Returning to PA Roots, and a Reason to Read

Just sayin people, but sometimes little hobbies or things you do just for fun with your family can actually get you a job(:

About a week and a half ago, I interviewed at, of all places, John Deere at the University of Illinois Research Park for a part-time position as a Business and Technology Researcher. I know: who knew that the boy who grew up in Central Pennsylvania would eventually interview for a job with one of the top three visible brands in Pennsylvania(: (The irony is thick) When I first came to my MBA program, I told myself I would JUST focus on my MBA work, cause I figured it would be too much to handle anyways (as everybody told me it would) and I would be busy all the time. Which is true. If you've talked to me you know that I talk about how I'm always kind of behind on things and kind of in a state of constant rush.

But, as I soon discovered when I moved here, starting my MBA program is ironically the first time in about 4 years that I haven't had a job and been making money. When I came home from my mission, I started working at Qdoba, then when I came back that fall from Riga  I had the FLAS paying me a healthy stipend, the next spring I was working for Northville Rowing, I got the FLAS the next year as well while still working for rowing, that next summer I worked for UPS, and then the whole of the next year I was working for PRIME Research. It's been a long stretch, and honestly, it was pretty rough on me when I first came here to Illinois and wasn't making spending money to buy comic books, gifts for people, contribute my share to the rent and utilities and stuff. Granted, I was still doing all of that, but taking money out of my savings account bit by bit has been really killing me the past couple weeks.

With that in mind, I set out to find a part-time job that would give me legit work experience while still paying me some serious cash. Ironically enough, the first place I thought of WAS John Deere. During my lavish MBA Orientation experience, one of the things we did during that week and a half party was visit the University of Illinois Research Park. While a bunch of different people talked to us about what the Research Park actually is, what it boils down to is companies have realized that students, either undergrads or graduates, are pretty cheap labor for pretty good work, and the students have realized that being able to make their own money while getting good work experience is a pretty good gig. So the symbiotic relationship has developed, and now there's a number of companies that have offices here in the middle of nowhere Urbana-Champaign. We visited a couple different places like Ameren (the DTE Energy of Central Illinois), Brunswick (the boat maker) and this weird chemical engineering place that was dramatically underwhelming and WAY not interesting. But the fourth place we visited was John Deere, and boy was that office a dream! Granted, you can't get away from the green and yellow everywhere, but even for an agriculture company the office was a step up from my PRIME job, and that office was fancy looking(: Not to mention we got to talk to one of the managers there at the office, and he just seemed like a super smart guy. He said John Deere was actually a great company to work for (while he'd worked there they'd paid for him to get two PhDs and another Masters, just so he could keep rising through the ranks) and that they treat their employees really well. At the time it didn't really mean THAT much to me, but I left with a good impression.

And, let's be honest, you don't forget an office where they have a free pop machine with Dr. Pepper on tap(:

So when I was looking for a part-time job, lo and behold, I go to the Research Park job board just for kicks, and turns out John Deere is looking for a Business and Technology Researcher! Based solely on the job description, it looked actually really similar to my PRIME job, so I figured why not, might as well apply. At the time, I actually adopted the healthy mindset I use when I call people too to tell them bad news: I'll call, but they won't actually pick up, so it's fiiiiine. I figured I didn't have a great chance of getting the job, but why not submit a resume and cover letter.

So count me surprised when a couple days later I get an email from the hiring person, Jamie Hosek, asking me to come in for an interview! I was pretty psyched, ALTHOUGH I have to say, it is a little nerve wracking in today's society when names don't have a definitive gender associated with them. At first I thought Jamie was a girl, but then I thought about how I've known male Jamie's before, and then I'm going over all of my response emails with a fine toothed comb making sure I'm not assuming Jamie is a man or woman. Turns out my first inclination was confirmed when I met her for the interview, but it was still kind of annoying when I first emailed her back(:

So I show up for the interview, and honestly, for the first impression I had gotten of John Deere from this super smart dude before, Jamie didn't quite match that expectation. Honestly she was a little homey, and a little quiet for my tastes, and didn't really seem like the kind of person who would warm up to an interview candidate enough to have a good interview. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like an HR person should be kind of a people's person and be pretty outgoing and friendly, and she was KIND of that, but not quite. Anyways, first impression was kind of not a good sign. Secondly, you know the interview is kind of starting off on an iffy foot when the HR person starts off saying that they usually look for Library Science majors to fill the position.... I mean in the moment, I was like Oh Okay, but in my head I'm like ohhhhhh noooo.... I am DEFINITELY not a Library Sciences major. The weird thing then, was that she was apologizing for asking me pretty standard interview questions. Of course, she told me that she was a Library Science major in college too, so maybe that helps to illuminate her more also. Third, she then says that they've had an MBA student before, but generally they find MBA's a little too go getter, aggressive, etc..... Again, this is feeling like pounding nail after nail into the coffin of my potential new career.

Now granted, you have to appreciate that I was KILLING these questions. I mean they weren't particularly hard or anything, but still I felt really comfortable. Of course at this point though with all these bad things stacking up, I was starting to just think of this just as good interview practice.

BUT THEN, one of the greatest moments of my interview life came up(:

Since the interview wasn't going all that great, I figured throwing a Hail Mary was all I could do. So I asked the lady straight up "What are some of the greatest attributes you look for in a potential candidate for this position" figuring she might say something that I could show I could really hit out of the park. I was expecting the regular like a hard worker, dedicated, whatever, but I didn't expect her to say "having intellectual curiosity". Of course, that immediately made me think about ALL the things I do just to learn how to do them: knitting, yo yoing, speaking Russian, rollerskating. But in that moment, things just seemed to slow down a little bit, and I realized that for a Library Science major such as herself, having an intellectual curiosity about BOOKS would probably answer her question AND show something kind of cool about myself.

So I told her about our Catching Up on the Classics book club(:

As I was telling her why we started it and what we've been reading, you should have seen her eyes light up(: It was just like in that moment, I realized I had reached interview Nirvana. Just the perfect answer in the perfect time for the perfect person, with a perfect amount of personal detail and professional application. In the words of Olan Rodgers: "It was perfection".

Leaving that interview a little while later, I honestly still didn't know if I'd get it or not. Actually I remembering saying to myself that I did at the very least the best that I could, and honestly I had killed that interview. Whether or not she liked what I said and if I was more qualified for the position than other people was the question, but I had at least done my part.

Two days later, I got a call coming out of the gym in the morning, and lo and behold I got offered the job! Of course maybe it was just my answers to other questions, but I'd like to think that my little snippet about our book club did quite a bit of the work to make her remember and like me enough to give me the job.

So if anybody wonders if the book club is worth doing, just remember it might just get you a job(: