Don't jinx it

I got a call for a second interview today. Deep breath. I'm still trying to figure out how this will all work and not worry about what happens one way or another. Deep breath. Stress has been through the roof at work the past few weeks, not just on those occasions when I open my mouth and fail to close it in time. Deeeeeeeeep breath. But I'll just have to see what happens and accept it.

I had spent the past few days second guessing myself and my responses in the interview last week, trying to decide if I came across friendly or dorky, smart or even clueless because I didn't really understand what was being asked. That's what usually happens after I've had time to reflect, and I'm usually wrong. So I'm not going to replay it and I'll go into the second interview (with the CEO) with a clear head.

One of my favorite interviews was years ago for a very part-time position. It was for just 10 hours a week with a very small organization contracted by the hospital, with an office actually in the hospital. I was still in school and had another part-time job. I may have also been doing my husband's work by then, but I can't remember.

I showed up at the interview, full of confidence. I know it's a little strange, but I always show up that way. I come across well in interviews and can sound intelligent when it's required. I'd also had a class in business and professional speaking and we studied for interviews so I was prepared and also aware of body language.

Anyway, I arrived and there was someone else waiting for her own interview. I was mentally shocked and displaced! Seeing someone else in line to interview somehow shook me as if I'd been thinking I was the only one they were going to interview. Maybe that's how I boost my confidence when I interview, by subconsciously imagining they've been through the resumes and decided they only need to interview one candidate -- me.

We both sat there waiting, and then I was called in which meant she was not only early for her interview, she was early for mine! That also threw me, and I couldn't decide if I'd lost points for being so slow to grasp the concept of early arrival or if she was just stupid for being ridiculously early and they would see that.

Conducting the interview were two women, both of them older than me, both easily described as former hippies who moved on and were living conventional lives. I'm too young to be a true hippie, although I can hang with the best of them. They were really nice and I have absolutely no idea what they asked me because I was hyperfocused on the candidate sitting in the waiting area. I believed I came across as surly and pinched.

I left the interview thinking I'd never blown anything that badly. I got in the car, ran a couple of errands, and drove home, slamming my way into the house. Still surly. My answering machine was lit up and I had a message that they would like to offer me the job. I was absolutely floored.

That was my lesson in don't judge an interview by it's cover. Last week when I interviewed, I was in the waiting area when another candidate finished her interview. She had clearly had the first one of the day so she completed an application in the chair next to me while I waited for them to regroup and call me in. Since I learned that lesson years ago I didn't let it get to me this time. I really do subscribe to the theory that you should take something away from every success and/or failure. Even if it's just that you shouldn't be surly.

So now I've got to do this again and we'll see what happens. Biggest obstacle? How to get away from work for an hour without tipping my hand. Especially when the interview is with a company across the street from where I now work. I'll have to hide my car.

Interview tip: don't look like you're skipping school.