One of These Things Is Not Like the Other
Apr. 11th, 2013 03:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
geeklover80I'm going to try not to be too pessimistic, but I don't have high hopes of getting the job.
I tried to do what my boyfriend suggested and project some confidence, but that sort of deflated as soon as I walked into the store and they directed me to the back with the other people set to be interviewed. I knew that there were going to be other people being interviewed. When they called, they indicated that they would be interviewing several people. One of the things I was worried about was how long I would be there, depending on how many people there were to be interviewed, because Mike was waiting for me.
The lady at the front said I could look at the dresses or wait in the back with the other girls, since it was ten minutes before the interviews would start. I started looking at dresses, but then decided to just sit in the back and wait, just in case the interviewer got there early. When I got in the back, there were three other women there and they were chatting it up like the best of friends, even though they'd just met. The chairs were kind of placed around haphazardly. There were two chairs that were kind of far away from the other girls, and I didn't want to appear like the anti-social girl that I am, but that's where I choose to sit. I could have moved the chair, but I felt awakward enough as it was.
I mostly sat there quietly, listened to their conversations. I have to say I never feel fatter than when I'm trying on clothes or around a group of skinny women. It didn't help that there were mirrors all over the place. I looked down at my pants, and it looked like I was the Hulk, practically busting out of them. To my horror, I noticed that there was a huge rip in a seam in the thigh area of my pants. I spent the rest of the interview covering up the area either with my hands or pulling my shirt down, even though you really couldn't see it, unless you were looking.
I was kind of in a rush before I left for the interview and wasn't sure which shoes to wear. I don't have many shoes, and especially not more business-like, appropriate for an interview shoes. I wore these really thin socks and put on some flats. While waiting for the interviewer I looked down at my shoes and regretted the decision. It just looked really weird, especially since the socks were a way darker black than the shoes. One of the girls made some small talk with me, said she thought she knew me from somewhere, but I didn't contribute much to the "conversation." Thankfully, the interviewer got there then. It was a woman named Andrea, she was one of the women who helped me with dresses when I had been trying on wedding dresses a couple of months ago. She was really nice. She recognized.
I kept hoping upon hope that it wouldn't be an actual group interview. I thought they'd just call us into some room in the back, one by one. Unfortunately, Andrea said they were supposed to conduct the interview with all of us right there where we were seated, which I wasn't too keen on, because there was a bridal party nearby trying on bridesmaid dresses. Andrea then announced that we'd do the interview in the back, so we followed her to their tiny break room. On the one hand, a group interview has some advantages. With some of the questions, some of the others answers gave me something to think about and made me up my game a little. But being around the others made me more nervous and I kept comparing myself to the other women and that does not lead to good things for me. I would be intimidated enough one on one, but to be right there with the other applicants was not something I wanted.
Andrea asked us a series of questions, and each one of us in turn had too answer. Luckily, I was third every time, so I could have time to think about my answers. I was doing ok, but then the third question came up and it was like out of a nightmare. She had us stand up, one at a time, and try to pretend we were trying to convince someone to buy any of the stuff we were wearing. I didn't particularly like anything that I was worrying. I just choose to wear what I did, because it was one of my better professional looking outfits. I figured one of my best selling points would be my flat, but I didn't want to draw attention to my hideous shoe/sock combo but I didn't have much choice. I was nervous as all hell, but managed to form complete sentences of complete BS.
I got a little less excited about the job, the more I heard about it. They were looking for a part-time consultant, since one of theirs was leaving. I didn't particularly relish the thought of, literally, helping people into clothes or trying to find clothes that would look best on someone, since I don't do really well with that. And the thought of dealing with Bridezillas was not appealing. I wouldn't cut a bitch, but I wouldn't be able to hide the disgust on my face. Plus, I'm just not interested, or very good, at sales. I don't like trying to push people to buy things. And she said that the job was mostly commission based, which did not really appeal to me. Andrea said that there was definitely one position available, maybe two. So 50/50 shot for the four of us there. There was one woman there who was really friendly and had a great answer for everything. If I were in charge of hiring, I would probably hire her.
