Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Going with Your Gut

Do you follow your gut instincts? You know, that general feeling that seems to come from your very heart, telling you what feels right and what to avoid. I think everyone does to some extent. I feel like my gut is attempting to boss me around lately, or maybe even throwing a tantrum.

Maybe when you're trying to find something important, such as a new job, it becomes more difficult to figure out what feelings you have that are worth dissecting, and what feelings can be dismissed as bullshit.

For example, I have a job interview coming up on Thursday. What I read in the job listing and what the HR lady told me about the position seem relatively different. My impression from the ad was that I would be creating marketing material, organizing mailings and events, and doing some administrative support for a recruiting and sales team, like resume editing and setting up sales appointments (which I assume means with already interested clients).

My impression from the HR lady was not as exciting for me. She mentioned making calls for the sales team, but they weren't "necessarily" cold calls. She mentioned some resume editing and "occasional" generation of marketing materials. She seemed very interested in making sure my list of references included someone from the technical staffing firm I used to work for. In reality it includes one person from that company, but it's mostly full of folks from my last job, where I created a ton of creative projects and did another ton of various office tasks.

I miss my old job, especially now that it's so difficult to find one just like it.

Overall, I'm not sure I have a great gut feeling about this, but this is why I decided to go on the interview. There's a chance my interview won't just be with the HR lady, but with someone who would be my supervisor, someone who would have a clearer idea of what their expectations for me are. Right now, I am unimpressed, as I can't tell whether my job description would be Marketing Assistant, or Sales Department Servant. I prefer brochure building over cold calls any day. I'm excited to be someone's assistant so I can learn something, but I don't want to be the assistant who does all the rejection-based dirty work instead of the creative-based helpful work.

I believe in the gut feeling. I just don't know what kind of feeling it's trying to give me.



Blog-Author's Note: Did you see my Sunday post? If not, please go check it out, especially if you have ever used a Cozmo pump. I'm looking for some info! Also, there's a meme, but that's not the important part. Thanks, readers!

3 comments:

  1. Hi there,

    I say trust your gut when it comes to making a decision about the job. It's good practice to do the interview, etc., though...I'm in the same boat lately, and I don't think it ever hurts to 'exercise' the job hunting skills.

    By the way I missed the meme...here's my word: spunky!

    Have a good day!

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  2. Hi Hannah,
    My sister is doing the resume/interview thing now. She has an interview this week where when she read the job description, she called (before the interview) to let them know that she didn't think she was the right fit. They said that the job description was not that accurate and they wanted to meet her. So, it may be that your situation could be similar...

    In any case, good luck!

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  3. Hannah,
    When I was hired for the job I have now - almost 20 years ago, I knew in my gut that it was the perfect job for me. I just knew it & I was right. I still love my job.

    Since you haven't gone through the entire interview process yet, maybe your gut is just nervous. Perhaps after you see all that's involved, you will know for sure. Good luck!

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