Interview Process

I really hate the interviewing process. I understand that it is a necessity and needs to be done, but how many of us are ON when it comes to interviews? Sure, there are people who are just ready for anything and everything, but what about people like me? I had an interview this morning and I thought it went okay. I had answers for each question, really didn't fumble and I felt confident. My last interview wasn't that great; I think I had a "got this in the bag" attitude because of the excitement that employer orginally had about my resume and I am sure that attitude came across, which is why I didn't receive a call back on that one.

Interviews have always been hard for me, partly because I am shy, but I also have a hard time talking myself up. I am also not good at BS-ing when it comes to face to face contact. I can BS w/the best of them on paper or in writing, but when it's person to person, I have a hard time not being who I am. Sometimes I feel that hurts my chances, but I can't help it. If you ask me what my career goals are, I'm going to say that I am not sure because I am not sure. I am not going to lie and say, "oh I want to be CEO of my own company one day...." No, I'm going to say, "honestly, I am not sure, I'm still trying to find my niche, blah blah...." Or, "we do formatting in Word that requires margins, alignment and inserting Excel spreadsheets. Are you familiar with that?" "No, I am not, but I am a very quick learner and if I am shown a process in which things need to be done, I pick up on that very quickly and am able to retain the information." I am not going to say, "Yeah! I can do that." And then when it's time to perform, choke.

So, does honesty pay off? Sometimes I just think that being myself and being honest hurts my chances more than faking things a little bit. Whenever I do fake things, though...like pretending to my bosses that I care even a little about the company I work for, I feel disgusting afterwards and do not like myself. So, what do I do? Unforunately, faking things seems to get you places. I guess all I can hope for is that my honesty might been seen as geniune, that I will be seen to have integrity, and maybe that will win me some points.

The White Stripes - Stop Breaking Down