New Horizons Sighted

Yesterday was the Engineering Career Fair and the starting point on this new phase in my life. I got my resume shined up, my tie neatly tied, and I took the first few steps into the unknown. I must have taken more than a few steps since I found myself absolutely exhausted by the end of the day. Counting the resume I handed out at the CTL booth, I gave out 16 resumes and made contact with 18 prospective employers. Even if I only manage a 25% call-back rate, I should still be looking at 4 interested companies. I made some really great connections at some of the booths, and there were actually a couple times when I had to step out of the ballroom in order to frantically write notes on how to make employment at that firm possible. I was also scheduled for an interview already, which starts me at about 6%.

When I said, "Bring me that horizon," I had no idea what that kind of request could actually bring. I said that I got an interview...yeah, the interview was to work at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. Definately a new horizon-- and a far one! The PHNSY is looking for civil engineers to serve as maintainence, repair, and materials inspectors for the submarines and other large ships docked on Base in Pearl Harbor. They wasted no time in scheduling my interview either, because it was this afternoon. The interview went very well, but I have mixed feelings about starting my engineering career in Hawaii. I still definately want to keep this as one of my options. I will have to wait about three weeks to see if I've been selected for the position. In that timeframe I hope to be getting a few more calls from other employers as well just to keep my options open. I would absolutely love "working in paradise" as they called it, but I wouldn't be expecting to see much of my friends or family. I think that would be the hardest part. Who knows? Maybe I would get visitors since they would be getting time to catch up AND a great island getaway!

At any rate, this was the ONLY engineering interview I could think of that I could answer the question, "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" with "Relaxing on the beach in Oahu!"

Aloha!