It's About Bloody Time, Eh?

I got a job yesterday. A welding job. A job I was pretty sure I wouldn't get. A job I was pretty sure I wouldn't hear back about for at least a day or two. A job I'm pretty sure I got just because of one of my references.

Last Tuesday, one of my teachers told me that a place he used to work at was looking for welders. On Wednesday I picked up an application. On Thursday I submitted the application. On Friday they called and asked me to come in for an interview on Tuesday. The interview and tour were over by 11:30am. At 2:30pm I got a call... and they offered me the job. After I hung up the phone, I screamed the ecstatic scream of someone who just landed her first decent job.

I really didn't think I was going to get the job. My employment history sucks (all retail, all more than five years ago, each job held for a month or less), I only have one reference who's a welder, and I took a hell of a risk with my wage request. I expected a "you gotta be kidding me" look from the guys interviewing me, and a call later in the week saying that I wasn't what they were looking for.

I sure as hell wasn't expecting an offer three hours after the interview.

Apparently the teacher who told me about the job made quite an impression when he worked for the company. The supervisor looked at my references, was disappointed that they weren't in the welding industry, and then saw my teacher's name on the list. "Well, you've got [this guy] on here, so that's good enough for me!"

Also, my meager knowledge of French came in handy. The other guy who was at the interview (an efficiency consultant) turned out to be French-Canadian and didn't speak much English, so I spoke to him in French for a little while. You should have seen his eyes light up!

So now I have this job making the grinding heads used in fiber/pulp processing. I start in about an hour, which means I need to go braid my hair, pack a lunch, and try to get the butterflies out of my stomach. Eek!