It was one of my first job interviews. A freshman in college, I wandered through career fair booths passing out my resume. I was on the hunt for an internship.
The day long, unfocused search through the rows of sharply designed company displays eventually earned me an interview. It was scheduled for the day after the career fair.
The Interview
As I walked up to the first interview, I was confident and positive (albeit nervous) for the next thirty minutes. After shaking hands and introducing myself, I launched into my elevator pitch. Luckily, I had taken the time to perfect the 30 seconds required to tell the pair of interviewers about me, but after that, the interview went off the rails.
I had taken the “Job Preparation 101” class from my university. I knew how to build a resume, introduce myself, and even how to ask for the job at the end of the interview. I KNEW the interview process, but I didn’t implement what I knew- I failed to prepare.
The interviewer lobbed a grenade at me, “Tell me what you know about our company”
Disaster struck immediately after my elevator pitch when one of the interviewers lobbed a grenade at me, “Tell me what you know about our company”.
I didn’t know anything. I knew their name, but I didn’t know what they did. I was unable to answer a basic question about who was sitting across from me. At that point, I am certain I looked more confused than a cross-eyed duck.
The School of Hard Knocks
A first time job seeker or a battle scarred interview veteran, let me give you some encouragement. It is ok to make mistakes during the interview process. Whew- what a relief, right?! Of course, no one feels that way during a terrible interview or after receiving a flush letter for a dream job.
The old adage “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger” seems to be mostly true. I didn’t die that day, but I certainly wanted to crawl under the table and hide until everyone else had gone home.
After the interview, I had the ability to recognize my failure and re-evaluate my preparation process. Interview preparation is more than practicing an elevator pitch, printing extra resumes, and setting out your only other button up shirt the night before a crucial interview.
View mistakes an instant opportunity to highlight a personal growth area. The school of hard knocks is an effective teacher- just make sure you graduate as soon as soon as you can. It was because of that interview catastrophe, I was able to develop and cement a solid pre-interview research process.
Finishing the Interview
I’d like to tell you I was able to answer their question- but I can’t. No suave answer or question back to the interviewers saved me. After a pause, that was entirely too long, I stammered, “I don’t know anything about you, I’m here to learn”.
The rest of the interview was awkward and embarrassingly short. There is no way the interview lasted 15 minutes.
While it was a hard lesson to learn, it cemented my dedication to prepare before interviews. I attended a great university, but my education from the school of hard knocks was the better teacher that day. It is ok to fail during an interview, just avoid making the same mistake twice.