Toward the end of the semester it is easy to begin doubting class work.  Temptation comes to the weary student in many ways such as the paper which doesn't really need to be revised for a better grade and those office hours you don't really need to go to to see about that sketchy grade for an assignment you turned in weeks ago.  Beyond the temptations of laziness and procrastination in academics comes the fear of summer employment.  Because of the confusion and stress caused by this hunt for employment I found it very useful to be working on an employment section in my English 301 class.  It's kind of like killing two birds with a single stone so to say.

I've been working on applying to a professional studio internship for the last few weeks.  This has involved analyzing job ads, creating a resume, and writing a cover letter.  So far I've learned a lot such as how to describe my work in previous jobs as well as listing my skills.  To be real, and I hope the wrong person doesn't read this, I don't really expect to get a interview or even a call from the studio I'm applying at.  The truth is I'm not nearly as qualified as other people who are probably applying.  At least not yet. I have a lot to learn.  Looking at my resume you may think that I've got all these great technical computer skills but it's more complicated than that.  I would relate it to a musician's skill.  For example, and amateur musician may say "I'm a violinist" because he or she plays the violin.  However an expert musician would also call himself or herself a "violinist" if he happened to play the violin.  Of course the expert is better but they are both violinists.  In the same way when I say I know how to use Adobe Photoshop I'm saying I know a few things...  But I'm no expert.

What has been very useful in the project is preparing for an interview.  In my previous blogs I have mentioned that I'm the kind of guy who likes to "wing it."  This is true to some degree but I've learned a few things in the material we've gone though recently.  Mostly, I've just been learning a lot about myself.  One of the biggest discoveries I've made is that preparing for a job interview can actually help a lot.  I've had many job interviews before and I always bullshitted my way though them.  As in I thought of things as they were asked.  I didn't actually make anything up which was untrue or false.

Today I had a job interview at a nice restaurant so I decided to take some time before to go though some typical job interview questions. I answered them in good detail and thought a lot about word choice.  Upon going to the interview I still knew I was going to wing it, but I felt much more confident because I knew the answers to the questions I would be asked.  Unfortunately I didn't get asked many questions but I know I must have done something right because they asked me to come in for a second interview.