capital Edge), and I am happy to report that things have been going well thus far. However, I must place a disclaimer on this statement, as the office has been slow due to summer Congressional recess. During times of recess, members of the staff generally take personal vacations or made needed client visits. So, I have yet to work a day in the office with everyone there, and I will not get the chance to do so until late next week.
Many of you know that I came to DC looking for my *dream job* in the political sector, and I thought that this job was only missing one component--co-workers my age. Much to my surprise, on my first real day of work I met Elizabeth. She has essentially the same position as me with Chaney & Associates, our sister company and the other half of Capital Edge. Elizabeth is also a recent college grad who relocated to DC after doing a semester internship on The Hill. We are so similar in so many ways that it's unreal. I have a feeling we are going to become great friends, and quickly. With Elizabeth in the mix, my new job really does have all of the components I was looking for in my dream job. It's crazy to think that I really did it. I really found exactly what I was looking for...in six weeks time. Though it seemed like an eternity for me, especially while living a secluded life in Hyattsville, that's really quite an accomplishment for such a short time. No, I'm not trying to brag, but I'm still just in shock that this is really my life now. Living the dream in DC!
Last week was extremely hectic for me with starting my job, making birthday plans, winning our second kickball game, and celebrating my birthday. Thank you to all of you who called, texted, or facebooked birthday wishes, and special thanks to those who sent cards. I thought my first DC birthday had the potential to be a bust, but it really went well. Once I find somewhere to live, everything will be on track for settling in to my new life in the nation's capital city. And speaking of, I must get on my way to go visit an apartment in Bethesda. Keep your fingers crossed that this is the one!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
The Search is Complete!
I am very happy to report that I am the newest employee of Capital Edge!!!
For my faithful readers who were keeping their fingers crossed over Interview 4, it payed off. I received the call on Friday morning and was offered the job on the spot, even though my boss has yet to speak with my references. My acceptance was less than formal to say the least. I believe my exact response to her saying that she would like to offer me the position was *All right!!!*...of which she took as a yes. Thoughts of negotiating any part of the offer were non-existent because I was so excited, but fortunately my offer did not require negotiations.
I'm not positive on the protocol for discussing job contracts, but as the only people who stumble upon this blog are friends and family, I'll just spell it all out! My official title is Legislative/Project Assistant. My hours are said to be 9 to 5 (37.5 hour work week), but I'm not positive that's how they will remain. We'll just wait and see on that one. I will be doing a variety of tasks because we are such a small office, including, but not limited to: researching grants and legislation, writing memos to clients and articles for a (monthly?) report, attending Congressional hearings (or watching online), collecting important press clips from client cities, assisting by bosses with anything and everything possible, and doing general administrative tasks like answering the phone, making copies, etc. Pretty much exactly what I wanted...current dream job status achieved!
As for my compensation, it is a salary position ($30k) with some awesome benefits...health insurance paid in full, $100 monthly Metro check, 10 days paid sick leave, 10 days paid personal leave, Christmas Eve through New Year's Day automatic paid vacation, and 75% of a gym membership paid. For my first real job in the work force, I'd say that's not bad!
My current/temporary roommates and I had a wonderful celebratory weekend. We hit up a few bars on Friday night, laid out by the pool Saturday afternoon, went to a movie and a housewarming party on Saturday night, walked around the Chevy Chase shopping district Sunday afternoon, and attended an acoustic concert (see Chris Seefried, Jay Nash & Meiko if interested in hearing some new music) in Vienna Sunday night. Busy, but a lot fun :)
In random news: We met a family from Carroll, IA (wearing Tennessee shirts - where roommate Megan is from) on the Metro on our way to the concert and had quite a lengthy conversation (due to track work delays) with a handful of guys in our Metro car on the way home from the concert. Talking to strangers seemed to be a good idea yesterday!
For my faithful readers who were keeping their fingers crossed over Interview 4, it payed off. I received the call on Friday morning and was offered the job on the spot, even though my boss has yet to speak with my references. My acceptance was less than formal to say the least. I believe my exact response to her saying that she would like to offer me the position was *All right!!!*...of which she took as a yes. Thoughts of negotiating any part of the offer were non-existent because I was so excited, but fortunately my offer did not require negotiations.
