Read Part One Here

After talking with the director of the Museum, I wasn’t quite sure what I was supposed to do next – so I prayed about it and looked for any opportunities to take the next step. I didn’t want to bug Mr. Director, so instead, I looked for a chance to talk to anyone who would know anything. Through my questioning, I found out that I needed to go to the HR department and request a transfer paper that I would then need my current manager, as well as Mr. Director sign before I could move forward with trying to set up a job interview.

My bookstore managers were fantastic throughout the whole process, asking me how it was going, what step I was on, as well as letting me slip away during slow times to get the transfer paper, etc…

Yo, folks, this kind of stuff is still new to me (I grew up working in a family business and then a small coffee shop, which is nothing like going through all the steps and systems of working for a place with a thousand employees). Everything I did outside of my current department was rather intimidating and nerve-wracking, and even though everyone was exceedingly helpful and kind it was beyond freaky to embark on the process.

When I was filling out my transfer request paper I had to write what department I was interested in joining and I was freaking out so much that I wrote that it was the Service Execellence Team. Yeah. As in, my official paperwork has me spelling the word excellence incorrectly. Classy, right?

With my transfer request in hand, I went to find my current manager. Now, although I always worked under the bookstore managers, I actually had a different over-all manager, and she’s the one who would need to sign the paper. I hadn’t yet informed her I was hoping to transfer (because I’d been talking about it so much with the mangers I actually interacted with, and I hadn’t realized I would need to tell the over-all manger). Well, when I went to find her, I couldn’t. After looking on and off throughout the day as time allowed, I was walking past the lunch break room and saw Mr. Director inside preparing his lunch.

I took the paper into the break room and asked him what I would need to do in order to secure his signature. He looked intently at me for a moment then told me if I put it on his desk he’d sign it and give it back to HR. That was pretty thrilling to hear, except for the fact that I still needed to get my manger’s signature on it. I thanked him for the offer, then explained the situation to him. He told me my manger wasn’t working that day, so I could still just leave the paper on his desk and he’d get her signature as well. Now that made me happy, except for the fact that I still hadn’t told her I was hoping to transfer to another department. So, I told him that. He said it was fine, he’d explain everything to her.

That’s when I began to get excited. Because, you know, if Mr. Director is willing to talk to your manager about you changing departments, that means he’s kinda on board with the whole idea, right?

So I left the paper with him and entered my long days (and even longer nights) of waiting.

In reality, it was a relatively short amount of time, but patience and I aren’t on a first-name basis with each other. We’re really sort of at odds with how life is supposed to work, so time seemed to drag as I waited to hear back. Therefore, instead of waiting patiently I searched out people to talk to about how the processes of transferring worked, trying to construct a timeframe in my mind, etc…

One of the guys on SET had recently been promoted to a pretty high position in the museum, as well as still being a SET member, so I figured he’d have answers. Plus, we were kinda friends, so it wasn’t intimidating talking to him. He was walking through the bookstore one day at closing so I asked if he had a moment, then started throwing all my questions at him. He was amazing and let me take all the time I needed to get clarity on what was going on. I found out from him that my transfer request was being processed and I would have an interview with him and Mr. Director sometime during the next week.

Some of the answers he gave me were rather vague, but I got the idea that he thought I’d do well on as a SET member and that I had a chance at getting the job. That was exciting, so I made myself stop questioning everyone within sight and awaited my interview.

Another part of the whole behind-the-scenes of what was going on was the fact that I didn’t want to leave the bookstore. I love the people there so much that the idea of not getting to work with them all the time made me really sad. But, there was no way I could stay there and work full-time, year-round. Plus, as a SET member, I would get to go back for a portion of each day to help out at the bookstore when they needed it most.

Finally, the day came when I was told what day my interview would be, although I wasn’t sure what time during the day it would be. It was mid-morning on Interview Day when I was working out by myself in Fair Trade and I looked up to see Mr. Director striding toward me.

He was like “You’ve not seen your email, have you?” Because apparently he’d sent me an email with the time for our interview, and it was basically right then. He told me not to worry, that he was sending someone out to replace me, and I could head on back to his office when my replacement got there.

And it’s time for me to head into work again, folks! So, I guess this saga gets a part three. 😉