Friday, April 5, 2013

How to fail an interview


Yikes it’s been a while!

I started a new job and it’s kept me pretty busy. 

I was so surprised that I actually got the job, especially after I gave the worst interview answer in the world.

The interviewers rattled off the usual questions, and I gave the fine-tuned answers they were looking for. I had it in the bag.

Then they threw the curveball.

“If you could be any superhero, who would you be and why?”

Now, there are many excellent work-related answers to this question. A few examples:

“I would be Superman because I could be even more efficient with the gift of flight.”

“I’d pick Spiderman because I love helping people. I admire his compassion and ability to face whatever problems he encounters.”

Unfortunately, I couldn’t come up with these or any superheroes for that matter.

The silence in the room was suffocating and I could feel the interviewers’ gazes fixed upon me.

I had to say something. Anything.

My internal conversation sounded a bit like this:

“Why can’t you come up with a superhero? Give me a name!”

“I got nothing.”

“Are you joking me? How many superhero movies have come out in the past five years? And you can’t come up with one single name?”

“Nope.”

Suddenly my mind remembered something! The Avengers. Score! A superhero gold mine!

Unfortunately, I made the lamest selection ever.

Captain America? Nope.

Iron Man? No.

The Hulk? I wish.

Hawkeye? Not even.

I picked Black Widow. BLACK WIDOW! Geesh. Still, at least I had answered the question so we could finally move on.

Then one of the interviewers said, “Hmmm interesting choice. Why did you pick her?”

Ahhh! Panic mode set-in again. What did Black Widow even do?

“Uhh I like Black Widow because she’s um, good at interrogating people without them realizing it.”

My response was met with blank stares, which signalled that I needed another reason to validate my choice.

“And she’s also good at gymnastic stunts.”

Great. So I chose a superhero based on her ability to interrogate people and do gymnastics.

Luckily, one of the interviewers mentioned she hadn’t actually seen Avengers yet. This led into an excellent tangent about what superhero movies were worth watching.

The rest of the interview went ok, but I was glad when it was all over.

Then the real surprise came. They offered me the job!

I’ve been truly blessed by God. I love Him and I know I wouldn’t be here without His help.

Everything good in my life is because of Him.

Hope everyone is doing well! 

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