Back when I was 21, I was working as an intern at an engineering firm. My boss (I’ll call her Kathy) was one of the toughest ladies I’ve ever met, and she didn’t mess around when she needed something to get done. She wasn’t mean or anything like that, but she was firm and demanding. I worked my ass off for her, and I definitely credit my work ethic to her high expectations and refusal to settle for any sub-par results.
After I graduated from college I got a job out of state. When I was hired, my new boss told me that my reference from Kathy was one of the most impressive he had ever heard.
Fast forward to now, I am 25 and applying for a new job in light of COVID. I reached out to Kathy to see if I could put her down as a reference again. This was the first time I had ever talked to her while she wasn’t my boss and I was kind of caught off guard by her casualness. It turned out she was going to be in town the next week to check in on a relative and asked if she could buy me lunch. The girlish excitement in her voice when I said I would love to join her for lunch was a little uncomfortable since I had never experienced this side of her.