Man today was just "one of those days". I left here early this morning at and arrived at the airport at about 7:30 AM. It took 40+ minutes to get through the wonderful TSA checkpoint and I had just enough time to run to my terminal and onto the plane. I landed in (the city of destination) a half hour late because we sat on the tarmac for about 40 minutes while Delta skimmed over the Dummies Guide to Flying a Big Airplane. Did I mention that while we sat on the tarmac, with engines off to save precious fuel, some wise acre let an SBD? Folks it isn't cool to pass gas on the plane. I'm not pointing fingers here, but you know who you are and YES, we CAN smell it. I don't know who they think they're fooling as if nothing happened...but I digress.
I took the mass transit train towards down town where I needed to be only to have the train actually die on the tracks. I couldn't begin to make this stuff up. I eventually did arrive at my location about a half hour late with all apologies and that was with a 3 hour window so that I could eat at some point. Needless to say I had no food or water from 8AM to 2PM when I walked into the board room. I asked for a glass of water, they had none but I did get a glass of warm cranberry juice. Have you ever had cranberry juice when you're parched already? It'll suck the spit you have left right out of your salivary glands and even though it was wet, I almost choked on it in front of all those nice people.
They were all very understanding though after all they did buy the ticket and schedule all of this so technically it wasn't my fault or theirs. After brief introductions they hit me with the interview questions. I have to admit, they didn't ask me a single question that I thought I would be asked, but even still, I think I nailed it. Then we went off to the testing center, oh yes, they weren't going to take my word for it that I was a sharp cookie, oh no, I had to prove it! I'll admit, I wasn't in my best form. I was tired, hungry, needed to pee and mentally drained from the board questions.
After the testing and interviewing was done I went back to the airport, about 5:30 or 6:00PM by now, still no food but a secretary did ask me if I wanted a bottle of water right before I was to leave and I sucked that thing down like nectar from the gods. Once back at the airport I had 45 minutes to eat a quick dinner/breakfast/only meal of the day at Panda Express; I only needed 5, I was starving.
As for coming back, we had to divert because of weather and fly around the storm, but hey, what's another hour or two to a flight right? Delta is actually an acronym for "Don't Ever Let Them Arrive".
But I did learn some things to share here.
- 1.) Keep your cool even if everything is going wrong. I did and the board acted like it was no big deal.
- 2.) Try to keep your best poker face and don't complain or whine when making a first impression, even if you are choking down a glass of luke warm cranberry juice after no hydration for the day. Smile, be charming and act like everything is hunky dory especially when it isn't.
- 3.) If you get asked questions you did not expect, keep calm, don't B.S. the answer think about it for a minute if you have to. You'll likely always find there is more than one way to answer a question. Sometimes I buy time by rephrasing the question then answering it.
- 4.) Expect the unexpected and then don't even expect that much. Be prepared for general wackiness when traveling on business.
- 5.) Check in early, get an isle seat or window. Don't get stuck next to an air sick kid on one side sneaking farts while the guy on your right smells like sweat and sour laundry. (Yeah, that happened too).
- 6.) Pack extra resumes. Preferably a comprehensive as opposed to the abbreviated one. They asked for a copy and I was like a Boy Scout, prepared.
- 7.) Make sure you take a day off after an ordeal like this. I'm not working tomorrow and Lord knows I need the rest.
- 8.) Agonizing though it may be, refrain from asking questions about the other candidates. I saw one today and I was so tempted to ask, but to be honest, that's really none of my business and if I were in her shoes (the HR rep escorting me around) I wouldn't like that at all. Curiosity though.
- 9.) Be prepared for rejection but accept it graciously if it does come. I'll be honest, one of the reasons I was so cool about being late and beaten by Delta and the mass transit system like a red headed step kid was because honestly I'm comfortable where I'm at. I'm also in demand enough not to sweat one bygone opportunity and what's more there are times when nothing is as unattractive to a hiring manager as desperation. A manager wants to know he/she is getting someone that's in demand, that away the feel less like they are taking a chance. It's interviewing psychology but I find it works.
- 10.) My MBA was brought up today. They liked that little tidbit guys. It was almost as good as having one. If you're curious about how to list a degree you're working on, see my previous blogs.
In closing the experience was great though the circumstances were horrible. I adapted and whether I get hired or not, I was successful. It certainly has been a character building experience.
--Cheers,
Cajun