My interview was at 10, so I had ample time to fuss and stress before I left the house this morning. I ended up wearing black slacks and a red blouse, after changing a few times. I first interviewed with the person who would be my manager, should I be hired, and a person who also works in that department. It was fairly standard; they asked about experience and had questions specifically focused on things like client relations and the need to be able to handle criticism with the correct attitude. Then they had four other people from the team come in, and there were more questions about work-related stuff. I actually handled it pretty well.
Here's a little anecdote:
Mr. Manager asked me a question about "the stages of team development". Now, I know nothing about management theory and all that crap. BUT, I totally RULED. I said, "I'm not an expert, but let me think." And I thought out loud, and described what I saw as obvious stages of a team. It was something like, "Well, a team starts by forming. It could be intentional, such as a team forming as part of a business directive, or incidental, such as people being the only survivors of a plane crash and needing to team together for survival. Then they get to know one another, and either consciously or subconsciously agree and commit to being a team. They formally or informally decide on roles, and define a mission. They start accomplishing their mission, must evaluate (possibly cyclically) their progress, to determine whether they need to reassign or redefine roles or mission objectives, then progress with mission, then find completion. Again, these steps could be formalized or just subconscious." And Mr. Manager said, "Wow, that is pretty close to a textbook answer." And I said, "Yep, as I said, I am very good at taking ideas and forming them into a system." I think that was a strong point in my favor.
Anyway, after the various people took turns asking relevant questions, one of them asked me (I think this was the first odd question in this portion), "What is your favorite dessert?" I replied, "Pretty much anything chocolate," and she nodded in approval. Another person said, "What, you're going straight to the lightning round?" Apparently, in group interviews, if they like a person, they have a system to get to know the candidate's personality, and they start asking random questions: favorite color, top five favorite movies, favorite books and music, etc. They are a quirky group, that's for sure.
One very nice thing: the dress code is relaxed to non-existent (unless one is meeting with customers). Coming from an office where I was allowed to wear jeans and Skechers (engineers hafta go to the lab, you know) pretty much every day if I chose (although not, of course, when we had a big meeting), the prospect of having to wear nice clothes every day was daunting. The truth of the matter is that I once worked in a fancy restaurant where I was required to wear a skirt, nylons, and high heels, and do my hair in a French twist kind of thing. When I finished that job, I promised myself that I would never, ever work in a place that forced me to wear nylons and high heels. So far, I have kept my promise to myself: at Intel, casual was king; tutoring at Sylvan, jeans and t-shirts were verboten, but business casual was allowed; at the above-mentioned HATC, practical professional clothing was encouraged. My trend seems to be continuing. I love working in the tech industry.
It sounded as though they are planning to take steps to get me on board. We'll see how it goes.
//stop here to avoid discussion of women's lingerie//
The interviewers no doubt thought that it was my greatness that dazzled them. However, I must give credit where credit is due: my stunning brilliance came from my secret weapon, the Hello Kitty* undies that I donned this morning for extra good luck. The power of Hello Kitty is such that mere mortals must wield it only in the form of undergarments. To wear Hello Kitty uncovered would likely prove so overwhelming as to blind and/or incapacitate onlookers. Being a responsible citizen, I kept Hello Kitty under wraps, but channeled the power, yo. Respect and revere Hello Kitty!!*Trademarked by Sanrio; all rights and monetary privileges of Hello Kitty belong to them.
3 comments:
Sounds like a good interview. Go, Hello Kitty! And Deb!
Dad said you left out stormin'.
Formin', stormin', normin', performin'.
Heeeeeey... that's exactly what I was going to say! My mother taught me well.
Interestingly, I don't mind wearing slacks and a blouse every day to work. It's actually more comfortable than jeans, in my opinion. Here in Metzger, the Registrar's office doesn't really get a casual day. If you wear jeans on Friday, they must be black and not blue. So I don't even bother.
And Hello Kitty is cute.
Sporty clothes can still look professional. Today I'm wearing navy knit slacks, white t shirt and a navy Nike zip up jacket. Very sporty and casual but still not jeans. My reason-- I wore black clogs two days in a row and this morning my feet hurt so I put on white walking/sport shoes. My attire depends solely on how my feet feel. Of course, I can mostly wear what I want to school although Wed is casual day.
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