Everything Is Not As It Seems

Sitting behind a desk in the basement level of Bill Moore Student Success Center surely does have its payoffs.  In the past few months that I have worked for Career Services, I have learned several things about employers, job searches, and what not. Professors, bosses, and potential employers all have this intimidating vibe surrounding them; well at least this is what a typical college student assumes. But I am here to tell you that behind all of the seriousness and intimidation, these people are actually very down-to-earth.

                Once, while I was sitting at the check-in in the basement, a recruiter was waiting for a student to show up for their interview. After a few awkward glances and an extended period of silence, he approached me and asked me if I was a student at Tech. It turned out that he was a Georgia Tech alumnus and he knew exactly what I was talking about when I mentioned the difficulty of my classes. The whole time we talked, I forgot that he was a recruiter and not just a person who happened to be waiting in front of my desk. I didn’t feel inclined to put up a serious face and talk business, but instead I was able to contribute to the conversation as much as him. He told me that things will get easier and that he was impressed with what I was doing as a sophomore in college. Ironically, he gave me insightful advice about how students should not be intimidated by recruiters at all because they’ve “been there, done that.” By the end of our conversation, we discovered that we had the same Calculus professor as first year students. I can confidently say that while I was talking with this recruiter, I did not feel intimidated at all. When the student finally arrived, I could tell that he was nervous. I wanted to go up to him and tell him to not be afraid because the recruiter can easily relate to us as Tech students.

It is not a bad thing to be nervous or feel intimidated, but it is important to know that employers only want to get to know us better. They have been in our shoes and know how a first interview can be. This is only one incident of many that convinced me not to hold such rough standards for higher-ranking individuals.

You may have an interview recently or you may have even had a job search that worked out for you. GT Career Services wants to know all about your experience. Share it with us and we will share it with the entire GT community. Your experience may help others in their journey through a job search. Share with us the story of how you finally got the job or interview you wanted or how you managed to pull off a successful job search! Email a draft of your blog post to gtcareer2011@gmail.com and we will make sure it is posted.