Anticipation . . .

A lot has been changing. The last time I wrote, I had gone running to clear my head. Having recently found out that my position within IR would be taking an unfortunate hit from the budget cutbacks. Angry, I ran out some of my stress. It felt good -- I hadn't used running as such a release in a really long time. As my legs moved, it was relieving a load I wasn't aware I was carrying.

Not quite 48 hours later, I get a phone call on my work phone line -- it's Bobby, from my internship two summers ago. He's calling to tell me about a job posting that he'd received and that Julie Strider had thought of me for. It was perfect . . . it had all of my favorite buzz words: communications, organization, media relations, full-time and benefits. So great.

Well, I applied, initially getting a "thank you for your interest" response that said he would contact me the following week. Skeptical at first, I made sure I told my connections back at the barn (the building where I did my internship was an old barn at one point) and told them to cross my fingers. Sure enough, I did hear from Gary (the man hunting for his next employee) the following Tuesday when he asked if I would meet him for coffee the following morning.

I did, thought it went well, and was told he would contact me within a week. Imagine my surprise when he called me that afternoon to ask me if I'd meet with his manager, Shelley, the following morning for coffee. I met Shelley, really felt like she liked me, and received a reply to my thank-you email to her that said Gary would be in touch. The next day, Gary emailed and asked me if I could meet the whole team for coffee the next week. Of course, I said yes.

So after a meeting with the whole team last Wednesday (not even a full two weeks from my first contact with Gary), I got some good feedback from thanking the team -- one woman who even said she thought I'd be a great addition and that she'd be crossing her fingers for me. Gary said he'd be in touch, but didn't give any reference to how soon.

Yesterday (the Monday following our last meeting -- 5 days prior) Gary called me to ask me to apply for the job through the website. I obliged, only to be called by human resources and be told that I hadn't applied correctly. I didn't expect to hear much so soon after correcting my mistake, but I got a call from Gary today confirming that I am "a finalist" for the position -- woohoo! I'm elated. Gary continued to say that he has spoken with human resources, who will be ordering a background check for me.

That's good, I think. No, scratch that -- it's DEFINITELY good! For starters, they're obviously pushing things through pretty quickly. Gary told me that I would know "what happens next" by next week. That's also good right? I mean, it seems like he's anticipating me not to fail my background check (I'm pretty sure I won't) and I should hear in about a week.

Holy crap.

I have been wanting this job since it came across my radar -- a proverbial "sign" if you will. I am desperately hoping and praying that I'm not misreading the signs, that I'm not getting my hopes up and that things really are going in the direction I think they're going.

Heaven help me.