Folks, a word of caution.. I am in a bad mood as I am typing this - as,(out of my own stupidity), I have re-lived, yes you heard it correct RE LIVED, as in lived again(in my thoughts), one of the pathetic interviews I had attended. When I say ONE of the pathetic, well you can guess - I have many in the list.
A promise I made to myself while I am typing this out is - I will not post this, till I am employed - so if you are reading this, it means I have landed in a job recently.
I have an interview phobia - on the day of the interview, I feel feverish, get chills, have sweaty palms and feet, my mouth becomes dry, feel my legs would give away and I would fall down,have constant fear that I would not be able to recollect the things I know - well these are some of the symptoms. There are many symptoms, that I cannot even describe. Fortunately, all these are not visible on the outside(I presume), since, I felt, that the interviewers viewed me as a confidant and intelligent person.
Well this was an US based company, recently set up its office in India, though has been doing business in India for quite some time.
I had already done a telephonic round of interview(well, thats is what it is called these days), and this was my face-to-face round.The office is was in one of the largest IT parks in Bangalore, and it was huffing and puffing, long walk in the afternoon humid climate, from the main gate.
I reached the place on time. The security was doing the receptionist job. I called the HR on his mobile. He came with a big smile on his face and said that the CFO had not yet come back from lunch and hence asked me to wait. @#%!, it was 3.30 p.m. Alright, I waited till 4.00 p.m and the great man came in. He noticed me sitting in the reception and asked - ''Monica??!'', I jumped up and acknowledged. He asked me to follow him and took me to a meeting room.
Well I am not going to go into the details of all the questions he asked.Most were related to the position, and very few were related to my past experience.They wanted someone who could handle the whole gamut of Finance(accounts, audit, MIS, tax, compliances payroll, and what not). I said, though I did not have experience in handling most of the things, I would take this up as a challenge and give it a try. Nope..they did not want any trials,they want some one who could right away handle everything. Then why in the sweet hell did they call me for an interview. They pretty much could deduce what my strengths are and what my previous experience and expertise is from my 45 minute telephonic interview.
''Monica, you know this?no, well we are looking for someone who could handle that. You know that? no, well we need expertise on that''.
I was pissed off. I felt as if I was called for an interview just to me intimidated.
Now, comes the BAAP of all the pissing offs - ''Tell me, are you trustworthy?''.
When I answered yes, ''Prove it''.
How the hell would anyone prove trustworthiness? I still controlled my temper, and in an even tone, said that trust is something which gets built over time and that had not done any untrustworthy acts in my past.
''Give me an instance, where you proved you are trustworthy''
Seriously reader, I don't know others lives, but I have not been given an opportunity in my professional life where in I could prove my trustworthiness.I am very bad at telling lies and that too, if I had to concat it instantly, I fail miserably. So, I stuck to truth and said, that I do not have any instance
I was given a sarcastic smile and was urged to think. I stuck to my stance.
One more question where I find myself tongue-tied is - ''What are you as a person?''
I would love to hear from you reader, what your answer would have been in similar situation.
Date : 07/02/2013 5.21p.m.
