The big news is that I’m officially HIRED!

I finally got the job offer courier’d to me today, and I’ve been filling out HR and payroll forms.

This means an end to my impromptu lunch dates, late weeknight drink dates, and random phone chats with Martin!

But I feel very very lucky.

I didn’t get the job I originally applied to, because when the interviewers saw my science major, they asked me if I wanted to be considered for a job in another department where I could use my science knowledge. I said Yes, and 2 days later I had a big recommendation and was called in for an interview for that other department.

This is a good example of how applying to jobs you aren’t totally qualified for may lead to other neat opportunities.

My second interview lasted over 2 hours, and by the end of it, I was spent. I felt good but didn’t feel like I had it in the bag, and started worrying about how I didn’t get the job.

When I applied to Job #1, it was kind of inconsequential. I would have gladly accepted it, but it didn’t truly excite me. So when I interviewed for Job #2, there was more at stake when I realized that this job sounded AWESOME and was a better fit for me interest-wise and experience-wise.

Job #2 actually sounded like my ‘dream job’ post-grad. But, as with many good things in life, I had to wait for it.

Fortunately I didn’t have to wait long. The job was offered to me verbally 2 days later. The next day my job offer was sent out via same-day courier, with a pre-paid return envelope for a quick response.

So, that’s how it went down. To summarize:

• submit coverletter & resume
• take 1 hr timed online test
• fill out lengthy online survey (~45 min)
• take 65 minute mini GRE test (on my birthday!)
• Interview #1 (1 hour)
• Follow up to interview via email
• Interview #2 (2+ hours)
• Follow up to interview via phone and emails
• Accept the job graciously

This all took 7 weeks from start to finish. The job market in Toronto is pretty dried up right now, but I think the trick is to apply to as many jobs as you find interesting, and to keep positive during your interviews.

Next week I start my new job. I’m excited and a little nervous all at the same time!

J: Ich mag mein Baby sehr

M: ich auch!

J: Did I write that richtig?

J: schriebe richtig?

M: schreiben

M: The sentence before was right

J: Geil!

J: I am a German master!!!

———————————

J: How did you know that?

M: I have canadian holidays loaded in my gmail calender

J: Geil!!!

M: also the german one

J: Also Deutsch rememberance day?

M: nein, der deutsche Kalender mit all den Holiday days which wir haben

M:

M: Wir haben eine geile Sprache!!!

J: Ach, klar!

J: Wir sprechen und scrieben sehr gut Deutsch!

M: schreiben

M: feb. 15th you guys have some alberta holiday

M: you find it when you open your calender and click on some button in the upper right hand corner. Mine says NEW: SPORT CALENDERS

J: Ach quatsch! Us Ontarians don’t care about Alberta holidays

J: SPORT? Wieso?

J: Okay, let me go see this scheiss

M: You are funny.

J: Geil!

M: I know. Google is a bit scary but who cares

J: Ja, das ist sehr geil

J: und frei!

M: you can add so much scheiß until you don’t see anything on your calender anymore

M: kostenlos

J: ich bin nicht verängstigt.

J: ich bin brav.

M: du bist sehr brav!

J: Aber ich mag kostenlos

M: Aber nicht bei Nacht

M: das ist gut so!

J: Ich bin brav bei Nacht!!!!

M: okay!!

Things have been busy here!

I’ve been catching up with friends, going to job interviews, and getting ready for Martin’s visit!

I don’t know how much I should write about this whole job hunting process, because my Mom started making me paranoid about how the company will google me and find this site somehow. But, I will say that things are going well on this front, and that I’m very very excited.

And yes, Martin is coming to Toronto to visit for a few weeks!! He will be meeting my parents for the first time, which is both thrilling and nerve wracking. I have never introduced a boyfriend to my parents before, so it’s a pretty big deal for me. Luckily Martin is a good one, so the parent-meeting thing should go off smoothly.

Originally Martin was going to stay at my parents’ place with me. My ex-boss offered him and I a room in her house if we needed a break from my parents, or we could just stay with her and her family if we wanted. My girlfriend also offered to house us in the new big house she just bought, which was also a consideration for us.

