The Job Hunt Continues...

Today was the beginning of another job search, but I was excited about that prospect. I decided that I'd also check out our local mall (local being about ten minutes away), since I checked their website and found many job openings. I found the mall fairly easily, but trying to get in was a challenge. I thought Knoxville's West Town Mall was difficult! Parking was horrible, and people were fighting for spaces. Luckily, being the patient person I am, I found someone backing out and got her space. But now was the other tricky part: the stores aren't all connected to the main mall. They have three department stores (Dillard's, Macy's, and Parisian), and I entered the Dillard's entrance. I found out that this particular floor didn't go to the main building (I later found out I had to go one floor up, but I didn't know that initially) so I went back out the way I came and found a main entrance. It is a fairly large mall and has two floors in the main building. There are a lot of high-end stores from New York and Hollywood, etc. and there is a food court with many different types of food in it. I was taken aback by how many people were there shopping, but I guess people start shopping for Christmas earlier and earlier with each year that passes. (By the way, if you must know anything about me, my favorite holidays are Thanksgiving and Christmas. Also, anyone that tries to hurry into Christmas in November is crazy in my opinion! At least wait until the day after Thanksgiving; if you really want to get on my good side, wait as late as the first of December!)

Anyway, to the subject at hand: jobs. I did look around to see if any of the stores were hiring, and there were a couple of signs. A couple were from fast food stores and coffee shops, but I want to avoid that kind of business for now. Since I have no experience with food, I just want to find a job in retail right now. Unfortunately, most of the retail stores that are hiring are either high end stores (meaning I'd have to dress up for work...and I don't have many nice clothes here) or are geared towards women (like beauty supply stores and the Hallmark store). So, working at the mall was pretty much out of the question for now, unless there are other positions that open up in the future.

After going to the mall, I went a little bit closer to campus and checked out Wal-Mart, which coincidentally is just a few miles down the road from Target. It is not one of the Supercenters like I'm used to back home, but it seems to be very large size-wise. I went over to the little "Career Center" where there is a computer to fill out an application. And let me tell you, I'm definitely not comfortable with filling out a job application on computer. I'd much rather do a paper one, when I can be sure the manager or hiring person will actually see it. But, I filled out the electronic one and answered all the preliminary interview questions. They did say they would hold the application for 60 days, but I'm hoping that since it's getting busier, they will be calling me pretty soon. (Let's hope they are more flexible with me going home on breaks...) After that, I did a little shopping and set out again.

Finally I went to check out the Sam's Club which is right next door to Target, ironically. They have the same little computer application thing, so I went over there again. Apparently the computer system saves your application to every store, so it was already filled out when I got there. The only thing that was different was there were a few additional questions and a totally different questionnaire than the other one. But, I was a little bit more optimistic since I was introduced to the hiring person while filling out the application. He apparently saw me over there and introduced himself, and then asked me about why I was applying. I really had no idea who he was, so I probably came off a little bit cold to him... He then told me he was the one that would be interviewing me, and that they would definitely need some cashiers, so I was glad about that. I'm hoping I'll be getting a call or two sometime soon, and of course I'll let everyone know.

Well that's really all I have to report as far as jobs go. In other news, I met with my academic advisor for the first time to discuss classes for next semester. That meeting went very well, and she said I was progressing very well, as far as grades go. Because of my major, most of my classes are pretty much already chosen for me, but I did have a choice for one of them. Instead of taking another Theology course I will be taking either Philosophy 100 or English 115, which will make next semester very different. This time, there will be a lot of reading and writing involved, but I think I'll be able to handle that. We don't actually register for classes until November 8, so I'll let y'all know how that turns out.

Besides that, nothing interesting has happened since my last post. So, I guess that's all I have to write about tonight. Now, I will go and watch the UT/South Carolina game which is already in progress. Until next time, have a restful weekend and GO VOLS!