2 years ago today...

I was the one being interviewed. Yesterday, today and tomorrow there are second year law students coming to the office, interviewing for articling positions at the firm. This is what I am doing now...articling. It's kind of like a medical student's residency, one more stage in the process before the law gods will let you in. It was surreal to see the interviewees waiting in the reception area, going in one after another to the boardroom for their interview and then getting a tour of the office by one of the junior associates. It was surreal because I remember exactly what I was thinking when I went into my interview. I was sooooo nervous! I had driven all the way from Moncton the night before and had 3 interviews scheduled for the same day all at different firms. I really wanted the job at my firm right from the beginning. They were a medium size firm that did almost every type of law except criminal which would allow me to be exposed to all kinds of different areas and figure out from there what I wanted to do. So, I get there 15 minutes early (which is a feat in and of itself) and waited patiently until they called me into the interview room. We sat down, there was a male partner and a male associate. We started talking about random stuff right away which put me at ease. I kept trying to make eye contact with both of them but the younger guy was busy on his blackberry. I now know that Steve NEVER lets go of his blackberry and checks it constantly so I don't take offense to it anymore. We talked about where I was from, what kind of work they did, etc. Then they asked me what I knew about the firm and thank god I had done some research! I asked a couple good questions and then my office tour started. I now know better but I thought that I was one of the only ones that was getting an office tour.(ha) Everyone was really nice and there was only 2 of the lawyers that knew there was even a law school in Moncton so that was an interesting topic of conversation. So off I went and waited patiently for a phone call. I went to the 2 other interviews and then left for Moncton again.

Two days later, I was called for a second interview. Back down to Halifax I came, only this time there wasn't just one partner and one associate but 4 partners and ME. Just ME. I was pertified. They each had questions about me and my resume and I felt like I was talking and not making any sense at all. It was during this interview that I realized that 2 buttons on the left side of my suit jacket were missing. I quickly did a cover up of that hand and totally lost my train of thought and forgot the question that one of the partner's asked me. When I had to ask them to repeat it I thought I for sure was not going to get the job.

2 years later, I am watching everybody else go through the same process I did. I don't envy them one little bit.