I’m really thankful to have all this support, but what Martin and I are really doing is renting a place for ourselves at my other gf’s condo that’s right on the subway line and a 5 minute walk to my soon-to-be new work. This gf has fallen in love and moved in with her bf, so is never around her own place. She was half-looking for someone to rent to, and when I approached her about it, we both got so excited and she gave me a great price. Gf’s are so helpful!

So that’s pretty much what’s been going on here. I’m so excited to see Martin again. We talk on the phone almost everyday, which works because I don’t have a job so we can skirt around the time difference. But once I do start working, we’ll have to rely on emails and can only talk on weekends. Boo.

It will be nice to see each other face to face and go OUT on DATES. Woo!!

It’s SO weird but I’m forgetting a lot of my German and instead, French is flying back into my head.

When I was in Germany, I knew the German verb Sein (to be), off the top of my head. While the same verb in French, Être, I could not remember for the life of me.

Now I’ve forgotten how to conjugate Sein, because every time I try, it is being replaced by Être conjugations. Suddenly I remember Être again, but at the expense of Sein!

Of course my brain has to be this frustrating!! >:|

I passed by the French school yesterday and read their announcement sign. I knew every single word and exactly what it meant. French is MUCH easier for me to understand than German is, but it still surprises me how much I remember from my French days, and how French is just a part of my life living in a bilingual country (even if I only get doses of French in passive ways).

I think learning German helped me get back some of my French!

I was terrible at French, and just went through the motions of learning without really knowing WTH was going on.

Now I’m putting in much more effort to learn German, because it means something to me. I also have positive reinforcements from a cute German smiling at me every time I speak it.

Martin tells me it will all come back to me. Which is sweet, but I know I have to actively keep it up in order to retain anything.

Ich möchte deutsch sprechen, aber deutsch ist sehr schwer.

After brushing up on my interview skills, I did some things I wouldn’t have thought to do without reading this book first.

I answered questions with story-telling and made sure I chose pre-thought out stories with good endings, to show how I can save the day.

Like how my research efforts were directly related to a 40% versus the typical 6% response rate, or how, when faced with an irate customer, I successfully changed my strategy from salesperson to situation diffuser. Stuff like that.

Also, at the end of the interview, I made sure I got the contact of one of the interviewers (I forgot to ask the other 2 who had left earlier) so that I could send a follow-up thank you email that reiterated my interest in the job.

My interview lasted for 1 hour and I was interviewed by 3 people in total. It all felt very natural and I could picture myself working there (I was also screening them as much as they were screening me).

Apparently the applicant pool was huge, but they pared it down to 5 people who they are interviewing this week. The decision is being made after they interview the others. I don’t know if I was first or middle or what.

So, now I just have to wait.

My interview is tomorrow, and I’m pretty excited about that!

I’m just so curious about what they’re going to ask me and what I’ll answer. This stuff is always so interesting to me.

The 2 interviews I’ve learned the most from were for 2 jobs that I ended up landing but didn’t end up accepting. One was for camp counsellor at a science summer camp, and another for a sales rep position at a high-end sunglass store.

It’s funny that interviewing for these low paid jobs would give me the best interview experience, but they really did. I appreciate that a lot and think back to them every time I go for a new interview.

For the camp job, I got grilled by a panel of judges. It wasn’t comfortable and definitely kept me on my toes, but I learned that I could handle the pressure and scrutiny well, which is something I wouldn’t have known had I not gone through it.

The sunglass store asked me tricky questions about bad bosses and bad situations at work. I did NOT do well on the tricky questions at all, which is why brushing up on my answers is more beneficial to me than behavioural stuff (like the ability to handle pressure). I fell into the trap of answering the question negatively; Instead I should have told positive stories that made it seem like I took a bad situation and saved the day. I am a positive person afterall, and would like to portray it.

I didn’t end up accepting the camp job because it was too far to commute to, while the questions from the sunglass store startled me too much that it made me not want to work there. In retrospect though, it was all a very good experience.

