I am moments away from uploading my big make or break job.
Working for a new client is always so nerve wracking. It's not enough to solve the problem. You don't know the high strung personalities involved, their pet peeves and peccadilloes, their taste or lack thereof. And the stakes on this job seemed so much higher because of the off-handed remark about a possible job and the income, insurance and peace of mind that comes with it.
I hadn't done this particular type of work in over a year and I was shocked to see how rusty my skills had gotten when I first sat down to work Tuesday night. By Wednesday morning the pressure to perform had gotten so great I ended up giving myself the mother of all tension headaches.
But after laying down with the dogs for a bit, I finally decided to just... let it go.
If there's one thing I've learned over the past three years is the higher you get your hopes, the farther the fall and the bigger the crash.
Back in 2008 I was up for a big position with Miramax Films in New York. I had applied for another job with Disney, who owned Miramax at the time. I didn't get that job, but my resumé had caught the attention of a Disney recruiter and one day, out of the blue, she called and asked if I'd be interested in the Miramax position. It would have meant selling the house and moving to New York, but it all seemed so pie-in-the-sky that I said "of course". No one was more surprised than I as I aced interview after interview and finally found myself meeting the Miramax honchos at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. The meeting was scheduled for an hour and ran two. By then end I was told that I was their man. There was just one more hurdle, a meeting with the Big Cheese back in New York. It was merely a formality I was assured, and I was told they'd contact me with dates and flight information later in the week. The boyfriend was already looking for apartments.
And then two days later I read online that Disney was shuttering Miramax, absorbing its functions and putting it up for sale. It mentioned the man I was supposed to meet with was getting a lovely severance package. When I tried to contact the people I had just met with, I discovered they had all been let go.
Now that I think of it, we actually dodged a bullet. Can you imagine moving to a strange town where you have no friends or contacts and then finding out you're out of a job?
Oh wait... I can.
Another time I thought I was all but hired for a job. We had hashed out all money and titles and the only matter to be resolved was my start date. I would be replacing someone they were terminating, and I was told it was a delicate matter and to be patient. So I was waiting patiently by the phone later in the week when a former colleague announced on Facebook that he had just gotten the job.
I guess it wasn't that delicate after all.
So, you'll forgive my caution and pessimism when people start bandying about offers of jobs. Especially when the person doing the offering has a history of being a little erratic.
Once I put those thoughts out of mind, I was actually able to get down to the work at hand and I have to say I'm extremely happy with what I produced. And they appear to be as well - I sent them work-in-progress and they seemed really pleased.
So fingers crossed, and all that. Say a little prayer for me as I hit "send".
