Week 9 of my Merit America journey is about to conclude and the technical aspects have focused on practicing SQL, while the career prep has been about job searching and interviewing. I’m nervous and excited to do the mock interviews coming up. So far, we’ve been recording ourselves answering questions and I’ve realized that it’s uniquely uncomfortable to watch yourself talk. Do I always talk this slow? Why do I look like that?
Anyway, to get ready, we need to think of stories from our lives that illustrate our most winning qualities. “Tell me about a time when…” seems to be the go-to for interviewers. Personally, I haven’t had to interview for anything for my whole adult life. I’ve always been self-employed. So this is a new thing and I plan to study for it like I’m taking the bar exam. Stand by for a multi-page document with all of my answers mapped out and ranked. The fun part will be telling my stories of dealing with children in my career as professional triumphs, and leaving out all the silent screams of frustration that they actually came with. I hope I can include the humor in all of it and somehow figure out all the transferable skills I surely have acquired.
Navigating this career change has already transformed me in many ways and helped me understand who I am more thoroughly than I ever have before. Thank you to my family, who have cheered me on and been so proud of me and to the Merit America coaches whose belief in me is steadfast. They believe I can do this, and that helps me believe it too.
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