About nine months ago, I started applying to jobs for my first co-op.
For those of you who don't what a co-op is:
Drexel runs on a quarter system where we spend half of our year out working in the big wide world, while the other half is spent in school. I have the fall-winter cycle, meaning I work in the fall and winter and during the spring and summer I'm in school.
So, as I was saying, about nine months ago I started applying for jobs. I think you can apply for twenty five jobs or something like that. I had even applied for some in California and other places around the country, opening the door for God to send me wherever he chose. So it came about that I applied for jobs and got seven interviews back. Fortunately freshmen get their first summer off, so I wasn't under tons of pressure for my first few interviews.
Many of the interviews went well, I felt. I had interviewed for positions everywhere from Philadelphia to Cherry Hill to West Chester. I didn't really know what to expect. I received offers from two unpaid co-ops, set as a "secondary" (in case the other person didn't want it) for another, and offered a position at $20 an hour at Comcast in West Chester. I prayed about it a little bit, but it seemed pretty obvious where God was sending me. Which is probably the last place I would have expected. Let me back track now that I've revealed the location and share a little bit about the interview though. The scheduling process for the interview turned out to be rather, well, hectic. I had originally scheduled for an interview and they had assigned my location of interviewing to Philly, and was contacted shortly afterward to be informed it was in West Chester. I told them this was fine, only to have scheduled an interview too close to that one, and so after much hassle I was finally scheduled for a webcam interview at the Comcast Center in Philly. I was told I'd be interviewing with a group of five or so people. I even did some research on them beforehand. (I also took a brief nap on a public lawn area. It was lovely.) So imagine my surprise when I walk into the room, the video starts up, and there's one guy on the other end. He explained to me that all the people that were supposed to interview me, turned out to all be busy. So we talked about my resume and amazingly connected really, really well. One of my favorite moments is when he mentions this video The Dancing Man while talking about leadership.
Not only was I familiar with it, but my dad put it in his leadership course and taught about it, so I knew all about it. In any case, I get the offer and accept it, starting in September.
In the meantime, I have searched for summer jobs, and am offered a position with Tom Johannesen working alongside of his son Will who I am good friends with. Not only is it a job for the summer, but his business does web development, which is in my professional area, and he is super flexible about when I work. Because of this, I am able to take three weeks off for Creation festival, Youthcamp at my church, AND family vacation. I prayed that God would make a way for it, but I couldn't imagine a situation where it would actually happen. Oh me of little faith. God made a way and blessed and used me at all three.
In any case, it's about three months later in September, and I'm going to orientation day at Comcast. I spend the day getting to know the other co-ops, there's probably a good forty of us. What you have to understand, is at this point, I've heard from the co-op program people, but I have yet to hear from my actual manager. I finally get in contact with him and get this as a response, with a few other details:
"Most folks show up around 830-900. Dress code is more or less casual. Jeans are fine."
With this basic information under my proverbial arm, the next day I drove up to West Chester for my first day of work. Carla, my boss's assistant, let's me in and informs me that they didn't even know I was coming until yesterday. Doesn't seem like a great start, but she helps me get a temporary laptop until mine is done being imaged and I set up to mess around, because my boss isn't in yet. About an hour later my boss rolls in, introduces himself and takes me to his office. We exchange formalities briefly and then he begins to discuss options for my time spent co-oping. "You can either work on a pre-existing Einstein, which helps diagnose customer service problems, or you we can check with my head developers and see any of their projects interest you, or you can work on this pet project I call Statusey that I've been wanting to work on but haven't had the time. The vision is for it to an employee status reporting tool." He went on to describe how I would be building it from the bottom up, pretty much however I thought was best, learning as I went. I opted for that one, naturally. I left that day awestruck by God's goodness to me, for this opportunity that lay before me. It was only later that I realized the full situation I was in. As it turns out, my boss isn't a manager, he's a director in charge of a number of different managers. He is kind, super helpful, and basically living vicariously through me. He helps me get contacts wherever I need them and puts me in touch with people to get direction where I need it. He's not strict about which days I take off, or work from home, or even what time I arrive and leave, as long as I get things done. This leniency, while it might be taken advantage of by others, merely allows me to work to the best of my ability.
On the other side of my job, I work with co-op team. There were three teams working on projects, and of those projects, mine has experienced the least difficulty in moving forward. We have the direction of a previous co-op and a team motivated enough to get work done. I have poured a decent number of hours and effort into it, and the the fruit has been outstanding. I don't see this as a product of my work, however, but rather the grace of God. A few weeks back the other co-op announced he'd be stepping down from Comcast due to the pressure it exerted on his school life and I think an abroad opportunity. When he left though, he appointed me as technical lead on the project, despite the fact the other two guys are a year further in school than I am, and one of the girls on the business team as the business lead.
At the current time, I have finished one of the department's pages for the co-op project and my regular project is in beta being tested by teams of people.
One thing that came as a complete shock to me, was God's foresight in the church Covenant Fellowship is planting in my area next fall. My family and I have always planned to go along with it, if it ever happened. These many years later, we now have a church being planted in my area. What you might not all know is that most of the friends live in West Chester, so this is somewhat of a last hurrah with them. Since I'm working full time, it leaves all my evenings free to spend time with them, and really invest in those relationships before I leave on the church plant next fall. God knew where I needed to be.
God's grace has been poured out on me in my time at Comcast. I don't know what to do but praise him for his kindness to me.
"For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord please he does in the heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the deeps." Psalm 125:5-7
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