Be Prepared

I recently got a bit of a wake-up call in the job hunting process. It was a typical Thursday morning and I was sitting on my couch having some coffee, still in my pajamas since it was just 9 a.m. I was looking through the job postings which magically appear each day in my inbox and decided to apply for a position with a consulting firm in Harvard Square that looked really interesting. The posting was through a staffing agency in Boston and I applied knowing that if my resume made the cut, I would be getting a call from an overly-eager recruiter hoping to fill the job as fast as he could and collect his commission. I swear on my dog's life, not 15 minutes after I hit the "submit" button, I received a call from the aforementioned eager beaver. He told me how much he loved my resume and that he wanted me to come in and meet with him and a few of his colleagues. At 12:30 p.m. That same day. Holy cow! Obviously I said it would not be a problem, told him I would see him in a few hours, and promptly hung up the phone and raced upstairs to get ready.

Now, I live in southern New Hampshire. For those of you not familiar with the area, I'm about 40 miles north of Boston. Not only did I have to shower, shampoo, and shine, but I also had to get a stack of resumes together, print off directions to the staffing office, and figure out how I was going to get to Boston (express bus or drive). I also needed to factor in the time it would take to get into the city depending upon which mode of transportation I chose. Not wanting to be in a complete panic until absolutely necessary, I waited to check the bus schedule until I was ready to go. Naturally, I had just missed the one bus that would get me into Boston before 12:30, so I was forced to drive. Luckily, I knew the area fairly well, even with all of the Big Dig changes down there. I knew exactly where I needed to be and where I could park once I got there. I left the house with plenty of time to spare, got parked and situated in Boston, and even had time for an iced green tea at the Starbucks across the street from the staffing agency (priorities, right?). The meetings with the recruiters went well. They faxed my resume over to the client straight away and told me to expect a call later that afternoon regarding an interview.

Luckily, the timing worked out for this particular situation. However, my point with this post is that after all of the rushing around I did that morning, wouldn't it be better to take the Boy Scout motto to heart and just be prepared first thing each morning in the event a situation like this comes up again? It would certainly be worth it to actually be ready when the phone rang, instead of spending the time getting ready and then trying to make it to the appointment on time. I thought this was a brilliant idea and vowed right then and there to do just that. And I did...for the next couple of days. Since I haven't received another call like that, it's been a bit like "out of sight, out of mind." What's the point if no one's calling, you know?

I will say that I haven't gone back to my old ways completely. I definitely don't get ready everyday as if I have an interview, but I do get up and get going, doing things around the house to keep me busy until that phone call comes in. And when it does, I know I'll be ready.

P.S. I did have an interview with the consulting firm the very next day. Luckily for me, it was a phone interview.