Thursday, August 07, 2008

I have been hired..

If you notice a little bit of delay in postings on my weblog it is due to the fact that I have been hired as a permanent worker at a very lovely company. I'm going to be adjusting to the new schedule demands, and balancing my family, karate, and housework with them.

I'd like to share some funny little anecdotes from my interview which relates to Martial Arts:

I was asked to share some important things about myself with my 3 interviewers. The mention of 7 kids raised a couple of eyebrows. I saw a big response to the fact that I had homeschooled them for awhile. When I told them that I was a black belt in Karate, and that I was working towards my second Black belt. Wow! You should have been there! The room erupted in response. I couldn't speak anymore. I just blushed, and quietly waited as they spoke between the three of them spoke words of admiration, and positive support. Honestly, I felt like an Emmy winner at that point. My mind thought back to all of the pain, effort, and sweat that I had put into the past years of training, and I mentally agreed with the words that they were saying to me, but it was a shock to my system to be bathed in so much praise at once. It felt nice, but strange.

4 comments:

Steve said...

Congratulations on your new position!

Colin Wee said...

I typically try to downplay my martial arts experience on my resume. You have inspired me to disclose this aspect of my life on this important document. I agree - it is something to be quietly proud of! Thanks for that, Mir.

Mir said...

I can understand those Martial Artists that would prefer to keep quiet about this part of their experiences. There are many valid reasons to do so. However, to me, my Karate is as much a part of me as breathing. I feel that my employers should be aware of this as I will be doing kata during my breaks in whatever discrete location that I can find. My choice is an odd behavior in any workplace environment, and I wanted to warn them ahead of time that this is one of my character traits. I actually asked them during my interview if there were any areas in the building where I could go to "stretch out the kinks that happen when sitting for long periods" without disturbing other employees. ( "Stretching out kinks" for me equates to doing kata.) I was assured that there are spots for this type of activity.

I'm grateful that you find my sharing encouraging. It is always a risk to share such personal information with others. I'm sure that you will find the most positive way of disclosing your Martial Arts involvement.

Mir said...

Thanks Steve! :-)