The out of town interview

Well it's official.  I have a plane ticket for an interview next week.  Please be thinking about me as I have a full day of interviews starting at 8am and ending at 5pm.  I will be interviewing with 7 different upper level management people.  The hardest thing about these kinds of days is that by the 5th or 6th interview, it's hard not to feel brain dead. 

I have had a few out of town interviews this past year, some I was semi-interested in, and some I was VERY interested in.  In February I interviewed with a company that I was VERY interested in.  They flew me down, and had a car pick me up at the airport.  The hotel where I was staying was only a few blocks from their downtown office building.  This hotel had a shuttle that would drive me over in the morning, no problem.  I had a friend that already worked at this company, and we met for a drink when I got there, the night before.  Things were going smoothly; I liked the area, everything looked great. 



Me and my new travel umbrella

I woke up the day of the interview and it was pouring rain.  Hmm. I had no coat, no umbrella, nada.  Good thing the hotel has that shuttle, right?  I got in the van and told the driver where I was going, complete with address.  He drove me the couple blocks and dropped me off.  I got out and realized that this was not the right place.  He had dropped me at the wrong office building.  It was still raining.  Panic set in. Ok, deep breath, get out your iPhone. I GPS'ed walking directions from my location to the correct office.  Only I had no idea which direction was north, even though I was less than a quarter mile from my destination.  I could figure that out, but I would need to walk in the rain.  Ah ha! A gift shop in the office building where I was, surely they will have umbrellas.  They didn't. Panic.

There was no way I had come this far to give up now.  I saw a man behind a desk in the lobby.  I walked up to him and said, "Sir, can I buy that umbrella there behind you?"  Being the southern gentleman that he was he said, "No, but you can borrow it, just bring it back."  Ok, great, I'll solve the problem of the return later.  I thanked him and was off.  Hopefully my shoes wouldn't be ruined.

I was now going to be late.  I called my HR contact, no answer.  I left a message and carried on. I found the right building and ha ha funny story to tell!  It's raining!  I had to borrow this umbrella!  Driver took me to wrong building! I think I had 7 interviews in a row that day too, including a store walk through.  It all went pretty well.  At the end of the day I asked my HR contact to please please please return this umbrella.  I really hope that he did.  I flew home, and I hoped for an offer.    Needless to say, I didn't get it.  My HR contact finally called to tell me that they really liked me, but offered the job to someone else with just a little more experience.  He also told me that I was their 2nd choice.  Gee thanks. I was crushed. 

After that interview I bought a travel sized umbrella.  I always take it with me for interviews, no matter what the forecast.  Live and learn, I guess.