I'm not positive on the protocol for discussing job contracts, but as the only people who stumble upon this blog are friends and family, I'll just spell it all out! My official title is Legislative/Project Assistant. My hours are said to be 9 to 5 (37.5 hour work week), but I'm not positive that's how they will remain. We'll just wait and see on that one. I will be doing a variety of tasks because we are such a small office, including, but not limited to: researching grants and legislation, writing memos to clients and articles for a (monthly?) report, attending Congressional hearings (or watching online), collecting important press clips from client cities, assisting by bosses with anything and everything possible, and doing general administrative tasks like answering the phone, making copies, etc. Pretty much exactly what I wanted...current dream job status achieved!
As for my compensation, it is a salary position ($30k) with some awesome benefits...health insurance paid in full, $100 monthly Metro check, 10 days paid sick leave, 10 days paid personal leave, Christmas Eve through New Year's Day automatic paid vacation, and 75% of a gym membership paid. For my first real job in the work force, I'd say that's not bad!
My current/temporary roommates and I had a wonderful celebratory weekend. We hit up a few bars on Friday night, laid out by the pool Saturday afternoon, went to a movie and a housewarming party on Saturday night, walked around the Chevy Chase shopping district Sunday afternoon, and attended an acoustic concert (see Chris Seefried, Jay Nash & Meiko if interested in hearing some new music) in Vienna Sunday night. Busy, but a lot fun :)
In random news: We met a family from Carroll, IA (wearing Tennessee shirts - where roommate Megan is from) on the Metro on our way to the concert and had quite a lengthy conversation (due to track work delays) with a handful of guys in our Metro car on the way home from the concert. Talking to strangers seemed to be a good idea yesterday!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Peace Out Hyattsville
To the delight of many, I will be moving out of my Hyattsville apartment this evening. You should all be happy to know that I will be leaving this diverse community unscathed, and none too soon. Earlier this week, gun shots were fired and a man was killed after a lengthy police standoff less than a mile down the street from me. Although I heard quite a number of sirens and woke up several times throughout the night feeling a little off, I didn't expect a story like this one (http://www.examiner.com/a-1523334~Hyattsville_man_fatally_shot_after_standoff_with_police.html) was behind it. Just remember, I'm only sharing this with you because you can find comfort in knowing that I will no longer be living in the area.
Because I have been so focused on my job search, I let the ball drop on finding somewhere new to live once my sublease was up. So, for now, I will be staying on Anne and Megan's couch. Although I feel a little guilty for not knowing how long I will need to crash there, I am excited to have roommates that will enjoy engaging in conversation with me!
As always, I will keep you posted if I find a new place to live. And I will let you know when I hear from my future employers next week that I got the job from Interview 4 (see previous post) earlier this week!
Because I have been so focused on my job search, I let the ball drop on finding somewhere new to live once my sublease was up. So, for now, I will be staying on Anne and Megan's couch. Although I feel a little guilty for not knowing how long I will need to crash there, I am excited to have roommates that will enjoy engaging in conversation with me!
As always, I will keep you posted if I find a new place to live. And I will let you know when I hear from my future employers next week that I got the job from Interview 4 (see previous post) earlier this week!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Interview recap
Three interviews in two days was quite an experience! Here's the quick recap...
Interview 1
Wednesday morning I interviewed at Burness Communication for the "Project Coordinator" position on a four person policy team. They work mainly with health issues, and my main responsibilities would be event/meeting preparation and planning (i.e. organizing schedules, making travel arrangements, etc.). The office seemed very laid back - fittingly so, as it is located in Bethesda, away from the hustle and bustle of downtown or The Hill. It would be a great job to utilize my communications degree more so than my political science degree, which I'm probably okay with. However, they are in no rush to fill the position, so I'm not sure when I will hear back from them.
Interview 2
Wednesday afternoon I had a second interview at Morgan Meguire for their "Legislative/Administrative Assistant" position. The interview went very well, but they informed me I was competing with four other candidates with similar qualifications and it would be a tough decision for them to make. Fortunately, they were going to make the decision soon, so I didn't have to sit and stew over whether or not I got that position. Friday morning I received the call -- they chose someone else. Disappointing, but I'm focusing on the success of making it past their first cut and interviewing to the best of my ability. They told me that they were very impressed with me, and they couldn't think of anything I could have done better when interviewing (or for future interviews), so I'd say that's positive as well!
Interview 3
Thursday morning I interviewed for "Staff Assistant" at The Livingston Group - a big name lobbying firm on The Hill. Of all three interviews, this was the least comfortable. There was an awkward tension between the two of us the entire time, and I didn't feel great when I walked out the door. The position itself seems great, but once again, they are not in a rush to fill this position. They will make their first cuts in a few weeks though, as they are hoping to hire someone before September. Although I haven't closed the door on that opportunity just yet, I'm not extremely confident in how the interview went. But sometimes those are the people who surprise you in the end (or so I'm told), so we'll wait and see.
