Natalie's Co-op Job Search Blog: I’ve Got Options?

I walked into my fourth interview, knowing I was offered a job from my third interview. I’ll be honest - it felt pretty good! For months and months I was vying for positions, and for once I had a job offer as well as an interview for a potential second job offer!

When I arrived to my fourth interview, I felt very confident and ready. I had gotten to the interview location with plenty of time to spare, I was well rehearsed because I had gone through three interviews before this, and I also had a job offer already. Even the sun was shining, which is such a rarity during this time of the year! Thinking back, I was always nervous going to interviews, so my newfound confidence just goes to show what having plenty of interview practice and a job offer can do. I walked up to the receptionist and asked for my interviewer, and as usual she asked me to take a seat. Having gone through this before, I was quite relaxed as I patiently waited for my interviewer.

When she came out, she was very friendly and she gave me a good handshake. She took me to a room and started talking to me. Normally, by this time the interviewer would take out copies of my resume and cover letter, but during this interview she did not do that. Instead, I gave her one of the copies I had in my ‘interview folder’. In this folder I carry a couple copies of my resume, my cover letter for this job, writing samples, a note pad and a pen. I never had to use any of these things before, except writing samples, and I was glad I had them that day. The first question she asked me was about to go through my resume and tell her how my experience related to this job, so having my resume handy was a good prop to answer this question. I systematically went through each section of my resume, and described each of my positions. I tried to relate each position to the job I was being interviewed for.

This interview felt different from my past interviews, and it was not just because I had a job offer already. I later found out that I was the only person that applied for this position. I’m not trying to sound arrogant, but throughout the interview it felt like I already had the job because she seemed to be almost too interested in what I had to say. It is hard to explain, but it just seemed like it was very important to her that I personally had these skills. She also showed me their website during the interview, and asked me if I had ideas to update it and what I had to say about it. I’m sure this happens during competitive interviews too, but this interview just did not seem competitive for some reason. I just had a gut feeling that this job did not have too many applicants, and later I found out I was right - I was the only applicant!

The reason why I did not like this job was mainly because I found out that they required you to work from home, and I did not want that. They did not mention this in the job description, and I wanted my first co-op to be on site. I wanted to network and be around people. I wanted to learn! For once, I was not in a desperate panic mode looking for a job. For once I was deciding what I wanted.

My advisor called me and asked me how the interview went and for my final decision. I knew I wanted to go with my original job offer, and my advisor let interviewer #4 know that. I promptly faxed interviewer #3 my job acceptance letter and boy was I in for a learning experience! Check back soon to read about what I did on my first co-op job!

Natalie is a fourth year Communications and English student with a love for writing and learning. She is in the midst of her first co-op workterm as a marketing assistant, where she is learning many practical skills and life lessons that inspired her to write this blog series. She has previously volunteered as an Orientation Leader, and is currently volunteering as an FCAT Mentor.