Job interviews

My life for the last two weeks has consisted of job interviews and therefore stress and anxiety. It can be challenging for someone who hasn't interviewed in a while to completely understand the emotional rollercoaster of interviewing. Gone are the days of one on one interviews where you have an opportunity to make a connection with the interviewer. Here are the days of being picked apart by 5-10 strangers at one time. Imagine walking into a room where every ounce of you is analyzed...what you wear, how you wear it, how your hair is styled, how much make up you are wearing, how nervous you seem, how much you smile, how little you smile, how many questions you ask, how few questions you ask, etc... And that doesn't even begin to address HOW you answer the interview questions. I have three of four interviews done, two of those were for the same position. One of the interviews was really rough and had triple and quadruple stacked questions. For example:

Tell about a time you had a problem with a team member. What happened? How did you handle it? How would we know when you are angry? How do you handle being angry?

Tell about a time you went above and beyond for a client. What did you do, what was the outcome, and why did you choose to do so with this specific client?

AND THAT IS CONSIDERED TWO QUESTIONS!!

Obviously with job interviews there are two possible outcomes. One is a job change which is great but even good stress is still stress. The other is rejection. This is the piece that is difficult. As much as you can convince yourself that it isn't true, getting turned down for a job is both personal and professional rejection. Someone (or many someones) don't want you. Either you aren't good enough or someone is better than you. Bottom life: You aren't it. You aren't wanted.

It is a tough position to be in and I can't wait for the interviews to be over. I am hopeful my interviews will result in a job change. A much as I love the kids I am currently working with, the politics, paperwork, insurance, pressure of productivity, and the parents who refuse to be a part of their child's life is burning me out.

I will keep you posted on either my rejection or new good stress.

Oh, and since I hate blogs with tons of words and no pictures, here is a picture of our summer trip to Denver.