Went on a job interview today. Out of practice and therefore nervous but once there found the process interesting. Although the stakes are real, there is a game-like quality to the interplay of revelation and concealment. It resembles an elaborate, bizarre form of courting:
Here's a question -- what precisely is the answer sought? Literal or metaphorical? How much to say, when to stop? Ah, that answer intrigued the interviewer, does one elaborate it? Do you have this type of experience? How much? And how would you cope with situation [x]? How did you hear about us? What's the most important thing in doing this type of work? Excuse me, I just have to ask my colleague something... Actually we don't have an opening in your field, a pity, because we would like to be able... We might hire you if you had experience in field [y], but you don't, so...etc. We'll keep this on file in case something comes up... Thank you and good luck...
Despondent after, but just for a while... The inevitable second-guessing stage, the onrush of doubts and superstitions(Should I have applied earlier? Should I have worn something else? Rewritten the resume a ninth time? Worn the other shoes? Am I too old/young/fill in the blank?). A little later, and the going-through-it and the coming-out-the-other-side feel almost -- therapeutic. Pick yourself up, this is how you will cope next time, this is where you should steer things that way rather than this. And maybe it wasn't exactly what I wanted anyway. And so on.
The anticipation beforehand was worse.
|
Despondent after, but just for a while... The inevitable second-guessing stage, the onrush of doubts and superstitions(Should I have applied earlier? Should I have worn something else? Rewritten the resume a ninth time? Worn the other shoes? Am I too old/young/fill in the blank?). A little later, and the going-through-it and the coming-out-the-other-side feel almost -- therapeutic. Pick yourself up, this is how you will cope next time, this is where you should steer things that way rather than this. And maybe it wasn't exactly what I wanted anyway. And so on.
The anticipation beforehand was worse.
- bruno 3-13-2003 5:04 am