I'm off the market!

It's official.  After three plus weeks of being unemployed I have officially received a job offer and I can't quite wipe the smile off my face.

I had applied for a position of Financial Analyst in early to mid-January that had a closing date of January 20th.  I had given up hope that I had a shot since I had not heard anything but then almost two weeks ago I got a call about the position asking what my required salary range was.  We all know how I feel about that question!  I gave them my goal salary, which was above my ending salary at my last job and was told I was within their range and that someone would contact me the next week.  Then last Tuesday I got a call requesting an interview for Wednesday; I accepted and rushed home to re-read the posting to see what the duties would be.   I then decided to do a bit of company research and go thru a matching exercise between my achievements and their requirements trying to predict their questions.

Upon walking into the firm on Wednesday morning, looking pretty fly in my suit if I must say so myself, I was completely impressed.  This firm is beautiful and I felt a twinge of being out of my league but then shook my head and refocused.  I waited for the HR manager to arrive. She soon ushered me into a boardroom overlooking the water, where we were joined by the COO and the director of finance.  I decided to ignore their titles and just be myself.

I got thru the interview, asked a few questions and left the office convinced that this was the job I wanted.  I walked back to my car re-hashing the questions/responses and whether there was anything I would change... and other than potentially inserting some humor I was satisfied.  I told myself I would just stay positive and see what happens.

By this morning, I had actually given up hope since it's been almost a week.  But then, while playing a board game with William my phone rang and I recognized the phone number.  It was the HR manager seeking my references.  I emailed them over to her, and within a couple of hours I had confirmation from two of those references that they had spoken with her already.  I was trying to hold back excitement because I could still be up against other candidates.  And then my phone rang... I was officially being offered the position.  At my asking salary, with full benefits from day one.  I tried to hide my excitement and got thru the call making a few notes and awaited my formal offer to arrive via email.

So here I go... feeling slightly intimidated but excited for the challenge.  Monday will be day one!