Interviewing

I had an interview with one of the top international airlines in the world this week. They flew me all the way to Chicago for the interview. Pretty cool, huh? Here is how the trip unfolded...

2:45 wake up call by my personal alarm service a.k.a my cell phone. My airport adventures began around 4:00 a.m. where I preceeded to wait in a line for about an hour just to check in. After acquiring my lovely boarding pass and making it through security without being mistaken for a terrorist, I finally boarded the plane and we were ready for take off. Seated in the very last row I made casual conversation with my seatmate until I fell into a blissful slumber lullabied by none other than Michael Buble.

Once we landed I made my way through the airport, strutting my stuff in my business suit and heels toward the rent-a-car place. The guy at the desk informed me that the economy-sized vehicle I had ordered was unavailable at the moment and they were going to upgrade me to a "Lincoln towncar!!!" When my eyes became wider the man assured me it was no larger than my normal civic-sized car and that I would be perfectly fine driving it. Not the case! So there I was, driving this boat of a car through the interstates of Chicago in this ginormous city I had never been to. Big mistake.

I was okay until I reached the city and realized I was driving straight into the heart of downtown Chicago amongst a million one-way streets and another handful of angry, insane taxi drivers who were a little too fond of their horns and gas pedals. After driving in circles on the one-way streets for about an hour and randomly asking business people and construction workers on the street for directions to a parking garage, I finally parked the monstrous towncar in the Union Station garage on the very top level where there were no other cars to be seen 1) to avoid getting a ding in the precious Lincoln by unsuspecting passerbyers 2) because I couldn't fit into any parking spots between other cars.

My choice of footwear was poorly thought through as I made my way to the building through the crazy streets of Chicago in heels. While waiting the 2-3 hours to be called in, I made a lot of friend in the office. The interview itself was about 30 mins. and was finalized with a "well I would like to offer you a second interview and have you fly back out here next week." Sweet! Then me and some of the girls went out to Blackies restaurant for some drinks and food. If you thought my depiction of getting into the city was bad, wait until you hear of getting out of it.

One of the girls rode back with me instead of taking the train so it was the two of us manuvering through downtown in attempt to just make it out of the city. Little did we realize we were leaving right smack dab in the middle of rush hour traffic. It reminded me of the images I saw on television of the traffic jam of people trying to get out of New Orleans after the evacuation for hurricane Katrina was issued. Completed stopped! On top of that we were fumbling through my directions trying to figure out what streets to take next all the while trying to avoid getting hit in my rented car by the hundreds of cars around me. After an hour of "death-grip to the steering wheel" driving we made it safely to the airport and made a run for our separate departure gates.

The whole way home I spent in the rear galley with the flight attendants discussing what I should do in the next interview and the ins and outs of the company. It was awesome. I am already excited for the chance to work with all of them if I get hired on. 10:15 p.m. we landed in Dallas and Becca picked me up from the airport. Made my way home and into my bed where visions of flight attending filled my dreams until the early morning. Mission completed!