2010, Part Three: Our New Jobs

I've decided to cut my post on 2010 into five parts, as it's just too long for a single one.

Part One: Our Plane
Part Two: Finishing my M.A.
Part Three: Our New Jobs
Part Four: Our Trip Out West
Part Five: Our Wedding

It was quite the year!

One day, while trying to motivate myself to finish my M.A., to convince myself that all this work was worth it, I took a look at a government jobs site. I told myself that maybe having an M.A. would give me a career advantage. And lo and behold, I saw a position for a "translator trainer", facilitating language-related workshops for professional translators. Hmmm... I had always wanted to teach. But I looked at the experience required, and then looked at the profiles of the other trainers on the departmental website (25, 30, 35 years of experience...) and told myself I wasn't qualified. Then a little voice told me there was no harm in trying. So I applied. Wrote off a quick letter and polished up my CV in the midst of writing my thesis. Didn't have time to give it much more thought.

When I got an email inviting me to write an exam, I realized I had been screened in. I had passed the first step in the application process. This job application that I had sent off pretty much on a "coup de tête" became more real. I was nervous about the exam... but I shouldn't have been! It went extremely well, and I felt pretty confident when I left that I had passed.

I was invited to come in for an interview. When I saw the proposed date--April 29--I hesitated. I supposed that I could have asked for it to be postponed to the following week, explaining that I had to submit my thesis on April 30. But I was always taught that job interviews get ultimate priority, and I couldn't bring myself to ask for a different date. I knew that technically, I could be there that day. And so I went.

For the interview, I was asked to prepare a 20 minute presentation on a specific topic--one I knew little about ("Managing Generation Y"!). So the night before the interview, I set aside my thesis and researched, wrote out and rehearsed a 20-minute presentation. I found out later that it blew them away.

Despite my limited experience, I was offered the job. So not only was I starting a new life as a non-student for the first time, but I was embarking on a new career path!

(Continued in Part Four...)