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Get a Job -- Invitation to Write #37

For Writers:

Why wouldn’t you want to hire me? I think that’s the attitude of a lot of applicants, and I can’t blame them. Most applicants probably don’t understand who their competition is, as most have never been on a hiring committee.

Fresh out of college, I know I had the attitude: why do I need to sell myself? I can let my résumé speak for itself. Now I know, of course, that a résumé just gets your foot in the door. It’s at the interview that the real work begins.

One of my first real interviews was at my undergraduate college. I had applied to be an Admissions Recruiter, and my job would be to go to area high schools to promote the college to High School Juniors and Seniors. What shocked me was that the interview process itself would last all morning. First I had breakfast with my would-be supervisor, then I met the other recruiters; next I met with the Dean of the College. All of that went fine, but then they directed me to a room that already had eight other people in it. This was the hiring committee, and I froze. I had no idea that eight people would be interviewing me. There were only chairs in the room – no desk for me to hide behind – and I didn’t have anything to wet my Sahara-like throat.

One after the other lobbed questions at me like hand grenades, and I “um’ed” my way through my responses. Needless to say, my silk shirt was completely soaked by the end of the interrogation, and I wasn’t terribly shocked to find out the following week that I wouldn’t be making the rounds to area schools on the college's behalf.

What's the worst job interview experience you’ve ever had? What did you learn from that experience that helped you with the next interview?

“All I've ever wanted was an honest week's pay for an honest day's work.” – Steve Martin

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