Interview

Today, in honor of having a job interview, I  bought myself a yummy coffee drink.  An interview?  Yes, I agree.  A nice way to start the New Year, right?  What?  Oh, yes, I'm the one who signed into the company's guest log and signed out 14 minutes later.  Am I SURE I had an interview?  Well, yes, I mean, no, I mean, yes, it was an interview.  A few questions, a few answers, that's an interview, right?  And I got dressed up for it too, so I KNOW it was an interview, perhaps slightly more productive than the first interview I had right out of college, when I interviewed at a theater and couldn't name my favorite playwright because most of my knowledge was about television.  That one lasted longer, though, I think.

I used to think that getting to the interview step was a huge thing.  It certainly feels like a huge thing as you try to dress the part and research the company.  But it occurs to me that interviews are much like what I said when I was timing show content during rehearsals and taping on a soap.  The pace of any scene, I used to say, could totally change based on what the actors ate for lunch.  Really.  You could have a one minute scene that would suddenly be 20 seconds.  Or three minutes.  I swear.  And I am beginning to think it might be that way with interviews.  Perhaps your materials cross a person's desk after he or she has had a fantastic lunch and is inclined to think anything is possible.  Interview scheduled.  But if your resume hits the person's email after bad burgers, you might as well keep pounding the proverbial pavement.  You'll never get the chance to dress up or do that research.

So yes, I did have an interview today.  And yes, it did last less than 14 minutes.  And no, I probably won't get the job.  But I dressed up, and the research I did included watching old sitcoms.  So, all in all, nothing lost.  And when you add in the laughs, perhaps something gained.