Tuesday, September 19, 2006

The lighter side

I have been super tense since yesterday's interview, analyzing it over and over again .. living every moment in slow motion. I've totally lost my sleep the last two weeks and am prone to nightmares (about interviews and rejections) or waking up suddenly at 4am and not being able to go back to sleep. (I have now taken to playing solitaire on the phone to manage the boredom at that crazy hour.) This morning I was hysterical for an hour believing that my world will end and I shall be doomed if I don't get the job - I very badly want it to work out.

Some context to this whole job craze I keep going on about. A couple of years back when I decided to study further, it was a big decision. I was doing very well at work, there were some interesting offers I could consider, but I wanted more. Studying meant, I would be giving up my job. There was also the high cost of education as well as the opportunity cost of one year's salary to consider. Everything taken, I chose to quit and go to study. Everyone was very positive since I was going to a well-known place, it worked out perfectly in terms of timeline and I believed the world was mine to conquer after I graduated. I don't regret the studying part because I really did learn a lot and had a fantastic time at school. But now I wonder if it all made sense .. the hardest part is living up to everyone's expectations. There's also the HUGE amount of money I spent, not to mention the time and effort, and all eyes are on me to get that magical job which would justify all of this. Yesterday's job could be just that, so it makes it difficult for me to even breathe till I hear from them. There are few things I have wanted so badly - and the tension is killing.

I started out meaning to write about some funny experiences at job search and interviews.. but it became all soppy again. So back to the original plan . .
  • At video conference interviews I (and other classmates) sometimes wore a suit-jacket and all (for the benefit of the interviewer). . along with track-pants/shorts and chappals since the camera was on the table and they could see only half of me. Everyone passing by would ofcourse crack-up.
  • The above got me into trouble once when after my interview there was someone else and the interviewer asked me to call in the next candidate without disconnecting. I had a really tough time getting out, hoping he would not see my mis-matched clothes.
  • A great plan which we never put into action was to freeze during a video-con interview if it was turning uncomfortable and later tell the interviewer that the screen had frozen. We'd even enact how we'd freeze our hand mid-air in the middle of a sentence.
  • I know someone who spilt water on table and his interviewer, in what was the second interview of the day - poor interviewer sat like that till evening.
  • A dear friend was frantically applying for jobs at one point and sent a cover letter to a company without being careful about making appropriate changes in a copy-paste letter. She later realized that the one she sent had glowing lines about why she wanted to join the competition, a company she had applied to the previous day. (This is surprisingly fairly common).
  • A friend once asked an interviewer about the work and whether he enjoyed his work. The reply, "I do enjoy it on some days, but not everyday, there's a reason why its called 'work'".
  • I once got two rejection letters for the same job, that really hurt!
  • Worse, A friend once got a reject from a job he hadn't even applied for!
  • During the downturn (in 2001) everyone was getting a lot of 'dings' (rejection letters). So the class put up a bell in the cafeteria which people would ring to get out their frustration when they received yet another letter. It wouldn't stop ringing! (I've only heard this, not sure if its true).
  • And finally.... I heard of someone who was ten minutes in an interview before she realized it was the wrong one and her actual interview was in the next room.
That's for today. . this didn’t even come out funny and am now sadder. Shall now release some of the hyper energy in the gym! Good night and Good luck.

7 comments:

Mr. J said...

Lol.. the lighter side of interviews. :p

Giving up work for education.. wow, that was indeed something, takes a lot of determination to do it.

Hope it works out for you.

Mr. J said...

You are tagged Pea,

Pea said...

Am hoping the same too (that it all works out).

A tag, interesting, not got one of those before. Will do it when things settle a bit.

Anonymous said...

This post was like reading the story of my last 2 years. I made excatly the same choices and am dealing with similar issues...so similar that I felt surreal reading it!!
-Sunrayz

Pea said...

[Sunrayz] And did you also get married and move abroad and start studying? Because then will be just too uncanny!

Anonymous said...

OMG! Yes I did! Holy Molly!!
-Sunrayz

Pea said...

Am Speechless!

And since you mentioned that now you're on the way to doing what you wanted to ..am feeling a little more hopeful. Monday's interview didn't go as badly as I thought..and have a final one with the group head on Wednesday. Am praying hard (and studying hard :) ) !!