Thursday, July 14, 2011

A Year of Gratitude - Day Thirty-one

Day 31 - The Power of Follow Up
I had a very good interview today (Tuesday, July 12).
I spoke with the HR representative from a lumber company call me last week immediately after I left the testing center having passed my SPHR exam, and had what was possibly the best phone interview of my career.  Yes, I qualified for the job, and yes, I think the chemistry-via-telephone with her was immediate, but I think what carried it to the next level was the fact that I was still on a high from passing that exam.  I was ecstatic, and I’m sure that came through.  (It also helped that she understood just how difficult this exam is.)
Eventually, I got the rejection email from the company, so I send her off a quick email thanking her again for her time and consideration, and asked her to let me know if any other positions opened up in the company for which she thought I might be a good fit.  She immediately responded, saying I should not have received that email, that it was sent out by mistake, and that they had not, in fact, made a decision.  I was still in the running.
Then she called me yesterday and asked if I could come in on today for an interview.  “In fact, if you could, we’d like to have you come out to our mill in Gaston, just past Forest Grove, and do a panel interview; if there’s time, we’ll also take you on a tour of the mill.”  I was surprised, to say the least.  As it happened, I was free all day on Tuesday, so it worked out well.
Gaston is nearly and hour from Tigard - quite the schlepp for an interview - but I made the drive gladly.  The interview went very well, and the tour was fascinating.  I’ve never seen how these huge logs are milled into usable lumber; now I have seen how they are turned into 2x4’s in a matter of minutes with the help of advanced computers.  Amazing!
I expect to hear by Friday (I am free to call her on Monday if I haven’t heard before then) whether or not I will move forward on this position, and at least partly because I had the sense to follow up with a thank you. 

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