Adventures In Interviews!

Before I started the job I have now, you could say I was a full time Job Hunter! I had lost my job in December (though I knew I wanted a new job, so I had actually started looking awhile before that!) I took the time during the Holidays off to be with my family, then soon after the New Year I started the Job Hunt in earnest! I sent out hundreds of Resumes. And from January through May, I went on over 35 Interviews! I am not exaggerating. I've also, being in Management, been the Interviewer, so I've been on both sides of the Interview desk. I'll share my tips on how to find available jobs, writing a Resume, and how to have a successful Job Interview, to land the job of your dreams latter, but now I just wanna share some of the many Adventures I had on all of those Interviews. Some were great, some were bad & some were down right disturbing. 

I've had Phone Interviews, one on ones, Group Interviews where one person interviewed several people at a time, or several people interviewed a group of prospective employees together, and where several people interviewed just me. I've been in a Group Interview, where we had to fill in a worksheet & number the items in importance, and then work together as a team, to decide on the order of items, then turn in our sheets so they could see how we compromised, and what items we thought important enough to go to bat for. When it comes to Job Interviews, I've been there, done that! I went on an Interview for an office job at a chiropractor's office, only to realize when I got there, with over 70 others, they were just trying to drum up new business. "Now obviously, we can't hire all of you, but to thank you for coming out tonight, we want to give you a free examination." How nice of them! Not! I bet they weren't even really hiring! And for an office job in a plumbing office, when I asked about their dress code I was told quote: "As long as you're not showing butt crack, I don't care what you wear. You can come to work in your pajamas if you want to!" Now grant it, they're used to dealing with Plumbers, but really? Come on now! I've been on Interviews where I had to put outfits together for different types of people. I had to merchandise shelves with any thing I could find in their store. And pretend to sell them something I may or may not know anything about.

I've had an Interviewer tell me "I've never met a Blogger before, I can't wait to look it up and read!" I wonder if she's reading this. :) And one, when she found out I liked to read asked me for Book recommendations & we ended up talking about books long after I knew that wasn't a place I wanted to work! For one of my interviews I was told "We just moved into a new office building, and we don't really use the front door, so just come on in through the back." I told my Husband, I would check it out, if it looked fishy in anyway, I wouldn't go in. But when I got there there were people all around, coming & going, so I felt pretty safe going in. I found myself walking through an Industrial Kitchen, saying "Hello?" as I rounded a corner I started seeing offices & found the person I was meeting with. She was dressed how I would dress if I were painting my house, old jeans & a ratty, paint splattered t-shirt. I thought "Did I get the Interview date wrong?" nope. She was expecting me. As with many Interviewers, she was unprepared. You would think if you looked over Resumes, took the time to call perspective employees, and scheduled an Interview, you would prepare for said Interview! I found, more than once that that was not the case. I've had those interviewing me, when they've seen on my Resume that I have a back ground in Management and have been responsible for hiring & firing employees have ask me how they were doing as an Interviewer, or ask for tips in Interviewing. And have even told me, "We should have hired you to come in and do all our Interviews for us!" Yeah, in some cases, they should have! But, back to my Interviewer in the paint spattered shirt, in the middle of our Interview, she leans back in her chair across the desk from me, says "excuse me", proceeds to lift her belly up & zips up her jeans. Oh my gosh! Let that one sink in for a bit.

On my many Interview Adventures, besides all the usual questions you're always asked, I have been asked some really strange questions, Like whether or not I like Led Zeppelin (I married a rocker, I'm not one! Does that mean I can't work here?) I was asked: How many yards in a first down? (Yes, I knew that, 10. But what does that have to do with the job? I have no idea!) I was asked what are my favorite Websites to visit? (Goodreads, Twitter) And believe it or not I have been asked a couple of really great questions, I love it when I'm surprised and am actually asked a question I've never heard before! One great question was "Which, if any, Employers Rules are okay to break?" I even said "That is such a great question!" (then I told about working where we had a rule, you have to throw away all Testers, and old product. But we would use them from time to time as prizes for contests we held for employees. And I once had a customer sharing with me how her house had burned down & she lost everything, and I broke the rules and gave her some products.) Another great question I was asked was "If you could cross one thing off your Bucket List, what would it be?" (Mine is Traveling to Greece! Why, you planning on sending me?!)

It is really a good thing that I, unlike most people, actually really like Job Interviews! I am not kidding! I love meeting new people. And what better subject to talk about than yourself, right?! :) People tell me "I hate interviews, I always feel like I'm bragging!" But the truth is you are there so they can see how you will represent their company. Can you sell them to potential customers? So sell! You have to look at a Job Interview like you are selling a product, the product just happens to be yourself! And hopefully, you have competent people interviewing you! :)