Up, Down, Up, Down, Up, Down

I have some family & friends who are currently unemployed, and as they go thru the interview process I thought I would share a story, as an example of what not to do, and if you don't think a interview went well, just read this story, and say, "Well, at least it wasn't that bad!"


For this story, I will need to give you some background information. I worked for a company for 6 years, and for the first 9 months, I worked for 4 manager, 3 of which were let go.  The 4th manager and I never saw eye to eye.  She did some shady stuff, and wanted me to put my name on it, and when I refused, lets just say we had some healthy debates.  So, our division went thru a reorganization.   During the process, 7 people from my area (including me) were moved to different areas (which ended up being a blessing). But, still it was a very uncomfortable situation. To the point where for 2 weeks, you could hear a pin drop in the office.

I had heard, that my new boss informed folks that we were coming, and not to discuss the reorganization because it was a touchy subject. I had wished my "old" boss had shared in this same common sense.  But, on our last day, she thought it would be a great idea, to have a farewell, good luck gathering. We were all called into a 2 by 4 conference room, people standing all around, and she made this speech, which would make you choke on the cake.  As she starting to cut the cake, I quietly left the room and went back to my desk to finish out the day.  To my surprise the other 6 people followed me, in addition some other folks, who thought that the cake was a bit to much.

About 30 mins go by and I see my "old" boss holding the sheet cake as she walks towards my desk. She stops and yells at me"You will have a piece of cake." My response; I don't want a piece of cake.  Everyone stopped what they were doing, and you could hear a mouse fart at this point.  As they watched,  she yelled again, " I bought this cake, and you will have a piece of cake" and then she drops it on the file cabinet in front of my cubicle. Pieces of frosting flying in the air. I said, "I tell you what, you see that ( as I point to a trash bin), you leave that cake there, and that is where it is going." She said," you wouldn't dare!" So, I got up took the sheet cake, and threw it right in the trash.  She said, I'm taking you to HR (human resources), I said, go ahead, and you can explain to them how you tried to force me to have a piece of cake.  Needless to say, she never went to HR, and I went on to my new position.

I went on to have 5 years and 3months in the new re-org position but sadly the job  moved "in house" to their New York office. I found myself laid off.  I was given 6 months severance package and after the 6 months I was on  unemployment, so in total I had a year off.  On the last day of my unemployment check I went to a temp agency, picked up a job, but at the same time I was looking for something permanent.

Now that you know the background, here is my interview story.

It was a long time, since I was interviewed, and I really wanted the permanent job I had applied for, so when I got the call I was happy as could be, but nervous as heck.  I went to the interview literally shaking.  I remember what I was wearing like it was yesterday.  A conservative Navy blue skirt, and jacket, navy blue and white pin strips shirt, hair pulled back. Perfectly applied makeup. I'm all set.

I drove to the interview, trying to talk myself out of being nervous. I got to the parking lot, gave myself a pep talk, and I was calm, and ready. I grab my portfolio with resume and references and off I went, but when I stepped out of the car and started to walk, I said to myself, something is wrong. I was uncomfortable in my own shoes. I felt off, so I look down, and I stopped dead in my tracks.  It was then I realized,  My left foot I had one black low heel shoe on, and on the right a Navy blue with a slight heel.  Then it hit me, OMG! What the heck am I going to do!!  I had to go to this interview.  But what am I going to do, limp around?  There is no way, they aren't going to notice that I had two different shoes on, so I had to come up with a plan to play it off.

I started to walk to the building, my left foot I had to walk slightly on my toes so I didn't look like I was limping.  My heart was pounding, as I was trying to get into some kind of rhythm with my new walking style.  I opened the door, went to the receptionist, she called the recruiter, she came out to greet me and lead me to her office, I'm thinking she hasn't noticed yet.  Surely when she sits down across from me, she is going to see, so as she shows me to my seat, I quickly sit at an angle, and place foot with the black shoe (because god forbid that she see's that I didn't match my shoe to the color of my outfit), behind my calve.  The recruiter hadn't noticed. I'm home free.  The interview went great, I was on point on every answer.  She says, I think you are a fit, I want the manger to interview you today. She asked if it was ok, I said, yes, that would be great. Thank you.

She calls the manger, sets up the meeting, and she now is leading me to a conference room.  I am feeling great,  I got the walk down, she hasn't noticed at all about the two different styled shoes. This is it, job is mine.  The doors opens the recruiter walks in, and says, So and So, this is Kim.  Yes folks, you guessed it. It was my "old"  cake wheeling boss.  Her face dropped, My foot with the no heel slowly hits the floor, and I said, "Hold on, this is who you want me to interview with?". The recruiter says "yes,why?". So, I turned to her and said, thank you for your time, but I wouldn't work for this women, (pointing to cake women)  even if this was the last job on earth".  I turned around, and proudly walked up, down, up, down, up, down, up,down out the door.

Soon after, I was offered a job from another company, and once again, I have been blessed with a great job.