Another family member shares

One of my five very best experiences happened in 1958 during my senior year at Northwestern. I was job hunting for a position in Chicago and the Placement Office on campus was THE place to land fabulous job interviews. The main man there was quite well known around various campuses in the U.S. and, luckily, I snagged an interview with him and started my search. As I was majoring in English Literature, his view of the perfect job for me was as a secretary (administrative assistant these days) in some top notch corporation. Not at all to my liking. He and I had several sessions where he sat behind his desk and read various positions to me and continued to ignore my pleas for a more interesting and exciting job. No go ! He felt I should have a nine to five secretarial job and that was that.

Dejected, I let things go on hold for a few weeks until one day, just after lunch, I found myself walking past the Placement Office. Without much hope I went in and asked HIS secretary for another appointment. She said, gloriously, "Would YOU like to see the job description folder yourself?" My brain blew up in a Fourth of July Whoop-De-Do frenzy, and I grabbed the folder. Five minutes later had a name and phone number that would, literally, change my life. There was a market research company looking for a Traveling Field Secretary---someone who would travel around the United States and hire and train a field staff to conduct grocery store audits and conduct lengthy at home interviews for the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture). Good salary and all travel expenses paid. What was I waiting for ? Within the week I had and interview and, in my mind, had the job. I never went on another interview even though it was only April and I wouldn't graduate until June 16th. I just knew I had aced the interview and the job was mine.

And it was mine !

Want to fly? Want to drive? Want to take an overnight train? Any mode of travel was mine. Want to attend meetings in D.C., LA, New York, Boston? My choice as well. Want to stay in fancy hotel suites and conduct interviews? O.K. Want to travel for weeks at a time and fly back to Chicago when needed at the home office? My job accommodated all of these choices. Want to see the country? I did and I didn't have to join the Army either. I worked in Leadville, Colorado, the two mile high small town in the Rockies where there was a famous silver mine. One town in Kentucky was so remote I have to ride a horse into the area to find someone to conduct the audits. That trip was really over the top but, truth be told, name almost any small town or city of any size and it is likely that I have been there.

-Grandma Karen

Thank you, this inspires me to keep going in my job search. It has been such a struggle to find a job right now. I am taking a few day break, just because I feel really down and it is coloring everything in my life, but I am going to come back more determined than ever, like a Phoenix rising from the ashes.