This weekend I headed back to Vancouver for day 3 of the Emirates interview process. I almost didn't go, due to my current financial situation and the fact that I am now unemployed. In the end, I decided it was worth a shot. I flew out from Calgary at 11 pm on Friday night, exhausted from my final day of work, relieved that I'd survived my first time driving to Calgary, and then panicked as I watched flights being cancelled, one by one, due to high winds (up to 192 km/hour). First off, I was flying standby, so it was nerve wracking enough hoping I'd get on the flight. If mine ended up being cancelled, my chances of flying out at all would be significantly lower. Luckily, my flight wasn't among the cancellations, and I set off on an extremely turbulent journey to Vancouver. I finally arrived at the hotel at 1 am, dropped my stuff, and crawled into bed.
I woke up Saturday morning, got myself all prettied up and walked to the Sheraton, where interviews were being held. As more and more applicants showed up, we cheerfully greeted those who we'd met the week prior, congratulating eachother on making it to the 3rd day. There were about 40 of us in total, which was half of the number from the second interview, and way less than the 220 from day one. The 2 ladies conducting the interviews were Aussies, which made for a fun day. We watched videos, asked questions about the company, and participated in more group discussions. We were sent for lunch and upon our return we each found a folded piece of paper with our numbers on it. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach as I grabbed mine, and watched as others celebrated making it to the next stage, or quietly left the room. I finally worked up the courage to open mine, expecting to see "Unfortunately...". I was stunned to see "Congratulations..." and I probably checked 5 times just to be sure. Wooo hooo! Things got all reality TV-ish. People were crying, everybody was hugging, dreams were shattered, and the 15 of us that remained patiently waited for the rest to leave before we showed our excitement on making it further.
We headed back into the room for more group interviews, a personality test, and 2 more applicants were sent home. The 13 of us remaining were congratulated on making it to the final interview phase, which would be held on Sunday. Finally, around 6 pm we were sent on our way. I was so overcome with excitement and happiness that I didn't even care that my shoes were causing my poor feet immense pain, or that I couldn't afford a decent meal. I just went back to my hotel room, admired the 20th floor view, and called it an early night.
Sunday morning, I woke up, did my hair, did my makeup, dressed in my most professional attire, and decided that I looked the part. I was in a great mood, nothing would bring me down. That was, until, I opened the blinds. Expecting to see another beautiful day in the beautiful city, I instead watched as the rain poured down. Well great, I don't own an umbrella and I have to walk 5 blocks to my interview. Luckily, upon checkout my hotel was nice enough to let me borrow an umbrella for the day, and so I set off for my final interview. It was like a typical interview.. questions about your resume, situational questions from prior experience, and I tried not to let my nerves get the best of me. Honestly, I was shocked on day one when they invited me back, and here I was, at the final interview. I had no idea how I'd made it this far when there were other hopefuls who I'd been sure were perfect, and more qualified than myself. I decided not to bother with trying to understand it, and once I'd finished the interview, I headed to Sears Portrait Studio to have my photos taken. These photos are sent back to Dubai, and therefore must be flawless. Hair tied back, makeup perfect. They convinced me to wear red lipstick, and despite the fact that they said I looked great, I'd seen for myself, and I looked ridiculous. Oh well, if that's what it takes!
After everything was done, I happily walked back to my hotel, unphased by the pouring rain. I'm trying not to get too excited because there is still a huge chance that nothing will happen. I could get an email saying "Thanks for the effort, but you are never leaving Red Deer". Okay, maybe not in those words, but I'm still trying to act as if nothing happened, and go on with my day to day life until I hear back. That said, I'd really, really love to move to Dubai.
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