In the words of Tom Petty, "Don't it feel like heaven right now. Don't it feel like something from a dream." These are exactly the lyrics that sum up the sweeping relief that finally, at long last, Jeff has landed an internship. To say that his first year of the MBA program has been difficult would be an understatement, but not in the sense of academics. Though Jeff might beg to differ, for me the most stressful part of the last nine months has been the waiting. Waiting for grades, waiting for finals, waiting for interviews, waiting for acceptance or rejection. Living in a world of sustained uncertainty is enough to make even the most solid rock begin to crack. But just as I was about to crumble, the good news arrived. There would be no putting Humpty Dumpty back together again!
Securing a position with Medtronic has been a long time coming. Jeff has jumped through an array of HR and managerial hoops over the last six weeks that I thought he might be better suited for the circus. We even spent an hour in an internet cafe in Rome just to send yet another cover letter to the powers at be. Then, more waiting. He made it through several rounds of interviews. Then, more waiting. I had so many questions for him...how did it go? Have you heard anything? ANY NEWS? But, I knew that these very questions were running through his mind like ticker tape, flashing bright red notices of "We'll get back to you soon," or "You'll hear from us by the end of the week." The last thing I wanted to do was bring it up yet again for fear of disrupting any small moment of fleeting clarity he might have been enjoying. So, I, too, had to wait.
He had been through this before...sending cover letters and resumes, scheduling interviews...but nothing had worked out. The entire process has been a bit like dangling a carrot before the mule - no matter how hard you try, you'll never reach the carrot. While most opportunities were no sweat off his back as he wasn't particularly interested in the job, it was different this time. This internship seemed too good to be true from the very beginning, and he had been invested one hundred percent from the onset. This time, if they were going to dangle the carrot, then Jeff was going to do more than just catch it. In the end, Jeff's homebase will be in Miami, Florida this summer. With travel opportunities within the US and to South America, I'd say this carrot tastes pretty sweet.
I can only hope that Tom Petty was right, "the waiting is the hardest part."
Securing a position with Medtronic has been a long time coming. Jeff has jumped through an array of HR and managerial hoops over the last six weeks that I thought he might be better suited for the circus. We even spent an hour in an internet cafe in Rome just to send yet another cover letter to the powers at be. Then, more waiting. He made it through several rounds of interviews. Then, more waiting. I had so many questions for him...how did it go? Have you heard anything? ANY NEWS? But, I knew that these very questions were running through his mind like ticker tape, flashing bright red notices of "We'll get back to you soon," or "You'll hear from us by the end of the week." The last thing I wanted to do was bring it up yet again for fear of disrupting any small moment of fleeting clarity he might have been enjoying. So, I, too, had to wait.
He had been through this before...sending cover letters and resumes, scheduling interviews...but nothing had worked out. The entire process has been a bit like dangling a carrot before the mule - no matter how hard you try, you'll never reach the carrot. While most opportunities were no sweat off his back as he wasn't particularly interested in the job, it was different this time. This internship seemed too good to be true from the very beginning, and he had been invested one hundred percent from the onset. This time, if they were going to dangle the carrot, then Jeff was going to do more than just catch it. In the end, Jeff's homebase will be in Miami, Florida this summer. With travel opportunities within the US and to South America, I'd say this carrot tastes pretty sweet.
I can only hope that Tom Petty was right, "the waiting is the hardest part."
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