Re-entering the Workforce

After five years of enjoying a self-imposed drudgery in the not-so-glamorous world of retail, I heard on a radio about a home-based online tutoring. I decided to try my hands on the profession that I paid to be trained for four years in college. Although it wouldn’t be the same since online teaching would mean no real-life classroom situation, among other things.

So, there. I found myself going through the motions of applying for a job. It felt kind of strange doing it again. Some years back, the experience was new to me: the excitement, the nerves—I used to have them with some kind of anticipation of being in the new world of working adults. Now, there was still the same feeling, although not quite the same. The excitement, the nerves—they were accompanied by the idea of whether or not I could still do the job after such a long time living a sedentary no-boss life. Did I still have the “it” factor to be accepted in a job? Although, of course, I really did still want to teach. After all, I had spent more than four years in college and afterward, training for the profession.

So, first things first.

The résumé.

Well, it was tougher than it used to be. I had had at least five drafts before I finally decided to stop torturing what’s left of my brain cells and settled with what I thought was the best mediocre masterpiece. It was not easy. The five-year-away-from-classroom was a tricky issue to address. I felt sure my prospective employers would see through the hole and maybe think I had been a lazy sloth in such a long period. So I settled for a functional résumé hoping that the trick would do it. The reference part was actually what took me the longest. In the end, I decided to just do away with that part but wrote them in a separate sheet just in case the interviewer would ask for them, hoping against hope that they would forget to ask. It’s not that I had had a bad record with my previous employers. It’s just that I gave word that I would go back to them if I felt like entering the very glamorous world of teaching again.

The application letter.

It was equally tough. Considering the gap in my experience, I took time figuring out how to explain in the best possible way why I quit. It was tricky trying to show that what I had been doing for five years was important. And then, there was the explanation on my going back to work. I had a hard time looking for one that doesn’t sound like a cliché, or one that wouldn’t sound so corny or downright noble like I really love doing the job. Heck, the employer might think I’d be willing to dispense with my services for free. how to make it sound as if they need me more than I need them (at least I hoped for this sort of effect). In the end, I settled for honesty. After all, it is the best policy, eh?


The interview.

Apparently, my resume and application letter impressed my prospective employer so much so as to give me an interview.
I felt ridiculously nervous as if I were a fresh graduate. Actually, I seemed to be having more cockroaches in my intestines now than the time when I was fresh out of college. Back then, I was under pressure because my guidance counselor in college and my adviser trusted me so much that I was afraid of disappointing them in case I didn’t do well. Now, the pressure took form in my interviewer who was a lot younger than I. I didn’t want to look stupid in front of this fresh face. Hey, for all I knew, he could be one of my “not-so-gifted” students that I used to torture some time long ago. I decided to play safe. No adlibs. Just answer his questions as honestly as I could. And then shoot my own questions. The salary was a touchy subject and my interviewer dispensed with the issue in a matter –of-fact manner, that I had a very short time to deal with my shock. Heck, I didn’t even have enough time to figure out what my reaction should be. And before my sluggish mind could even process the information, I think my head moved up and down a little giving my interviewer the impression that I was overeager to grab the modest-paying job. Well, that must be a skill an interviewer had to practice. Wow! I think I want that skill, too.

The demonstration and training.

I used to enjoy having them. Trainings used to make me feel excited thinking they were some kind of paths that would lead me to the world of responsible adulthood. Now, they just made me feel uncomfortable, making me ask questions about my motives, the purity of my purpose, and the meaning of all of it. (sigh) They just made me feel more philosophical when I should be thinking technical and practical.

Hired!

Whew! That wasn’t really hard. Just some cockroaches skirmishing with some spiders in my insides. But then, if I thought the ordeal was through, I had another one coming. I was told to report at the office for a voice recording and video introduction of some sort. I was like, WHHAATT? That’s how you do it nowadays? Girl! The world has really been revolving fast during my hibernation. Well, I will just have to cope. Double time.

It’s done. It wasn’t really as hard as I had thought it would be. I think it was just a little bit of uncertainty in my part that made me feel inadequate to do the job after such a long time of rest. Aside from that, it really is not that scary going back to work.

Now, I have to face the next challenge: doing my job now better than I did before.