So here it is going on 9pm on a Friday night. I'm home, trying to finish up my corporate financing assignments. Honestly dreadful. I said I want to be rich--I never said I cared about what to do with my riches. Something happened, though. Today I had a rather successful job interview with a great company. Surprisingly, my interview did not last but maybe 3 minutes at the most--no lie. I'm probably like most people who walk into interviews with their hearts pumping and terrified wondering what questions will be asked. In fact, I didn't sleep much last night. I kept trying to prep myself on intelligent responses. Funny thing about me--I hate talking about myself. Give me a product to sell, and it's as good as in the bag. When that product is myself, though--we're talking a whole different ball game.
Today was not completely like that though. I got to the interview about 35 minutes early. I anticipated for getting lost in Atlanta, plus traffic. The GPS also doesn't take my lead foot into account. But shh! Anyway, there was only one other person (a gentleman wearing a fantabulous suit) in the lobby. Seeing this guy totally took me down a peg, but the more I looked at him, the more I saw what I had above him. By the looks of it, I was younger. While he sat, obviously convincing himself how awesome he was (and no doubt he isn't awesome, but you could tell by his face that he was rehearsing in his head) I was watching the sports station on the lobby TV (it was some bloopers show--absolutely hilarious). I also moderately engaged with the (exceptionally sweet--she called me 'honey') receptionist. One of the executives made a point to come out and demand the receptionist call someone and basically tell them they failed to get whatever position they applied for because they did not do what was asked of them. Of course by this time, it appeared that the entire line up of interviewees (about 20 other people--of which only 3 were men) had arrived. So obviously all of us were sizing each other up--trying to determine what made ourselves more special than the next person (who was likely saying the same exact thing). I think my being there as early as I was paid off for this very reason.
The gentleman I first waited with went first--and he went with a male interviewer. The woman who spoke to the receptionist called me in immediately following (aww crap! I got the possibly mean one!). As we were walking into her office, I could hear the men in their interview laughing it up like old buddies at the bar. Please go easy on me, please go easy on me. Before I could get comfy in my seat the fireballs of questions started coming. What did I have to offer the company? What were my strengths? What needs improvement? How would I rate my competitiveness? Where do I see myself in 6 months? 3 years? Each time I answered, she was quick with her pen to circle things on my application and jot down notes (which I couldn't see because I left my darn glasses in the car). Basically, she left no time for me to think about the amount of nervousness I might have had. In fact, I can't recall if I was nervous. I focused on maintaining eye contact and keeping a smile (not a totally idiotic one, either).
Before I knew, she was telling me about how they're asking candidates to come back on Monday for the 2nd stage of the interview--an all day interview--1:15pm-8:15pm (omg, should I pack a lunch? err dinner?). So of course I'm wondering if she's just telling me this to drop me like a sack of potatoes--I mean we've only been in this room for literally three minutes--and she just has to be vile, right? She goes on to say that she would like for me to be there. Well of course I said yes. And that was it! 'See ya Monday!'
I made my way out to the van, updated FB/Twitter statuses, called the hubby and told him the good news (that he couldn't go to work Monday because I needed him to stay home with the kids). As I was pulling out, I noticed one of the other interviewees coming out. Curiously, I asked her how she did and if she felt confident in her interview. She said the same woman told her that would call her and let her know. Well, I'm certainly not one to brag, so I simply said, "yea that's what she told me too." We briefly chatted about the quickness of the interview and bid each other farewell and good luck with future interviews. Anyway, today I certainly got a kick to my confidence considering that I made it to step 2 so quickly. I also got a quirky new idea that put my aspirations into question (that's my next post). In the mean time, I wonder who my competition will be. How excitingly fast-paced (my favorite speed)!
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