After the interview was over, was when things got slightly awkward, at least for me. Andrea said she would find one of the managers, Mark to say a brief hello and answer any questions. She left us and the other girls started talking again. One of them started talking about being on a lot of interviews and the frustration. One of the other girls mentioned her last interview with a tanning place, which led to the all three of them to start talking about tans and how much they all needed one. I don't have much use for tanning beds, so I once again didn't have much to contribute. One of them said something like, "I desperately need a tan." And I thought about jokingly saying something like "Not me. I have a natural tan." But I kept that to myself. I always think those kind of comebacks, but never say them out loud. The group experience definitely confirmed for me that I am not good at making friends, especially in group settings.
Anyway, the manager Mark came back, said hello and explained that they would call us next week after checking our references, which definitely worried me a little because I couldn't even remember who I used for references. They said after that they would call for a second interview.
Don't have my hopes up, but not completely down.
After that was over, I was incredibly hungry and so was Michael. It was our cheat day so we went to Cracker Barrel, since it was close by. We were both doing good, ordering low carb things. But then we looked at the desserts. Mike's been craving ice cream lately. I saw that they had a baked apple dumpling. I really loved the one we had at the Renaissance Festival last month. So we decided to order that and split it. While we waited, I decided to start putting things in my calorie counter app. To my horror, as I was looking at the list of Cracker Barrel foods, I saw that the Baked dumpling had over 3000 calories and over 400 g of carbs. Cheat day or not, that was way too much. Mike laughed, but he said it was too late. Mike's really conscientious and I love that; he'll stack all of his plates together at restaurants so it's easier for the waitess or waiter. But in this situation I was like "It's not too late to send it back." And he argued that they already put the order in so it was too late. He said he would eat most of it. We both ate some of it, but we couldn't finish because we were stuffed. It was good, but not as good as the one at the Festival. Later, even though Mike had insisted we not change the order, he joked that it would have been easier to fill a syringe with butter and mainline it. Ha!
I tried to do what my boyfriend suggested and project some confidence, but that sort of deflated as soon as I walked into the store and they directed me to the back with the other people set to be interviewed. I knew that there were going to be other people being interviewed. When they called, they indicated that they would be interviewing several people. One of the things I was worried about was how long I would be there, depending on how many people there were to be interviewed, because Mike was waiting for me.
The lady at the front said I could look at the dresses or wait in the back with the other girls, since it was ten minutes before the interviews would start. I started looking at dresses, but then decided to just sit in the back and wait, just in case the interviewer got there early. When I got in the back, there were three other women there and they were chatting it up like the best of friends, even though they'd just met. The chairs were kind of placed around haphazardly. There were two chairs that were kind of far away from the other girls, and I didn't want to appear like the anti-social girl that I am, but that's where I choose to sit. I could have moved the chair, but I felt awakward enough as it was.
I mostly sat there quietly, listened to their conversations. I have to say I never feel fatter than when I'm trying on clothes or around a group of skinny women. It didn't help that there were mirrors all over the place. I looked down at my pants, and it looked like I was the Hulk, practically busting out of them. To my horror, I noticed that there was a huge rip in a seam in the thigh area of my pants. I spent the rest of the interview covering up the area either with my hands or pulling my shirt down, even though you really couldn't see it, unless you were looking.
I was kind of in a rush before I left for the interview and wasn't sure which shoes to wear. I don't have many shoes, and especially not more business-like, appropriate for an interview shoes. I wore these really thin socks and put on some flats. While waiting for the interviewer I looked down at my shoes and regretted the decision. It just looked really weird, especially since the socks were a way darker black than the shoes. One of the girls made some small talk with me, said she thought she knew me from somewhere, but I didn't contribute much to the "conversation." Thankfully, the interviewer got there then. It was a woman named Andrea, she was one of the women who helped me with dresses when I had been trying on wedding dresses a couple of months ago. She was really nice. She recognized.
