Have to do some deeper thinking about this, and though I do suspect it has to do with attitude and inability to adjust and keep things more hidden the way I used to easily do because Lord knows, I had some glowing recommendation letters, I had to share this one bit with you from an interview gone wrong. The scenario is an application for a secretarial position at an elementary school:
Interviewer, one of three, (a BOE member who never looked me directly in the eye): So, why Townville?
Me (what I wanted to say at least): Well (smiling), Townville is so very unique among Connecticut towns and cities because for one thing, it happens to have a position available in the very area of interest in which I’m applying.
Regardless of this, it’s still me, the square peg hopping around a board of round holes. Perhaps I’m just one of those who take some time to grow on people. Or maybe it’s a matter of time warp and misplaced space.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology
OK I don’t know you know you, but I think I know you enough to recognize that you know exactly what to do and say in order to get a job anywhere. I suppose the existential question (I’m not sure it’s really existential) is, are you willing to do that? Maybe/probably the answer is “no” and maybe you are in a place where you need to work for yourself or in a position where you can do it on your terms and be the incredible person you are. Of course I’m just mirroring what I think you already said. 🙂
Your comment is a fairly accurate picture since 1)I’m not as good an actress as I believe myself to be and 2)there were only a couple jobs that I really wanted and this was not one of them. I left the secretarial field long ago and went into business for myself because I thought it was a waste of my brain to type out what someone else wanted to say–even though I usually was allowed to speak for my boss eventually anyway. So no, secretarial is something I can do, not what I want to do.
What I want to do is something that on an interview–even if I got that far–I’m not really qualified to do but I know damn well I can do it without needing much of a learning curve.
Unfortunately, an employer doesn’t know this and I really can’t blame them for not taking the chance on me.
On this particular job, I spent each day after the interview praying they wouldn’t call me–and feeling horribly guilty because I’d pressured three people into a rush letter of rec for me for this particular position. Why praying? Because if it had been offered, I would have had to take it.
I believe there are a zillion jobs out there that we’re not qualified for on paper, but that we’re absolutely qualified to do. I’ve BS’d my way into the last several jobs I’ve had — not by lying, but by making my prior experience stretch to fit and by playing up my strong suits. I don’t know what the job is that you would like, but I am supremely confident that given the chance, if you know you could do it, you can and there’s someone out there who’d like to be convinced of that. My company has hired a half dozen people over the last three years for a position in my territory and none of them have worked out. They looked good on paper, but the resume really has nothing to do with what the person needs to accomplish. I finally got the chance to recommend someone who we’re making an offer to — his resume alone would disqualify him, but he is motivated, smart, has common sense (so not common) and knows how to read people. I think you should go for the job you want and forget about your on paper qualifications. All you need is someone smart enough to give you a chance.