First Day at Work!

Finally, a chance for me to type in my blog!!

Last week Wednesday, the manager of the store called me and asked me to work that day! Unfortunately, I wasn't near ready and so I requested to start the next day...

My first shift was scheduled at 10am, when the store opens. The assistant manager led me to the back room and gave me an apron, which was the store's uniform, to put on. Then she gave me a training checklist for the cash register and allowed me to spend my first two hours there "playing" with the machine. When I truly started working on the cash, I was quite nervous. I was afraid that I might overcharge the customers, or worse, undercharge them! Fortunately, the customers were nice enough to not rush me and gave me lots of encouragement along the way. My coworkers were also pretty nice and didn't show any irritation when I asked them for help. Instead, they were happy (or seemed to at least) to guide and walk me through each step. Before I knew it, my first shift was over and it was time to get home.

I continued to work on cash for the next two days and I couldn't believe how many people came to do last minute shopping for Father's Day. I didn't really feel the rush until Saturday. There were huge tides of people coming into the store and purchasing indefinite amount of gifts. Of course, the pressure to work faster was unavoidable (I'm still pleased with myself as I handled it quite well). After several herds of people coming in and paying at the counter, the day was finally over! My feet were in pain (from long hours of standing), and my shoulders and legs were sore!

Business was slower for the next few days, granting me more time to explore the store. I hope I will continue to do well in my first job and make lots of money (enough to help my mom, and perhaps pay for tuition and books). For now, all I can really do is to work hard in my studies and do well at work.

Wish me luck!

I GOT A JOB!!

YAY!! I'm so happy!! After all this waiting, I finally got my first job!! Words can definitely not describe my happiness!! As soon as I got home, I kept on jumping up and down, squealing "YAY!"

This morning, I woke up to my ringing cell phone and immediately jumped out of bed to answer it. It turned out to be the lady who interviewed me last Friday and she asked me to come by today for the second interview! As soon as I hung up, I couldn't fight the urge to laugh hysterically (I only do that when I'm either extremely happy or extremely nervous - and in this case, I was extremely happy). But honestly, since my disaster from my first job interview three weeks ago, I lost a great amount of confidence in getting a job - especially after each visit to my email account. Anyways, when I finally stopped laughing, I got myself ready for the interview and got there twenty minutes late (and yes, it's something that can seriously prevent me from getting the job - I totally agree).

Another lady interviewed me and she was the assistant manager. To my amazement, the lady who interviewed me last Friday was the manager! When the interview started, I was told that I was one of the top five candidates selected after the first interviews held last week. I can't believe it! I was one of the top five! Honestly speaking, I've never been in the top five before, NEVER! And so, she asked me a few questions and I was pretty pleased of how calm I was when I answered them...okay, I lied. I was fairly nervous (and I think it showed), but the questions were pretty hard; they were mostly job-related.

When the interview ended, she asked me if I had any questions and if I have anything to say before I leave (to place a last impression I guess). I remember mom telling me that if a potential employer asks you if you have any questions when the interview was over, it is strongly recommended that you do ask! This would show him/her that you do have an interest in the job. Having that said, I asked what the job responsibilities were and I was given a very detailed answer! I also, out of curiosity, asked how many people they were planning to hire out of the top five and it was one or two. That made me a bit disappointed since I was hoping that they would hire three of the five, which will increase my odds in getting hired. Before I left, I expressed my gratitude for the second interview plus how much I wanted the job and what it would mean to me (which goes beyond the salary). Thinking back, I think I kind of babbled during this part. Man, I think she was dying of boredom during that time!

Before I left, she asked me to wait a bit to see if the manager wanted to ask me any further questions. After three minutes or so, they came back to tell me that I was hired! I was so surprised! I just couldn't believe it, as if it was too good to be true! And yes, I laughed quite a bit and so did they (maybe because of my reaction). Then, I was given a form to fill out and was told to return it as soon as possible so I could start in a week!

I seriously couldn't believe it. I thought it was a dream and that I would soon wake up to disappointment. I can't wait until my first workday! I'm so excited! Wish me luck!!

An Overreaction?

According to my previous entry (Unexpected Interview!), I mentioned that I went to the campus to meet up with two friends. There, we bumped into another friend (let's call him friend E). He too was there to make a few changes for his program as well. And so, together we waited for the teacher to finish his class. While we waited, we talked about the things we did during the past month. Then, he asked if we (friend C and I) have seen Teresa and went out together with her. It didn't surprise us that he was concerned with her whereabouts since we (sort of) guessed that he has a crush on her (although he denied it, it was quite obvious). Friend C told him that she hasn't seen Teresa lately. She also told him that Teresa and I had a fight, and are no longer friends. "Those two won't talk to each other because they got into a fight - but it was really her fault" is all she said.

If you have read my previous posts about Teresa, you may know what the fight was all about. For those who haven't, Teresa called me a lowlife because I disliked the fact that someone left his backpack on a seat at our table without asking if the seat was taken - even after I told him that it was. It didn't mean that I yelled at him or made any further requests for him to remove it. The bag was still sitting there when they returned from their trip to their lockers ten minutes later. I only expressed my discomfort and suddenly she insulted like that (more details in "A Lowlife?" and "Can't Believe It's Coming to an End" entries)!

Upon hearing that from friend C, he immediately asked me what I did to Teresa! I couldn't believe my ears! He actually thought that I was at fault! Seeing my reaction, Friend C quickly told him that it was Teresa, not me. He paused and stared at friend C for a moment. Slowly, he hesitantly asked what she has done. Friend C looked at me, expecting an answer from me and he followed her gaze. Without looking at either of them, I simply said, "I'm not going to talk about it to avoid ruining her impression in your mind" and it was quite clear that I was pissed at him.

Should I have reacted that way? He didn't know what had happened between us. Besides, if he truly does like her, he would not expect anything negative from Teresa. I guess I shouldn't have snapped at him like that and I'm starting to feel a little guilty. One thing's for sure: the memory of that insult is still heavily engraved in my mind. Don't know if I would ever forget about it, or at the least, get over it...

Unexpected Interview!

Today, I went to the campus to meet up with two friends to make a few changes for our program. It was pretty nice to meet up with them and have a small reunion. While waiting for the second friend (who was stuck in traffic) to arrive, I told friend C (from Events So Far entry) about my disaster with my first interview. She laughed a little and told me that she wasn't surprised since she sort of expected that from me. How cruel!

Afterwards, I went to a store at STC (and no, it's not the one with the messed-up interview) and did a follow-up on my application from three weeks ago. I gave them another copy of my resume to (hopefully) increase my chances in getting hired. Surprisingly, the lady asked me if I had some spare time and I ended up getting my first one-on-one job interview! According to her, there was an interview scheduled for a portion of the candidates tomorrow, but to avoid me running around, she interviewed me there and then! I was pretty surprised and (of course) a little nervous. I think I babbled a little while I introduced myself in the beginning, but as the interview continued, I became more calm. I'm not sure if I showed any confidence, but I did my best in persuading her to hire me. Then, I filled out the store's questionnaire that had 180 questions. When I finished, I handed it in and thanked her before leaving. Hopefully I left a strong and positive impression in her mind.

I couldn't help grinning as I went home. I was so happy and pleased with today's events. A few days ago, I was on the phone with a close friend of mine. She suggested that I should do a follow-up to increase my chances in getting a job. I'm really glad I listened to her - otherwise, I wouldn't have had that chance!

Wish me luck!! (^-^)