Part 7: The first interview
I think I may be a bit hasty when it comes to agreeing to do things. It’s odd, because normally I’m hesitant when it comes to committing to anything, whether it is making plans two weeks in advance or even scheduling a hair appointment for the following day (how should I know if I’ll feel like getting a trim at that exact moment in time?), but whenever I’m under pressure I make snap decisions. Answers come flying out of my mouth before the question’s even finished being asked. Like the Amazon job…I pretty much told Wendy I was perfect for the job before I even knew what the job was. I found myself preparing to interview for a permanent job, one that could see me staying on here in the UK for an indefinite amount of time, with only a vague idea of what I would be doing.
Wendy had described the role as being similar to what I’d been doing, with the added tasks of liaising with textbook vendors and being responsible for ordering inventory. I thought, yeah, okay, I can do that. Then when people asked me what the position entailed I realized that my answer of “Uhh, building Web pages, talking to book vendors, and ordering books” sounded a bit thin and shaky. I went online and found the job listing on the Amazon site and found out that I was interviewing for the Content and Category Manager position, which was described in similar terms to what I’d already been using, except fluffed out to a much greater degree with fancy (and intimidating) HR-speak.
I wanted to be prepared going into my interview at Amazon. When I went in to interview for my temp position before, I hadn’t even known what the job really was, which hadn’t made for a very good interview at all; I was a tad surprised when I was offered the job. This time, I wasn’t going to make the same mistake. I read through the job description and requirements several times, making notes of how my skills and experience matched those that were needed for the role, I came up with answers to questions I thought I may be asked, and I spent hours preparing for the Excel “test” I would be given.
I bought a book on Excel, I read through the chapters on Pivot Tables and arranging and analyzing data because Wendy had specifically asked me how proficient I was when she first told me about the position. I did the practice exercises that came with the book’s CD and I was pretty confident going in that I could score fairy highly on an intermediate level test. After all, I’d taken several Excel tests when I was registering with agencies when I first was looking for work and I always scored well above average.
True to form, I was nervous going into the interview. I had everything to lose if it didn’t go well. I wasn’t nearly as nervous as I had been on my last interview, though. Of the three interviewers, I’d already interviewed with two, and I’d corresponded through e-mail with the third while I was working there. Plus, I’d already been doing part of the work that the role required during my three weeks there, so I was already trained to use the system and had proven that I could do the work. As far as I was concerned, I had a leg up on any competition. I thought it would definitely go well. I soon had a drastic change of opinion.
The Excel “test” that Wendy had told me about before turned out to not be a test on using Excel, but rather was a business scenario that involved using Excel to analyze raw data in order to organize a theoretical book promotion. I was given a list of about 300 titles, sales data, current pricing information, and the vendor discount, and I had to come up with a realistic discount, new prices, forecast units sold, forecast revenue, and be able to explain my reasoning behind everything. Oh, but there was no right or wrong answer. Yeah. Right. Wendy left me alone with the computer and said she’d be back in an hour.
I wanted to cry. I had spent hours preparing and practicing for what I had thought I’d be tested on, and then I had this thrown at me out of left field. When Wendy had told me about the job she asked if I’d had any experience in books before, or whether I’d done any forecasting before, and I didn’t pull any punches at all when I told her I hadn’t. It was shocking that she’d then give me this test when she knew full well that I hadn’t the first clue about what to do. Or, at the very least, she could have said she knew I hadn’t ever done that before, but to just do my best. Or something. Anything. But no, she basically just said “go” and left me gaping after her.
I really did spend the first 5 minutes trying not to cry. Then I pulled myself together and read the question again. And again. And again at least 7 or 8 times, or more. I looked through all the data and tried to will myself to understand how to do it. I struggled desperately to remember lectures from my business courses in college. I remembered something about forecasting from my accounting courses but whatever I’d learned was stuck stubbornly in the back of my brain and wasn’t about to budge, no matter how hard I was prepared to smack my head on the table. The next phase I moved into involved building pivot tables and feeling positive about actually doing something besides staring at the screen with unfocused eyes. It was soon thereafter that I realized that I still had no clue as to what I was doing and that I’d wasted half my time already. At this point I contemplated getting up and walking out. I was wasting my time—I was in the process of failing this test with flying colors. I still had to sit through two interviews after the test was over, but I didn’t see the point anymore. If I left I could at least beat rush hour. I decided against it and ploughed through until Wendy came back right on time.
I managed to come up with some explanations for my answers, even though I’m sure they were a complete disgrace. Not all of what I came up with was bad, but I partly was able to blame the incomplete given data, which I pointed out to Wendy’s surprise. Maybe I got some points for my skills of observation, at the very least. My college marketing course hadn’t helped me at all; however, one skill I perfected in college did—the power of BS. Even though I didn’t really know what I was talking about, I made it a point to sound like I did. It by no means made up for my abysmal answers, but I did show that I can make a concentrated effort when faced with the direst of scenarios. And folks, it doesn’t get much direr than that.
After the test, things started to look up. The interviews with the other two people went exceptionally well. I didn’t know how the interview would be weighted, but with one mediocre interview with Wendy, one Excel atrocity, and two stellar interviews, I felt like I didn’t need to rush to the station and throw myself in front of the high-speed to Paddington. Don’t get me wrong, I still felt like crap and was ready to bet money that I’d just missed out on my last opportunity to stay.
I felt absolutely sick over it on the ride home, even after my mom called and I told her how it went. When I got home, though, Kelly was able to cheer me up by reminding me that even if I do have to go home, she will be there and we can still be Three’s Company with our friend CQ. That’s what’s so hard about all of this…no matter what happens with the job, or whether I stay or go, I have to say goodbye to someone I love. Kelly and I have been inseparable for the past 2 years since we met in Northampton, and to think of not having her across the hall, or even across the city, is incredibly sad. After several plans to extend her stay didn’t work out, Kelly’s going back to Florida to go to grad school at UCF this summer. If I stay here, who knows how often I’ll get to see her. If I go home, I’ll be closer to Kelly and my family, but I won’t have Kevin. He and I talked about that possibility and said we’d “see how things go” over the course of a few months, but there’s no telling how that would work out. It’s said that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I think that’s a rather convenient theory; in my experience, out of sight, out of mind seems nearer to the truth. Wow, when did I get so cynical?
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