It's 4:33 AM a few miles NE of Seattle.
In less than 2hs 30 mins I have a video conference '2nd interview' meeting with high level - national level operational authority / covering wide spectrum Federal procurement officials, for a job I'm competing for. It's a one slot opening on their team.
My background has basically allowed for a fast-track in terms of the interview process. There's still competition, and to be honest ( despite my specialized background which involved national level operation authority / with wide spectrum - but slightly different than them.. in that it just worked that way for me-my and its sister agencies.. for them it's designed that way by necessity and recognized authority) you can train someone quite easily and effectively given say 3 months.. to do the basics of the job and just monitor them / train them so they know the important 'integrity/legal enforcement' reasons and methods of the Federal Procurement process.
Anyway their opening, is literally what I did, but in a harsher environment that they face constantly. So where as with other jobs I've competed for.. it was ' yes I have actually coverage many times here and there, security clearance, science coverage this, other stuff that' good mix with 99% being Federal.. with maybe a guestimate /despite being qualified / on my % of landing an interview to maybe another interview and a job.. - this one is different in that , yes my other backgrounds are a great help, re-instatement eligibility will make it a bit easier after the interview process / nowhere as good as a former Peace Corp candidate 'but' there might be somethings that pop up that they aren't allowed to touch /and we can just have someone else do those things/.. and the environment is actually closer to what they're trained to face / .... this one is different in that it's almost a literal match - just different environment and intensity (and not so much grey area classification stuff / but authorized clear actions).
So getting an actual chance, and passing the 1st interview, now going to the 2nd.. is new for me. It's not a situation chance I've ever occurred that much. Mainly cuz I didn't realize I had 're-instatement eligibility' since 1997 but didn't learn about it and invoke it till 2020 when I learned I had it while applying for a job -that got canned due to the pandemic - (it would have most likely got me so many interviews in regards to the many fed jobs I had competed for over the years - not guarantee jobs but it would have been a good help ).
I of course did what I could to review the agencies policies during the weekend, and did what I could to prep my equipment and get what sleep I could despite my situation. But I woke up 3 hrs ago.. so I'm operating under less than 3hrs of sleep. I'll be okay, the little sleep will hit me hard later past noon - way after the interview.. it's just not an ideal to my liking situation.
Anyway I'm feeling normal nervousness, and I'm seasoned enough not to take things personally in regards to Federal missions / though recent concerns by the FBI in regards to infiltrations in agencies - that included one I interviewd with - and also that temp agency that got caught publishing their notes to only hire a certain skin hue - and one of the temp agency's customer was a Fed Agency I have recently gotten shot down everytime I applied haven't really helped - but this agency seems really honest. I think the early time is to simulate the - emergency type - stuff that will have to be dealt with. It's wild this is a part-time job / on -call that will likely not exceed 17k in salary. But I definitely want it, and I'm sure I could do it. (and to be honest, with people pretty much knowing my situation here. .that harsh environment at times would be kind of a step up in living conditions
though it's not why I'm applying) but it's the cause and what they do is what I like. And hopefully I'll be seen as a good enough fit that I progress through the competition.
And it's 5:05 AM.. meeting in less than 2 hrs. I'm going to wash my face, eat some tortia (sp?) chips , some bread / I'll treat myself and rub some butter slices on it / drink water, remind myself of the good non-selfish reasons I'd be a great help on the team, and shine. : )
Thank you for reading, benevolent wishes to you and yours all around.