Doors: The Story of My Job

I submitted all my other applications first and wavered about the one. Little brother said, "You should apply for every job you can in the area you want to be, though." So I applied for the job: a college guidance coordinator position at a local charter high school. I felt qualified for this job because of my previous experience working in university financial aid, but this guidance job did not require a masters degree or facilitate professional licensing for counseling. I wondered if taking this job would be forsaking the calling I felt towards counseling, and I prayed that God would shut the door if so.

I got an e-mail from a recruiter for the school the next day asking for a phone interview. We talked that very afternoon. She told me that there were several people who had already interviewed for the job, but she would forward my information to the supervisor for the position, and I might hear back next week. I prayed that God would close the door and not allow me to get an interview if he did not want me to have the job.

Meanwhile, I got another e-mail about another application I submitted, this one for an actual counseling job. I wavered about the nature of the work, but scheduled an interview anyway. I needed a job.

I missed the first call from the school job supervisor. When I returned the call, I got voicemail. "This is a dead end, I thought." But then I got a call back, after 5 pm.

"Can you come in at 1 pm tomorrow?"

"Sure."

I got to the interview a little early and got left by the receptionist out in the hallway. I tried to smile at everyone who passed. I made small talk with a guy who couldn't get into his office due to carpet cleaning: "Well that inhibits the work you want to do, doesn't it?" I said.

Then the supervisor came out and told me to go into her office. The guy to whom I had spoken earlier introduced himself as the Director of Academic Programs. Oops! We started talking. Then the supervisor returned. The Director and Supervisor asked for copies of my resume, of which I providentially had two. We talked for 30 minutes and they asked if I could go to training the next day if I got hired. I quickly ran through my schedule in my head and calculated that I could if I canceled my other interview. "Yes," was my answer.

"We'll get back to you today," they said.

And I left. As I left, I prayed, "God, if they offer me this job, I think I'll take it. If you don't want me to take it, don't let them call me."

I got a call on my way home, a mere 15 minutes after I interviewed. Ironically, this was also the day that a third agency, with whom I had scheduled an interview months ago, told me they had no open positions. The door that had remained open for so long, shut firmly. I had hardly approached the door of this second job, and God swung this door I had not known wide open. I briefly conferenced with my family when I arrived home, and with no red flags, I accepted the college guidance position, canceled my other interview, and packed for training the next day.

That, friends, is the story of how I got my job, of doors closing and opening, and of a God who has a greater view of my life than I myself do. I've got a lot to learn, but thanks be to God, I've got a job.