So tomorrow, these 2 interviews that took place over 5 years ago will help me attempt to land a job. Which I think is pretty neat!

I’ll need all the help I can get, because the job I’ve applied to is for a marketing position in a big international company. Judging by the amount of people who took the test with me, there is stiff competition. But, I know that even if I don’t get the job, I’ll have another interview experience to add to my roster. Who knows, maybe it will make it to my Top 3 interview short list!

I did get a call-back from that job I tested for on my birthday!

Except, I missed the call because I have the hours of an unemployed person (i.e. I sleep in!) and didn’t want to answer it while I was just waking up and groggy.

So I let my voicemail get it and they left a message to call them back. Then I call them back and left a message for them to call me. I’ve waited a whole day and they haven’t called yet. Hopefully tomorrow!

Martin had to make it to Düsseldorf for work this morning. It reminded us of how he used to stay over at my place, and how convenient that would’ve been today.

I don’t really miss Düsseldorf. It’s a really nice and safe city, but felt too small for me (population ~500K). I like the hustle and bustle of huge cities like Berlin.

Originally I intended to live in Köln (a big city very close to Düsseldorf), but then ended up choosing Düsseldorf on suggestion of my boss and the closer proximity to where Martin lived.

It all worked out when I landed myself a cute lil flat in Düsseldorf, which I do miss a little.

If I ever live in Germany again, I would want to live in Berlin, Hamburg, or Frankfurt.

I felt particularly homely in Hamburg, for some reason. Out of those 3 cities, I’ve spent the least time in Hamburg. So it’s weird that I would feel so strongly about it.

What I really liked about living in Germany was the fantastic public transit. It was so good that I would even chosse to live in the burbs, and I am NOT a suburb girl!

But German suburbs are very connected to the city, making it a good balance between convenience and space.

Martin and I considered moving to Duisburg, a suburb of Düsseldorf. It would take me 15 minutes to get to Düsseldorf on the express train, and would be an easy commute to Martin’s office too.

Sometimes I wonder what that would’ve been like. It was really really nice living with Martin, and it wasn’t too shabby living in Europe either.

But alas, I am in Toronto now. I like it here a lot, but being separated from Martin is Scheiße!

Last year I graduated from university, and since then, I’ve visited 12 countries in 3 continents.

It was quite the dream come true!

If anyone had told me that after I graduated, I would get to travel and end up living in Asia and Europe, I wouldn’t have believed them for a second.

Cuz you see, I’m not the travelling or living-abroad type. I like my structure, my comforts, and Toronto itself. I would dream of going away on some exciting adventure, but didn’t think I could execute it for more than 2-week intervals.

I was lucky to be able to do all the things I’ve done, but I also worked really hard for it.

Throughout my whole undergrad career, I held 1-4 jobs while I studied a full course load. Back then, jobs just came to me and I said Yes to them because I didn’t want to shun my luck.

So I worked a lot, and I studied a lot. After paying for tuition, rent, and food, I kept entertainment costs low by going out for coffee, study dates, and having people over instead of eating out. My frugal efforts started to add up, and before I knew it, I was graduating debt-free with some leftovers (hence the travelling!).

I don’t recommend working that much to anyone, because it was too stressful. But I’m proud of myself for creating my own unique experience, and so grateful that I even had the chance. I learned so much, saw so much, and experienced so much.

I feel it has made me a better person; I care less about material things and more about people. I became more responsible and independent. I prioritize my life a lot differently than I used to.

In short, I feel like I’m growing up and moving on. I don’t really know where my life is heading, but I’m pretty excited about what’s next!

So it’s my birthday today. I’m officially 28!

I hope I garnered some birthday luck, as I spent the afternoon writing a test for a company that I’m looking to work in. I passed the first screening with my (0ld) coverletter and resume, and I had also taken a timed online test and filled out a lengthy survey.

The test in-person test was harder than I thought. But no matter, I was just happy to get called in, even if it was on my birthday! YAY!