Amidst all of those interviews, I managed to schedule two more for this week...
Interview 4
This morning I interviewed for another "Legislative/Administrative Assistant" position with a firm much like Morgan Meguire (interview 2). They are a small government relations firm that represents cities. I would be working mainly with two people, so I would get the opportunity to learn a lot and do a lot of things I would never get the chance to in a big firm. So that is especially appealing to me! This job seems ideal, and I am very pleased with how the interview went. We all communicated well with one another, and I felt like I was saying a lot of things they wanted to hear about my experience on The Hill. A lot of the types of projects I did in my internship would allow me to transition into this position quite well, so I'm hoping I have a few up on the other possible candidates this time! I also had to proofread a memo and write a hypothetical memo for them to get a grasp on my abilities, which I think went well...but you can never really tell on those types of things. The best part is, they are making their decision next week sometime, so I won't have to stew over this position either. Please keep your fingers crossed for me on this one!!!
And interview five is scheduled for tomorrow morning. It's actually just a meeting with someone at a temporary staffing agency. If I don't lock down a job in the next week or so, I'm going to start doing temp work to make some money and network. So I'm just getting a jump start on that process this week with another agency, as my current agencies have been less than brilliant thus far.
I'm on my way to cheer on some friends playing softball on the Mall, but I hope to have great news to report soon!
Interview 1
Wednesday morning I interviewed at Burness Communication for the "Project Coordinator" position on a four person policy team. They work mainly with health issues, and my main responsibilities would be event/meeting preparation and planning (i.e. organizing schedules, making travel arrangements, etc.). The office seemed very laid back - fittingly so, as it is located in Bethesda, away from the hustle and bustle of downtown or The Hill. It would be a great job to utilize my communications degree more so than my political science degree, which I'm probably okay with. However, they are in no rush to fill the position, so I'm not sure when I will hear back from them.
Interview 2
Wednesday afternoon I had a second interview at Morgan Meguire for their "Legislative/Administrative Assistant" position. The interview went very well, but they informed me I was competing with four other candidates with similar qualifications and it would be a tough decision for them to make. Fortunately, they were going to make the decision soon, so I didn't have to sit and stew over whether or not I got that position. Friday morning I received the call -- they chose someone else. Disappointing, but I'm focusing on the success of making it past their first cut and interviewing to the best of my ability. They told me that they were very impressed with me, and they couldn't think of anything I could have done better when interviewing (or for future interviews), so I'd say that's positive as well!
Interview 3
Thursday morning I interviewed for "Staff Assistant" at The Livingston Group - a big name lobbying firm on The Hill. Of all three interviews, this was the least comfortable. There was an awkward tension between the two of us the entire time, and I didn't feel great when I walked out the door. The position itself seems great, but once again, they are not in a rush to fill this position. They will make their first cuts in a few weeks though, as they are hoping to hire someone before September. Although I haven't closed the door on that opportunity just yet, I'm not extremely confident in how the interview went. But sometimes those are the people who surprise you in the end (or so I'm told), so we'll wait and see.
Amidst all of those interviews, I managed to schedule two more for this week...
Interview 4
This morning I interviewed for another "Legislative/Administrative Assistant" position with a firm much like Morgan Meguire (interview 2). They are a small government relations firm that represents cities. I would be working mainly with two people, so I would get the opportunity to learn a lot and do a lot of things I would never get the chance to in a big firm. So that is especially appealing to me! This job seems ideal, and I am very pleased with how the interview went. We all communicated well with one another, and I felt like I was saying a lot of things they wanted to hear about my experience on The Hill. A lot of the types of projects I did in my internship would allow me to transition into this position quite well, so I'm hoping I have a few up on the other possible candidates this time! I also had to proofread a memo and write a hypothetical memo for them to get a grasp on my abilities, which I think went well...but you can never really tell on those types of things. The best part is, they are making their decision next week sometime, so I won't have to stew over this position either. Please keep your fingers crossed for me on this one!!!
And interview five is scheduled for tomorrow morning. It's actually just a meeting with someone at a temporary staffing agency. If I don't lock down a job in the next week or so, I'm going to start doing temp work to make some money and network. So I'm just getting a jump start on that process this week with another agency, as my current agencies have been less than brilliant thus far.
I'm on my way to cheer on some friends playing softball on the Mall, but I hope to have great news to report soon!
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