I Didn't Get the Job: A Story with a Silver Lining

photo by bluecinderellee

Do you remember that a month and a half ago, right when I started this blog, I asked for prayer regarding a job interview and then shared how well the interview and all the circumstances surrounding it went? Well, a week later, I received a call back from them asking me to come in for a second interview. Everyone interviewing me was talking to me, treating me as though I already had the job. And that's how I was feeling.

Until it had been two weeks, three weeks and I hadn't heard a peep. Even after giving them a phone call follow-up and hearing nothing. That's when I began to realize...I don't think I got this job.

Up until now, any job I've ever had an in-person job interview for, I've been offered the position. I had thanked God that he'd never opened any door that he didn't deliver on, job-wise. I thought, how kind he is to spare me from that kind of disappointment and rejection!

Well, no longer. I got a very kind and amicable phone call today from the woman in HR who let me know that they've decided to move forward with another candidate. Now I had fully been expecting this, seeing as I hadn't heard anything in almost a month. Still, it's humbling to hear the words, when I'd been thinking, 'Maybe, just maybe..."

Previous to hearing this, I'd already committed to trust God with whatever he was doing in this situation. I had stopped praying for this specific job and stepped back to ask that he simply provide an income for us and that it be something I enjoy. I'd decided that whether this job came through or did not, that I would give praise to God, trusting that just as he is the One who is, was and is to come, that he has done great things for me, is doing great things for me and will do great things for me. Though I can't always see those great things happening right now, I will not fret but will wait patiently and expectantly for him to fulfill these promises of his.

Disappointing though it is, there are a couple silver linings: First of all, I asked the woman from HR for any feedback regarding my interview and she shared that the biggest decision-maker was that the other candidate had 12 years of experience versus my five. She said that I was a strong second candidate, and that they'd enjoy entertaining me in the future for other opportunities. That was encouraging to my slightly bruised ego. Secondly, with the suspicion that the job offer was going nowhere fast, I followed up with my current boss to see about extending my freelance contract through the new year. (Currently, it was slated to expire December 31.) She emailed me back almost immediately to let me know she'd been talking to upper managment about that very thing and would like to have me continue through January and likely February.

So, it's another month without having to wonder about income or dipping into savings. It is not exactly the stability I yearn for, but I think that's what God has been teaching me lately: To learn to trust him for my daily bread. To give him the chance to provide for me, month after month after quitting my job. With the peace that comes from him alone, I am thankful and encouraged, about all that was, that is and that is to come.

"...What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open."
Revelation 3:7