I did an interview last week. I was part of, ahem, “an extraordinarily competitive applicant pool.” I was thanked for the “considerable amount of time and effort” I took in applying and told to go away. I note that they are not keeping my CV on file.
I was conscious at the time that it didn’t go particularly well. Part of the reason for this was that I googled the board in advance. Well, wouldn’t you? One member of the board had an unusual name so I was pretty sure that it was her poems I found when I googled her name. Poetry is a very personal medium, isn’t it? As I answered her questions, I kept wondering how is she getting over that relationship break up? I also reflected on the undesireability of putting a very detailed account of one’s love life, cloaked in poetry on the internet. This distracted me from the pertinent questions which were being posed.
But what a great reason to flunk an interview! And quite right – personal details, especially if tawdry, sad or otherwise cloaked in poetry, should only be uploaded if they are anonymous, or if you are indeed a poet…
Eek! And think, if her name’s on it in cyberspace, she must be proud of it. Now will you have to go back to her site to see if she writes about the interviewing process? 🙂
People probably don’t think of that! I googled my interview board too and it worked like a charm. Luckily the boss had given an interview about his vision for the future of the division and I just parroted it back to him. He never knew, just thought I was really savvy.
Gala, kind of you to say so, but I’m not so sure. Melissa, I couldn’t face it. Oh Wendy, I hope I have your luck next time..