I just accepted a position with the U.S Mint! I have a job! I interviewed with them on a whim at the PMF job fair, and I am so glad I did. The job just feels right for me. Yay!
I just accepted a position with the U.S Mint! I have a job! I interviewed with them on a whim at the PMF job fair, and I am so glad I did. The job just feels right for me. Yay!
I am still tired from the PMF job fair last week. I think the adrenaline running through my body for two straight days caused some serious damage.
I'm reluctant to talk too much about the job fair right now until I find out what's going to happen with all my applications. For all I know, there's already a message on my answering machine at home offering me a job. I prefer to just sort of not think about it.
So, a brief recap of last week's trip to DC.
Tuesday: Major storms in St. Louis. I got to the airport just as the rain started, and then there were torrential downpours and some seriously impressive lightning. I also learned that Lambert International Airport leaks. Awesome. So with a few delays, I got into DC and met Jayne at the airport. We hung out, tried to see cherry blossoms, failed at seeing cherry blossoms, and then ate some dinner.
Wednesday: Nothing started til the afternoon where we had a meeting welcoming us to the program and telling us how the job fair was going to work. I have to admit, I was really disappointed after this meeting. There were a whole bunch of PMFs and not a whole bunch of jobs. Nothing like getting your hopes up and then getting totally rejected. So essentially, I have no guarantee that I'll get a job out of this fellowship, but I think my chances are pretty good, having had a few positive interviews. Met a bunch of new people that I hope to stay in touch with, and that's a definite plus. And I got to go to dinner with Shannon, and it was really great to get to spend time with her.
Thursday: Ball of stress. Job fair, a few interviews, lots of handing out resumes. By about 3:00, I was dead on my feet. Exhausted and not wanting to think about jobs anymore. Dinner and a drink made things much better.
Friday: Less stressful. Job interviews, more job fair, more randomness. Jayne and I went out to see the cherry blossoms and wandered some of the monuments, which was a lot of fun. I want to move to D.C. and be able to run among the monuments. And then there was dinner and cake and tv and sleep.
And then Saturday, I came home. I have a ton of paperwork from the job fair that I need to sort through. I also still need to send thank you e-mails to everyone who interviewed me. I should have done that earlier, but well, I didn't. But it's getting done today.
And hopefully, in the next few days, I will have news of a super sweet job offer. Cross your fingers for me.
Things have been crazy lately. I feel like I say that a lot. But I am still behind on all my work from Spring Break. I'm not sure where all my free time goes. I think it's getting sucked into some sort of a void.
Headed to DC tomorrow for the PMF job fair. I'm actually pretty freaked out about that. But I'm hoping it's not as terrifying as I expect it will be. And if it is, well, at least it's only 3 days, right?
I've been running quite a bit, and I've suddenly dropped a bunch of weight thanks to it. Not that I'm complaining. Taking this week off, then going back to the 12-16 mile weeks next week. Still considering a marathon, but waiting to see where I'm going to end up job-wise. Definitely going to try to sign up for the Marine Corps 10K in October though!
Wish me luck this week. I really hope that I end up with an excellent job, but really, I'll take anything.
So last Monday, I was sitting in Crim Pro 2, minding my own business, when I got an e-mail. I'm a PMF Finalist. Needless to say, I paid no attention to the rest of class.
Ok, so what does that mean? Well, here's the blurb that's being used around school:
"The Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program was established by Executive Order in 1977 to attract to the Federal service outstanding men and women from a variety of academic disciplines and career paths who have a clear interest in, and commitment to, excellence in the leadership and management of public policies and programs. By drawing graduate students from diverse social and cultural backgrounds the PMF Program provides a continuing source of trained men and women to meet the future challenges of public service... There were approximately 8,000 students who were nominated by their respective schools and who went through the competitive interview process in February. Out of that number 792 students were selected as Finalists."
In other words, I'm a pretty big deal.
Seriously though, what it means is that I have a fellowship that will allow me to work for a government agency for the next two years. There's much more to the program than that, but that's the easy explanation. Next week, I'm flying out to D.C. for a PMF job fair, where we have to interview with various agencies and hopefully get our jobs. I'm so excited about this whole thing I can't even explain it. I have always loved the idea of government work, specifically working in D.C., and while there this summer, I absolutely fell in love with the city, but never thought I'd be able to work there. I just wasn't sure how I would make it happen.
I applied for the PMF program last fall, not really expecting to get anywhere. I made it through the first round and took an assessment test in January. I thought I did fine, but couldn't believe I'd end up accepted. And yet, I did!
Some of the jobs are outside of D.C. - but I'm going to do my best to end up in D.C., plus that's where the majority of the jobs are. It's all very overwhelming, as there's a bunch of stuff that has to get done before the job fair, and we really only had two weeks to prepare. Thankfully, Jayne is wonderful and is letting me stay with her again, which saves me a crazy amount of money.
So, that's what's been going on with me. I'll definitely let you know where I end up and how this job fair goes. Wish me luck!