I once applied for a job that was situated in the town of Barrie, Ontario. I hate the town of Barrie, but I was living with a girl, at her house, in that town. She would consistently urge me to get a job, and living there, I would have to get one in that town. The job I applied for was a Group On like company, that was apparently more high end. You know, the type of company where they get a large group of people to buy your product at a discounted price. They catered to businesses that targeted the more affluent market. When I set up the interview, they booked me a Hilton Hotel in Toronto, of course, at their expense.
I went and spent the night at the Hilton, which was bloody nice, and then had my interview at nine, the next morning. I spoke with a few of the managers from the company before the interview, and they all gave me the impression that there was positive discussion about me. I had good experience and references, and I was very familiar with the nature of the business. Before I showered and got ready, I went out to the parking lot and smoked a joint, to calm my nerves. I was still a bit nervous, even though I was pretty confident I would nail the interview.
It was time for my interview and I went up to the conference room on the fourth floor. I noticed that out of all the other applicants, I was the best dressed. I had a suit and tie, where many of the others simply had casual clothing. My interview was with three people, two women and a man. They welcomed me as if they had been told of me. I was giving all the right answers to their questions, and they were occasionally glancing at each other with impressed looks. I knew what answers they were looking for every time because I had history in a prestigious marketing position, knowing what all the managers say "counted".
It was all going towards a positive final decision, until a moment in my "role playing" call to a customer. They gave me the three different business profiles of who I was going to call. One was a limo company, another was a helicopter rides company, and the third was a cupcake ad. I hated the trend of cupcakes that was happening in 2011, so I went with the helicopter rides company. They said okay, with their first hint of disappointment in me.
We did our cheesy role play call, and I still even said all the right things. They were impressed with everything I showed them in my cold calling style, but I made a mistake I could not compensate for. It was because of the cupcake trend, that they wanted me to choose that business to call. They were designed to cater to businesses exactly like the cupcake one. You end up selling 1,000 cupcakes for the little business, where you could really not do so much for a helicopter rides company.
Walking out of the interview I realized my mistake. I was not going to get the job, because I made the wrong role play call. I was really disappointed, but I couldn't take part in a trend that was created by the government to help the middle class deal with a financial collapse that works very well for the rich. I told my girlfriend that the interview went really well, and we'll see if I get the job. Even though I knew that I wouldn't, I still had to keep her satisfied that I wasn't a lost cause. For a few weeks I kept implying that they might give me a call. It wasn't until about a month later that I finally admitted that they must have found someone else.
I realized long after that disappointment, that my actions practically saved my life. That would have been a horrible disaster if I got that job. First of all, it would have tied me to the town of Barrie, which has always been one of my least favourite places I know. Secondly, it would have put me into a depressing trendy job that would have made me hate myself. Most importantly, it would have kept me in a relationship with that girl, who I wasn't interested in, and truthfully, that I had really started to dislike. I'm not going to say that I would have actually committed suicide if I got that job, but I would have occasionally wanted to.
Sure, there is always a silver lining to every cloud, but I feel like this was more than that. I feel like this was much more than that. It was really like dodging a bullet that was very close to hitting me. I feel like my hatred for the cupcake trend saved my life. Call me an optimist, call me what you will.
I went and spent the night at the Hilton, which was bloody nice, and then had my interview at nine, the next morning. I spoke with a few of the managers from the company before the interview, and they all gave me the impression that there was positive discussion about me. I had good experience and references, and I was very familiar with the nature of the business. Before I showered and got ready, I went out to the parking lot and smoked a joint, to calm my nerves. I was still a bit nervous, even though I was pretty confident I would nail the interview.
It was time for my interview and I went up to the conference room on the fourth floor. I noticed that out of all the other applicants, I was the best dressed. I had a suit and tie, where many of the others simply had casual clothing. My interview was with three people, two women and a man. They welcomed me as if they had been told of me. I was giving all the right answers to their questions, and they were occasionally glancing at each other with impressed looks. I knew what answers they were looking for every time because I had history in a prestigious marketing position, knowing what all the managers say "counted".
It was all going towards a positive final decision, until a moment in my "role playing" call to a customer. They gave me the three different business profiles of who I was going to call. One was a limo company, another was a helicopter rides company, and the third was a cupcake ad. I hated the trend of cupcakes that was happening in 2011, so I went with the helicopter rides company. They said okay, with their first hint of disappointment in me.
We did our cheesy role play call, and I still even said all the right things. They were impressed with everything I showed them in my cold calling style, but I made a mistake I could not compensate for. It was because of the cupcake trend, that they wanted me to choose that business to call. They were designed to cater to businesses exactly like the cupcake one. You end up selling 1,000 cupcakes for the little business, where you could really not do so much for a helicopter rides company.
Walking out of the interview I realized my mistake. I was not going to get the job, because I made the wrong role play call. I was really disappointed, but I couldn't take part in a trend that was created by the government to help the middle class deal with a financial collapse that works very well for the rich. I told my girlfriend that the interview went really well, and we'll see if I get the job. Even though I knew that I wouldn't, I still had to keep her satisfied that I wasn't a lost cause. For a few weeks I kept implying that they might give me a call. It wasn't until about a month later that I finally admitted that they must have found someone else.
I realized long after that disappointment, that my actions practically saved my life. That would have been a horrible disaster if I got that job. First of all, it would have tied me to the town of Barrie, which has always been one of my least favourite places I know. Secondly, it would have put me into a depressing trendy job that would have made me hate myself. Most importantly, it would have kept me in a relationship with that girl, who I wasn't interested in, and truthfully, that I had really started to dislike. I'm not going to say that I would have actually committed suicide if I got that job, but I would have occasionally wanted to.
Sure, there is always a silver lining to every cloud, but I feel like this was more than that. I feel like this was much more than that. It was really like dodging a bullet that was very close to hitting me. I feel like my hatred for the cupcake trend saved my life. Call me an optimist, call me what you will.
