Well, lets see, a general update and explanation is in order I guess. It starts, like many stories, with a quest for more money. It ends, well I'm not entirely sure that it has ended. But I'll let you know when it happens.
A few days after finishing my
applications for school, I was searching around to see if there were any good scholarships that looked easy to get. I ended up registering on some site that'll compare my vitals to their big list and let me know what I could apply for. Easily done, and nice info to have, yeah?
Besides all the different scholarship choices they also listed quite a few jobs available in my area and asked if I wanted to apply for any of them. Noodles & Company was looking for assistant managers, and I'm down with that, not having any job. So I checked off times I was available and sent in my info.
Such simple actions have cascading consequences. They called me. They wanted me to interview. It wasn't the store I remember sending my info to, but for assistant manger-ship I could handle a further commute. And so, the morning of my interview, I hopped into the car an hour and a half early and headed off to oakbrook. And arrived on time.
I interviewed with the general manager and we had a great time. She talked about working in hotels and starting her own restaurant and working for Noodles. I talked about me and doing events and wanting to be an event planner. We talked about the commute. Things started going down hill rapidly. This was not an interview for an assistant manager's position. This was not a job that payed very much. She liked me, but didn't think this was a good fit.
I agreed.
Not having any regular work, I recognized that some regular work (and the ensuing paycheck) might be nice. I asked if she could refer me to a store closer to where I lived. After one quick phone call, and I was back in my car headed to downtown Naperville.
I should note, this isn't the job I was asking for your Karmic help with yesterday. Don't worry.
I met the general manager there and learned what the job entailed. It's a simple cashier/runner position. I was able to negotiate a great hourly wage. It's nice to be needed. And so, I was officially no longer jobless.
I took my girlfriend out for lunch to celebrate. While on that lunch date I said something like "things never work out unless there's some kind of conflict. Now that I've taken this job, one of my resumes or other applications is going to work." AND IT CAME TRUE.
Waiting in the inbox of my job searching email address was a request for an interview the next tuesday. The second day of my new job. It was too late to send an email and change the time or date, because the weekend had arrived. I'd have to wait until after my first shift at Noodles was over to call and ask for information.
My first shift at Noodles came and went after a nice relaxing weekend. A great date with Heather on Friday and Saturday. And as we were wondering what to do after dinner on saturday,
Mike called and asked to come out for the weekend. Sounds good, we stayed at the bar until he arrived. And once he arrived we stayed until last call. And after that, we went back to Heather's house and sang xbox kareoke and drank more. On Sunday,
Mike and I burned copies of his completed LP, hung out, had dinner with Heather and we all watched
The Red Violin before they all headed home.
Monday and my first shift at Noodles had arrived. It's not a complicated job. There are little tricks and traps, but not an impossible job. It's mostly about learning good habits as you learn the job. There's a hell of a discount for on shift meals. A 70% discount takes a good chunk out of the cost of a meal. I let my new boss know I had an interview the next day, and he was cool with it. In his words, "I don't want to see my people get trapped here."
I ran home and called the number to confirm my interview and get more information. And lemme tell ya... the job rocks. It's an entry level event planning job. The sales team comes up with a conference concept and starts selling it. The event coordinator finds the hotel and negotiates a contract for food, sleeping space and meeting space. The EC also tracks the booking and lets sales know how that's going. A decent wage for the job and located downtown Chicago. So we pick a time and I race back to Noodles because they asked me if I wanted to pick up a second shift. Why not?
Tuesday I wake up and get prepared. Print fresh resumes, put together some extra information on the events I've put together. Get dressed and realize that while I have plenty of time to make the train, I don't have a dress shirt that fits. A frantic stop at Kohls yields favorable results and I'm golden. Hop on the train and I'm on my way. From the train station to the office was only 7 blocks and a quick walk.
The interview went well. I have the exact experience that they're looking for. The company seems very cool. Lots of young people, decent pay, heath insurance, dental insurance, 401K, and frequent reviews/raises. There's even a gym in the building that's free to building employees.
So it was back to the train station, and homeward bound. I went back to class and had a very distracted quiz. Oops. My mind gets carried away. And so do my tales. I'm basically in a waiting stage with that job. They've got to pick a few candidates (they only interviewed 10 of 200) to send to the chairman. However, he lives in London and if he wants to interview these people personally, it would have to be during his once or twice a month visit to Chicago.
Until then, I'll continue working at Noodles and enjoying the atmosphere and the cheap tasty food. And oh yeah, finishing up my pre-requisets at COD. I'm not sure what this job would mean to my plans to go back to school. It might mean a delay of a year, or it might mean that I work for a short time and get some savings and then go back to school. I'm not sure. Only time shall tell, and it's not worth worrying about too much until I have the job.
Thanks for sticking with this tale.
