Big Changes!

Big things changed around here! Juan got his first "REAL" job since graduating from college. He's now a part of a big company called Harder Mechanical Contractors. The corporate office is located in Downtown Portland Oregon and are working on a massive project building an Intel in Hillsboro Oregon!

Here's the rundown as what our last five months have looked like. Juan started working as another inter with Columbia Industries at CH2MHill in Richland and was there for the last 5 months. He went back with that position as a construction engineer intern again because there was no work for him that he could find to get hired. Months go by of applying job after job all over the US and nothing. It would seem like we would get some kind of lead and get excited hoping that this could be it, but then would not hear anything. After application after application to Bechtel in Richland, and nothing, (that place is pretty much pointless to try and get in if you don't know someone or have not done an intern with them) as it is the same thing with any hanford job. Juan did not want to be out in the hanford area forever because you get lost in the people out there and really is no way to work yourself up, plus you just get lazy out there and they are too laxed on everything! Three of the guys he worked with in his office all got their notices to get laid off and they all seemed to find something in the area. But still nothing was coming for Juan. It was hard to see him become down on himself and depressed thinking, well what am I doing that's not getting me a job, or how come I went to school and nothing is happening. I always knew that our "happy time" would come sometime and then we would look back and think oh that wasn't too bad. I tried to be optimistic for both of us but man was it hard! We both always felt like we wouldn't stay around for long but didn't know what that meant. When one of the guys he worked with got a phone call from a guy from Harder about wanting to give him a job, but he had already gotten a job offer elsewhere he mentioned that he knew someone that was interested. Juan called the guy, Jerry, about a week later, talked to him on his way home from worked, submitted his resume and letter of recommendation that night, received an email back the next day wanting to set up an interview for that Saturday morning. So this was Wednesday morning. We left Friday afternoon and drove to his cousins house in Hillsboro. Talk about an emotional weekend! The hype of a job interview, could this be it, what if they don't like me, but we both felt so good about it and this is what's going to happen, but there is always the unknown. He had his interview on Saturday that lasted over an hour and by that afternoon, an offer letter was waiting for him in his inbox. When Juan was explaining to us everything that was said during the interview they pretty much had told him he got the job but had "others" to interview. He came out so confident out of that interview and I was so proud of him! It was a great turnaround to see him that way then I had been seeing him. When he got that offer letter and got the offer he asked for, he was incredibly excited! So then it was off to the next big thing of trying to find a place to live! And to move the next weekend because he started on the 19th, 10 days after his interview. How is it that his internship ended on Thursday and he had another job lined up for the following Monday? I have realized through this whole thing, that it's not what you want, or what you plan, that when you put everything in the Lords hands you will be taken care of. I found that out about the job, finding a place, and now were putting it in his hands, to take care of Damon here. There are so many more opportunities for better DRs then anything in Tri-Cities. I am very excited about that part! So here is to new beginnings and new experiences!