Friday was the longest day I've had here so far, I was scheduled for control room which started at 5:30am as usual, and I was also scheduled to help for an interview shoot that ended around 5:30pm. From when I left in the morning to when I returned, that Friday ended up being about a 13 hour day. However, it was a full and fulfilling day for sure, so TGIF meant more for me 'thank God it's the weekend tomorrow' rather than 'thank God this week is over'.
I signed up for a conference open to NBC/Universal interns concerning how to make the transition from being an undergraduate to landing our first entry-level position. It was extremely helpful, mostly because it was ran by a member of the HR team who handles hiring for most of NBC/Uni. positions that become open. He was one of the real people who would read my resume once I send it in - which is good to know, because most applications for NBC/Uni jobs are online, and it's easy to think you're sending your spirit into a void once you click 'send'.
It was at 11am in a building essentially in Times Square. I left a half hour early to give myself some time to get lost, which I did, but I ended up on time. I also got lost on the way back; NYC being a grid is helpful for navigation, but you really need a compass to actually use the grid. Both times I got lost I ended up going in the exact opposite cardinal direction that I needed to go. Usually my sense of direction is good, but in a concrete jungle where you can't see the horizon or sun half the time, a compass would be really helpful.
I took notes at the conference, and had all my questions (and more) answered within the first hour. The most important thing I learned was not to spread my resume across a breadth of different positions just because they're open. He advised that it's better to wait a few months for a job opening that you're passionate about and somewhat qualified for, than to toss your name in as many hats as you can. He also kept on stressing that landing a job really depend upon the specifics of the position, which you might not know about just from the listing, and about a ton of other variables that are behind the scenes. "It depends" was the motto for this meeting - a bit relieving to hear, actually, because now I know that when I get rejected for jobs that I apply to, it may simply be due to those variables that are out of my control.
The interview that I helped shoot was much more engrossing than I thought it would be, especially considering how tired I was toward the end of the day. We interviewed Ted Wells and Stan Grayson, two prominent lawyers who graduated from College of the Holy Cross. They were part of a graduating class that went on to achieve immense success in their fields, including a Supreme Court Justice, a Super Bowl winning coach, a Pulitzer prize winner, to name a few. They were also all African American students, who were all part of one of the first years of integration which occurred in higher education during the late 60s.
Having just finished my undergraduate experience, I could really relate to how they spoke about their experience. I'm usually pitifully incapable of truly relating to people who are a generation or older than me, so this was one of the first times where I actually understood where they were coming from; I felt like I was listening, rather than just hearing, what they had to say. They were both friends in school, and both had a personal relationship as well with Clarence Thomas, so they were able and willing to provide an intimate perspective on the Justice.
I had to lead them upstairs to where we were shooting the interview, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. These men are both extremely established, self-made, and have withstood more adversity than I most likely will ever have to face, and as a result, they each had a palpable presence about them. I didn't want to lead them up in silence, but I also couldn't think of any good conversation that I could really provide (I'd choke myself before I'd ask 'so how about this weather?'), so I went with a less than stellar 'has it been a good Friday so far?'. Dr. Wells could tell I was ambitiously nervous, so he politely asked about me, allowing the conversation to veer towards something new for him and familiar for me.
After the interview I smiled and shook hands with both men during the rounds of hand-shaking. Dr. Wells remembered that I mentioned the page position, so he sincerely remarked to my producer to help me out a little, seeing as I'm trying to get a job very soon. That made my day. It was after 5, and I should have been, by all means, soup in my shoes. Instead, I felt invigorated. It made me so happy to see that there are successful people who are genuine, and genuinely nice. I would have felt the same about Dr. Wells and Dr. Grayson, oral recognition or not, but that bit of personal attention goes a long way for a little guy like me.
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