03 October 2014

Job Hunting Ironies

For every job interview I prepare thoroughly. Research the company; if a recruitment agency I check their website for clients or industries they work with. I have a list of questions to ask, my references on hand. I dress up - skirt, heels, make-up, hair. I leave myself at least 1/2 hour more than I think I'll need for travel time.

Today is Friday. Hubby's day off, school holidays. My de-facto dad asked if I could track down a grave site for him and take a photo. Something to do with tracing ancestors. We planned the outing for this morning. Not being sure how much trekking through the cemetery would be required, we prepared for walking - shorts, sneakers, hats, t-shirts. Thankfully, being spring, I wasn't sure if it was going to be a shorts sort of day, so I wore long pants.

After hiking all over the cemetery and finally deciding the grave site didn't have a marker, we headed for home. On the way, the phone rang. It was a recruitment agency who I had applied with about a month or so back. They have a 6-week temp position, starting on Tuesday. Would I be interested and could I come in for an interview?

"Um ... I'm actually 5 minutes from your office, but I'm not really dressed for an interview." (Hot, sweaty, trackie bottoms, sneakers, old company t-shirt, no make-up, hair doing who knows what.)

"No problem. Come in anyway."

Went to the interview, sat an Excel test, started for home. Got a phone call on the way home. As long as my references check out ('cause I didn't have their details on me) the position is mine.

All that wonderful advice out there on how to impress in an interview and land a job? Well, it's all great, I'm sure, but at the end of the day, life will be what it is, and sometimes it just wants to mess with your mind.

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