Final Part 3: Long Story Short...

Clearly, it's taking me way longer than it should to finish all the parts of my story... I think it's senioritis... -_- so I'll try to sum it up succinctly and make the long story short.

After I met the recruiters at the Fall Career Fair and they asked me to send in my resume, I was extremely hesitant to follow through for many reasons: one was because I was in the process of waiting to hear back from another internship; other reasons simply included that I did not make time for it (in other words, I procrastinated).
But that Friday, bored at work in the office, I applied on their website and submitted my resume (literally 3 days after I was asked).... and.... with no cover letter.... *Disclaimer: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!* - you should ALWAYS send a cover letter even if they don't ask for one and try to do so in a timely manner. 3 days is pushing it. It may have worked for me but it will not work for everyone especially when planned happenstance is not involved.

So they receive my resume and I guess they liked what they saw, because on Monday I received a call from their Headquarters. Little did I know this was the screening call/the first interview.
*Advice: ALWAYS be ready and on your toes when speaking to any representative of the company over the phone. You probably won't be able to tell it's the first rounds of interviews.

By the end of our conversation, I was invited to a mixer/group interview a few weeks later. Totally unexpected.

The day of the group interview came around and had it not been for a follow up call I received that same day from the same rep whom I had been keeping in contact, I would not have gone to the interview. I was feeling extremely lazy and simply "not feeling it" anymore. All I have to say is: *Advice: Please be sure to follow through with any scheduled calls or interviews with a prospective employer.

Suffice it to say, the road to landing the internship was filled with planned happenstance. After leaving the group interview/mixer I was pretty sure I wan't going to get the job buuuuut I was offered the internship (the next day) and 2 months in, I am absolutely loving every part of it!

I am happy and comfortable with where I am and in the end, that's the most important thing. :)


Hang in there gang,
Rosie

Part 2: Fall Career Fair - Where it all began...

The Fall Career Fair we hosted in early October was the perfect opportunity for me to overcome my fear and begin the search for a real internship. It helped that 1) I worked the event as a Student Assistant for CSC so I had to be there and 2) that I had the physical support of one of my closest friends going around with me to the different tables as I asked questions, learned about the companies and picked up their free goodies! One organization in particular I had never heard about and I sincerely wanted to know who they were and what they did. Little did I know, that moment of intrigue was going to start the phenomena our counselors like to refer to as  

planned happenstance.

And it all started with the question: "Can you tell me a little bit more about what indeed.com does?"

I really enjoyed the enthusiasm and energy Sara, the recruiter, had as she explained that indeed.com is the #1 search engine for jobs (the Google of job searching, if you will). She went on to tell me how they were recruiting for a few sales interns at their Mountain View location. We small talked about school and other things and at the end of our conversation she asked for my resume. I had not gone prepared with any copies since I was working the event so she gave me her business card and told me to email it to her.

It's one thing to be super in the moment and really excited/determined to apply right then and there and it's another thing when you leave the hype of the moment and get back to your daily routine and have time to think about or simply forget about things... that was my issue. After the fair I was so tired I did not want to think about resumes or employers or anything CSC related. (This is actually pretty typical for everyone in the office after a major fair... :p )

The few days after the Career Fair, the critical period for following through with an employer, were days of hesitation and procrastination for me.

Coming Next... Part 3: The Hesitation and The Screening