In the middle of a real interview, the HR Director says to me, “Stop the
BS and stop with the buzzwords. What do you really want?” So, this
interview must have been going well. Based on what I had learned while
preparing for the interview, it became obvious before I even walked in
the door that my background and style wouldn’t fit well with this company.
However, I wanted to keep it moving in case my assumptions were
wrong, or at least get in the practice of interviewing.
I knew less than five minutes into the questioning that I would not
be hired. Instead of loafing through the rest of the interview, I made a
conscious effort to make the most of the experience. I challenged myself
to adapt to the interviewer’s style. I pushed myself out of my comfort
zone by trying to be even more creative than usual with my answers and
tested various versions of my elevator speech. My goal was to see what
could potentially work and what might not. Why not? What did I have to
lose? I loved the challenge of the uphill battle. I even saw enough pause in
some of the HR director’s questions and answers to indicate that she was
considering changing her mind—not enough to hire me, but enough for
me to walk out of there happy that I had gone through with it. If your interview
is not going well, you can use the experience as practice for future
sessions. What could have been a terrible interview turned out great—at
least in my eyes, which was a confidence boost.
Thomas B. Dowd III’s books available in softcover, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only):
- Now What? The Ultimate Graduation Gift for Professional Success
- Time Management Manifesto: Expert Strategies to Create an Effective Work/Life Balance
- Displacement Day: When My Job was Looking for a Job…A Reference Guide to Finding Work
- The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas: Growing from a Cynic to a Professional in the Corporate World
- From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide received the Gold Medal at the 2013 Axiom Business Book Awards in Business Reference
- The Unofficial Guide to Fatherhood
See “Products” for details on www.transformationtom.com. Book, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only) purchase options are also available on Amazon- Please click the link to be re-directed: Amazon.com