When I graduated in December of ’07, it took me until September of ’08 to find a job worth taking- and it was a part-time, mostly unpaid internship. That’s a whopping 10 months of riding the pine. Not this time.

After getting sacked in July, I had an interview within two weeks, and a job secured in three. Talk about a change in fortunes.

The company that hired me is Alterian, a UK-based, full-service marketing organization. They offer services ranging from e-mail to social media monitoring and everything in between. I can’t really talk about what I’ll be doing yet, because technically I’m a contract employee right now, but should become a full employee shortly (even though I’ve heard that before).

People who know me know that I don’t usually brag and that I’m pretty humble, but for once I think I’m going to boast a bit. For me, getting hired so quickly in this economy is a big “You fucked up” to my last employer. In fact, my other buddy who got laid off with me the same day is also employed already. They truly didn’t know what they had.

Another area that I’ll toot my horn for is how I secured this job. After passing a pretty standard phone interview, I had to put together a presentation on social media best practices. Apparently, this is where I shined, and I knocked their socks off. That’s what I feel the best about. I don’t claim to be an expert or have the experience of the big names in the industry, BUT I’ve always known I was pretty intelligent on the subject and that I ‘get it’. This was pretty much the vindication I needed, even if it didn’t come from a Chris Brogan or Amber Naslund.

There are so many people who didn’t have faith in me or didn’t think I could do a good job along the way, and that has always given me motivation to work harder and be more focused so one day I could say “told ‘ya so.” However, there have been a few people who knew what I was capable of and believed in me.

The first is Chris Campbell, owner of GreenWerks and Lakeshore Branding. He took a chance on me back in September and we’ve been working together ever since. Other than my parents (ha!) there probably isn’t anyone else whose had as much confidence in my abilities. Without Chris I wouldn’t be where I am today.

The second is my good buddy Caitlin Rosberg, better known as Crosberg. I met her at a tweetup of all places, and she got me started at WeSeed. We were pretty much partners in crime for the last 8 months or so around town and at conferences like South by Southwest. Like with Chris, I wouldn’t be where I am today without her faith in me.

Lastly, there are so many people that deserve thanks for one reason or another. Whether it be for helping get the word out that I was looking for work, or just chatting with me on twitter at some point. A lot of what I’ve learned is just from having conversations with different people and seeing the community within a community here in Chicago. If you’re reading this, you probably have helped me in one way or another, so thank you very, very much.