A Tale Of Two Job Interviews

Mark

Second interviews. It’s almost time for the interview. As he pulls into the office 30 minutes early, Mark does a quick double take. This is what all the preparation came down to - he was ready to get this job. He NEEDED this job. Working at Big Prestigious Firm was something he thought about all his life. Sure, all those other companies turned him down, but the preparation wasn’t for them anyway. His black suit with black tie showed he was serious.

Every interview question on the internet? Answered. All job interview tips? Read. His resume? Spotless, no holes. Mark could answer anything you could throw at him. Hell, he even did job interview competitions in high school. Between all the preparation and recitation, it came down to this. He even went out of his way to enter in the case competition the firm put on. Mark couldn’t just throw that-

“Mark, it’s nice to meet you. Please come into my office.”

And then it started. His name was called. Intensely, he got out of the chair and stormed into the nearest corner office. His interviewer’s name was Frank.

After talking about the recent heat wave and massive other types of weather, Mark sat down directly across from Frank, who posed the same question that he said to every other candidate today.

“Tell me about yourself.”

Yes, Frank thought, it wasn’t very original. Frank was tired, to say the least. This was the last round of interviews for recruiting season and he had a ton of client work to get back to. Why are senior managers doing these again?

To Mark, this was his chance to make the sell on himself. He would take that opportunity and crush it. This work experience, the time his coworkers needed him, his greatest strength and weakness, it seemed like he had answers to everything. Future goals? He thought about the ultimate certification combo: CPA/CFP dual designations. Grinding out the back and forth, the push-pull of a basic interview started to wear on him.

“It looks like that’s all the time we have. Do you have any questions?”

Finally, the interview was over. Mark hoped the preparation would lead to a call next week.

Rick

Second interviews. It’s almost time for the interview. As he walks into the office a smooth 7 minutes before interviews start, Rick is calm, collective, and (of course) cool. He knows what it takes to get the job: make them love him. Going to the three campus recruiting events hosted by the firm got him in the door, but he was sure that they would throw new people at him. His pinstripe suit with matching pocket-square showed something more than the other candidates. It showed he was relaxed.

Sure, Big Prestigious Firm was actually the company he wanted to work at. He let one of the senior associates he had dinner with the other night know. It was the only big company left recruiting. He had been turned down by all the other ones. No big deal, they don’t know what they’ve lost out on-

“Rick, it’s nice to meet you. Please come into my office.”

With poise and a smile, he walked to meet the person by the nearest corner office. His interviewer’s name was Frank.

After talking a bit about the college football scene, Richard scanned the office for anything that could tell him more about Frank. Was that...a mini surfboard?

“Do you surf? I used to be a skater.”

Wow, Frank thought, I LOVE surfing. What this guy doesn’t know is I sometimes wake up before work at 4:30 AM to do this. Interviews have been pretty boring all day today and I’m starting to feel really tired.

“Yeah I’ve been doing it since I’ve come over from England.”

They talked pretty casually about surfing, which led to why Frank came from England, which led to how he really likes his accent, which led to what different countries they’ve traveled to, which led to the similarities and differences in their separate trips to Japan which led to…

“Oh wow, it seems like we’ve gone over our time here. I guess I need to ask you an actual question during an interview...why this firm?”

The flowing conversation ended. Finally the interview was over, but Rick could only smile.

Based on true experiences.