This was the first big reality check.
I left my IUEC interview feeling good. Not perfect, but good. I thought I had represented myself well. I felt like I answered the questions honestly and showed that I was serious.
Then I got my rank.
Low 300s.
That was not what I expected.
From what I have been able to gather, that range is not very competitive for getting called soon. The list is active for a set amount of time, and if enough people do not get called before the list expires, your shot can disappear without anything dramatic happening.
You just wait.
And keep waiting.
That was hard to sit with.
Passing the test felt like progress. Getting the interview felt like progress. Feeling good after the interview felt like progress.
Then the rank made it clear that progress and a realistic call are not the same thing.
That is one of the parts of this process people should understand early.
You can do a lot right and still not land where you hoped.
That does not mean the process is rigged. It does not mean you failed as a person. It means the competition is real and the list is only going to move so fast.
At the time, it stung.
It still does a little.
I wanted that option to be stronger. Elevator work looked like a great path. The package was strong, the trade was interesting, and I had made it farther than I expected when I first applied.
But the rank told me to be realistic.
So I moved that option to the back burner.
Not dead.
Just not something I could count on.
That became a bigger lesson for the whole journey:
Do not build your plan around one union.
Apply to multiple programs.
Keep moving.
Hope is fine.
But hope is not a strategy.