You’ve probably heard of the Dummies” series of books: “Windows Vista for Dummies”, for example. (I’m still waiting for new ones in the series that might be useful for me including: “Sushi for dummies”, “Recycling for dummies” and “Mother-daughter communication for dummies”… )
Last week, I had an interview and it felt as if I was Exhibit A in a book called, “Interviewing Like A Dummy” (not a real dummies book, by the way!) Have you ever have those moments where your native language suddenly feels as if it’s your first day with new words?
I was at the national conference for the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers (CACEE) last week in Vancouver, promoting my book, Career Cupid – Your Guide to Landing and Loving Your Dream Job and doing a conference presentation. On Tuesday, my colleague Cathy Keates (author of, Not for Sale! Why We Need a New Job Search Mindset) and I got a call to interview with a radio station in Kingston during their morning show.
That meant that last Wednesday morning, at the evil hour of 5:15 am we were huddled in our respective pjs in my hotel room, waiting for “the call”. Groggy, we spent a couple of minutes conversing with each other in our gravelly morning voices, then the phone rang and we switched from pjs into professional mode as the radio station morning show interview got underway.
Last week, I had an interview and it felt as if I was Exhibit A in a book called, “Interviewing Like A Dummy” (not a real dummies book, by the way!) Have you ever have those moments where your native language suddenly feels as if it’s your first day with new words?
I was at the national conference for the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers (CACEE) last week in Vancouver, promoting my book, Career Cupid – Your Guide to Landing and Loving Your Dream Job and doing a conference presentation. On Tuesday, my colleague Cathy Keates (author of, Not for Sale! Why We Need a New Job Search Mindset) and I got a call to interview with a radio station in Kingston during their morning show.
That meant that last Wednesday morning, at the evil hour of 5:15 am we were huddled in our respective pjs in my hotel room, waiting for “the call”. Groggy, we spent a couple of minutes conversing with each other in our gravelly morning voices, then the phone rang and we switched from pjs into professional mode as the radio station morning show interview got underway.
The hosts, Brian and Shauna from FLY-FM were amazingly bubbly and articulate (admittedly, they had been awake much longer and no doubt had a few lattes under their belts), making us feel right at home as we answered questions about our respective books and career advice. A few, short minutes later, we were finished and hung up, relieved. But as we had a short re-cap of how things went, I seemed to recall only the the bad stuff--the places where I knew I hadn't done a great job of actually answering a question. For example, in my head, the re-cap sounded something like this:
Radio show hosts: “So, Christine, what kind of things can a person do who is unhappy in his/her job and trying to find a new career?”
Me: (a.k.a. Obi-inarticulate-Wan) “Well, really, there are just so many things a person can do…and um…my advice is for people to do those many things…um…as soon as possible because…um…many things are what are most useful for most people to…um…do.”
Yep. I felt as if I was completely inarticulate and not specific at all! Somehow, all the great, vivid information and examples I knew so well, just…evaporated into the Vancouver sunrise.
In my work with clients, we talk a lot about how to navigate these sometimes stressful work conversations. What I was reminded today is that no matter how prepared you think you are, interview questions can leave you feeling as this is your first day speaking a new language. And no matter how experienced you are, interviewing can sometimes feel very unsettling, even to a career coach! Brian and Shauna at the FLY-FM morning show were the consummate professionals, making interviewing (and their interviewees) look incredibly graceful.
Then again, I have a feeling neither of them was wearing pajamas…
Have you had interview moments in which you wish you could press “rewind” and start over? Are you remembering things accurately or just being hard on yourself? Do you have a great strategy for overcoming inopportune brain vacations and nervous jitters? I’d love to hear your stories.
Wishing you “happily ever after” at work,
Christine
(also known as Career Cupid)
