The Air India flight wasn't soooo bad, quite empty too. All I could think about about was the interview and what form it would take. It'd been ages since my last interview, and I knew what panels felt like, but I had never anticipated that stepping into the room, there'd be at least 8 people sitting round the table and another two on the phone line, probing and asking! I think I amy have stumbled when the issue of advocacy and advocacy strategies came up, after sounding like a broken record when I asked for a couple of minutes to look at my CV and think about what, if any, advocacy work I had done in the past, I was lost for words, quite literally. I managed to come up with a small contribution I had made on Somaliland during my stint as an intern at the International Crisis Group in Brussels and Dakar, but I knew from the looks on their faces, that they weren't completely satisfied.
I wasn't sure whether I would enjoy working on the 34th floor of a building in New York, and the Empire State building for that matter!!! But thoughts of 9/11 were far gone, when I realised that a lot was at stake for this job. It was with HRW, whom I had applied to for an internship fresh out of university - I was rejected, and was sorely and bitterly dissapointed. But the years passed, and I did many an internship at various 'prestigious' NGOs only to find myself just over two years ago in the private sector, analysing political risk in Africa - West Africa specifically!!!
There's no doubt that my current job is stressful, long, un-recognised hours, often bordering on slavery. Pressure from all sides and various departments, without the will power to lambast... about how I felt about this whole fiasco. Yeah they can raise your salary as much as they like, but what about the stress levels on the job? Somes aspects I enjoy like talking to clients, and showing off knowledge and expertise, presenting on Africa or smiling in front of a TV camera through a disucssion on Yaradua's controversial election as President!! However the more mundance aspects of the job still leave much to be desired.
As I sit here typing, anxiously wondering when HRW will call to say yes or no, I can't help thinking that I should have stayed in the NGO sector all along, perhaps the advocacy question would been a lot easier for me to answer. Who knows? I'm calling HRW tomorrow, friday, as it's been exactly a week now since my interview, or should I say, GRILLING!!!!!!
