One Inch, 38 Words, and 70 Minutes

The holidays are officially on us, and it has been a pretty long autumn season for this blogger. After losing my job September 4, I believed the job situation would rectify itself, so long as I remained optimistic and persevered with the search. On a Sunday afternoon about 5 weeks ago, Rhonda found a one-inch long add in the classifieds of The Tulsa World that caught my eye: Reverse Mortgage Counselor. Since I had just come out of the sub-prime mortgage industry as a loan officer, I figured I'd read on. I had heard of and new a little bit about the reverse mortgage program being offered, thanks to a TV ad featuring Robert Wagner. Most importantly to me that I read in the classified ad were the first four words following the heading: Local non-profit agency......and the subsequent email address "cccsofok.org" that told me this was Consumer Credit Counseling Services office's ad.

I was elated with the prospect, but still didn't know much about reverse mortgages, much less counseling folks regarding these loans. Nonetheless, I prepared my cover letter and emailed it, along with my resume, to the person listed at the end of the 38-word classified. I hadn't heard anything by the following Wednesday, so I initiated a call to the local office, and I found out the name of the sender. It turned out that she is the president and CEO of the agency. She was in, and took my call. I explained who I was and wanted to make certain she had received my resume. She said she had been out of town, and was going to be leaving again the next day, but on Friday would begin to review the resumes she had received, and stated she would call back to those whom she wanted to interview.

I waited with great patience and hope, saying prayer after prayer that I would get an opportunity for an interview. Other jobs for which I'd applied had either dead-ended after sending my resume, or ended after the first or, in one case, second interview. There were not many other job prospects, as earnings reports, job loss reports, the stock markets, and the recession grew, and things became worse and worse.

After a few days waiting, I received a call. I'd been selected for an interview, set for the following Friday morning. My elation had to have come through in my voice, although I tried to remain professional in receiving the call. I was politely but very professionally received by my interviewer, the CEO of the agency. The interview lasted 35 minutes. Some of the questions asked of me seemed a bit unusual, but I answered them to the best of my ability. She told me there were "several highly-qualified applicants" and had been surprised at the number who had applied. The interview ended with her assurance I'd hear something by the following Wednesday. Although the interview had gone as well as I could have expected, I didn't have a feel for the results. Had I done well or poorly in the eyes of my interviewer?

The call came on the following Monday.....requesting a second interview with the vice president/CFO. I wanted to do a back flip when I got off the phone, but settled for a boisterous shout for joy. I had a chance at the job..... I'd been selected for the second interview. It was set for that following week, on Friday morning. I was greeted politely, and asked to sit down about 6 feet from his desk. Once again, the interview lasted 35 minutes. While he was polite and answered the few questions I'd thought to ask, I still couldn't get a firm feel for how the interview had gone. I took the formal application to fill out and return to him. He said they would probably make a decision "soon."

The next call was on Wednesday found me with my throat full of fast-pumping heart! The CEO was on the line and, with a chipper voice, offered me the counselor position. I gulped down my heart, and answered with a resounding and joyful "YES" that I accepted!!!

In this horrible, depressingly-recessive economy, with over 533,000 people having lost their jobs this past month, I had been blessed with a job. The income is right....the benefits are great....the job to be done very exciting. More importantly, I once again gained the feeling of being wanted beyond my wonderful and supportive family.

One inch, 38 words, and 70 minutes have made all the difference in my life. And for that, I will be ever grateful.