Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Did I Really Say That?

I swear, sometimes I think I must be the world's worst interviewee.

On Friday I had my second interview for the transfer position I want in my company, Admin Assistant to the Practice Management Consultants. Only three PMCs came to the interview, and since these are all people I know, I didn't feel nervous or angsty or anything... I was a little tense, I mean I want this job so bad I can't stand it, but I was generally relaxed and myself. And I'm wondering if being myself is a good thing.

For example, when we got around to the "what are your long-term goals" cliche, I cracked a joke. First I answered with the truth (was that wise?) that I simply don't plan that far ahead... in fact if you told the ten-years-ago me that I would be working where I am and loving it, I would have laughed at you. Ten years ago I thought I was going to be a teacher (and looking back, knowing what I do now about the teaching professions, having worked in a community college teachers' union and a public school district's HR office, I'm glad I'm not). My only long-term career goal is to find one company I can stay with until I retire, and I'd like for that company to be this one.

But after I laid all that out, I threw in... "well, I do have one other long term goal... there's this couch at Restoration Hardware I want... I can't afford it and have nowhere to put it, but someday I will and it will be mine." And they all cracked up. Actually, when I was talking to the receptionist afterward (remember I work with her now in my interim position), she told me she'd never heard so much laughter in a panel interview... I had them in stitches the whole time.

Again I ask: Was that wise? I mean, a sense of humor is a great asset, especially in a service position; but one also has to be taken seriously. Will they think that someone who jokes so much will be capable of handling serious business?

Well, we'll just have to see. I'll be finding out about the job later this week, yea or nay, and I'm sitting on the very edge of my seat until then. The anxiety is killing me, I must say. But at least I have this fallback position... if I don't get the job I want, I'll still be employed... at least until mid-September; and they seem willing to keep me on as a floater after that, as well. We'll have to see what we'll see.

In the meantime, I'm tired. Anxiety really takes it out of me. So I haven't got any work done on the Magnum Opus. But I don't have any work to do today, and a new way of developing the rest of this section I'm stuck in has occurred to me, so I think I'll go over and do some scrivening for a while.

Toodles!

No comments:

Post a Comment