I kept hoping upon hope that it wouldn't be an actual group interview. I thought they'd just call us into some room in the back, one by one. Unfortunately, Andrea said they were supposed to conduct the interview with all of us right there where we were seated, which I wasn't too keen on, because there was a bridal party nearby trying on bridesmaid dresses. Andrea then announced that we'd do the interview in the back, so we followed her to their tiny break room. On the one hand, a group interview has some advantages. With some of the questions, some of the others answers gave me something to think about and made me up my game a little. But being around the others made me more nervous and I kept comparing myself to the other women and that does not lead to good things for me. I would be intimidated enough one on one, but to be right there with the other applicants was not something I wanted.
Andrea asked us a series of questions, and each one of us in turn had too answer. Luckily, I was third every time, so I could have time to think about my answers. I was doing ok, but then the third question came up and it was like out of a nightmare. She had us stand up, one at a time, and try to pretend we were trying to convince someone to buy any of the stuff we were wearing. I didn't particularly like anything that I was worrying. I just choose to wear what I did, because it was one of my better professional looking outfits. I figured one of my best selling points would be my flat, but I didn't want to draw attention to my hideous shoe/sock combo but I didn't have much choice. I was nervous as all hell, but managed to form complete sentences of complete BS.
I got a little less excited about the job, the more I heard about it. They were looking for a part-time consultant, since one of theirs was leaving. I didn't particularly relish the thought of, literally, helping people into clothes or trying to find clothes that would look best on someone, since I don't do really well with that. And the thought of dealing with Bridezillas was not appealing. I wouldn't cut a bitch, but I wouldn't be able to hide the disgust on my face. Plus, I'm just not interested, or very good, at sales. I don't like trying to push people to buy things. And she said that the job was mostly commission based, which did not really appeal to me. Andrea said that there was definitely one position available, maybe two. So 50/50 shot for the four of us there. There was one woman there who was really friendly and had a great answer for everything. If I were in charge of hiring, I would probably hire her.
After the interview was over, was when things got slightly awkward, at least for me. Andrea said she would find one of the managers, Mark to say a brief hello and answer any questions. She left us and the other girls started talking again. One of them started talking about being on a lot of interviews and the frustration. One of the other girls mentioned her last interview with a tanning place, which led to the all three of them to start talking about tans and how much they all needed one. I don't have much use for tanning beds, so I once again didn't have much to contribute. One of them said something like, "I desperately need a tan." And I thought about jokingly saying something like "Not me. I have a natural tan." But I kept that to myself. I always think those kind of comebacks, but never say them out loud. The group experience definitely confirmed for me that I am not good at making friends, especially in group settings.
Anyway, the manager Mark came back, said hello and explained that they would call us next week after checking our references, which definitely worried me a little because I couldn't even remember who I used for references. They said after that they would call for a second interview.
Don't have my hopes up, but not completely down.
After that was over, I was incredibly hungry and so was Michael. It was our cheat day so we went to Cracker Barrel, since it was close by. We were both doing good, ordering low carb things. But then we looked at the desserts. Mike's been craving ice cream lately. I saw that they had a baked apple dumpling. I really loved the one we had at the Renaissance Festival last month. So we decided to order that and split it. While we waited, I decided to start putting things in my calorie counter app. To my horror, as I was looking at the list of Cracker Barrel foods, I saw that the Baked dumpling had over 3000 calories and over 400 g of carbs. Cheat day or not, that was way too much. Mike laughed, but he said it was too late. Mike's really conscientious and I love that; he'll stack all of his plates together at restaurants so it's easier for the waitess or waiter. But in this situation I was like "It's not too late to send it back." And he argued that they already put the order in so it was too late. He said he would eat most of it. We both ate some of it, but we couldn't finish because we were stuffed. It was good, but not as good as the one at the Festival. Later, even though Mike had insisted we not change the order, he joked that it would have been easier to fill a syringe with butter and mainline it. Ha!
