The Search is Over!
I got a job!! No more endlessly scrolling on LinkedIn or cold-applying to firms.
The time that has passed between getting laid-off and getting a job has felt like an extremely long time. But looking at it bigger picture, it has only been two weeks. I think it has to do with the fact that I am at home with essentially no responsibilities all-day. Yesterday I literally just laid in bed all day reading, sleeping, and scrolling through social media. It was sort of nice, but I also felt extremely useless.
Anyways… here are the details of how I got my new job. On Monday, the 6th of November, I emailed a senior associate that I had connected with in the Spring (when I was looking for full-time positions) and asked if they were still hiring designers. Back story: In the Spring they had offered me a full-time position at their firm but I had decided to stay with Catch Architecture. At the end of the work day I received a reply for him stating; yes, they were still hiring and if I’d like to set up a zoom call with him the following day. So we set up a zoom call for the next day (Tuesday), it then ended up getting pushed to Wednesday because of a long meeting on their end. Therefore, on Wednesday at 4:30pm I jumped on a zoom call with him. We chatted about what happened, what I' learned in the past few months, situation, etc. He said he needed to talk to his principal BUT he said he didn’t see why they couldn’t offer me a verbal agreement. With that the call ended and I would have to wait till Monday to hear back. Monday rolls around and he tells me to give him a call around 5 pm. I am super anxious but also excited, and so I call him — and he gives me a verbal offer!!
I am super excited to start working for them as they do high-end residential projects and also commercial projects for Louis Vuitton stores. It seems like they have a decently big team as he had said they have four project managers at the moment and with the amount of work they have they are just staying above water right now. The firm is called Winick Architects and I first heard of them when I went to an event that AIA Santa Barbara holds every year in the fall. The event is called the ArchitecTours and it showcases some of the best local architecture. For the 13th annual tour they had been chosen to showcase their Edge House and that is where I got to converse with one of the project managers and the principal himself. Then in the Spring I remembered talking to them and sent my resume and portfolio to them just as a cold application. Thankfully they were looking to hire and the rest is history. This is an example of why networking is superrrr important.
Now that I have a job, all I have to do now is find housing in Santa Barbara before December 1st. That is going to be a much harder task.
