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!