My First Successful Job Interview

This story is one of the major turning points of my life. I went to America in 2008, and struggled for two years to find an on-campus job. I got very close to get a job twice, but it didn't work out because of the strict regulations for international students in America.

I used to apply for every single job position listed on the University website including the cafeteria jobs, but I wasn't even called for an interview. Twice, I got an interview for a front desk receptionist job, but I was rejected. These rejections completely shook my self-confidence. I kept thinking that I have a degree in medicine, I am pursuing an MBA, and still I am not good enough to be a receptionist??!! I had completely lost faith in myself. I had started to believe that I am a totally un-employable person who will never get a job in her entire life.

However, I still kept applying for every job on the list. During my last semester, I got a call for an interview from Learning Assistance Center for the position of supplemental instructor. They wanted a grad student who could teach Human Anatomy to the undergrad students. I applied for this position even though I knew it was completely out of my league. I mean people were rejecting me for a receptionist position, who would hire me to teach Anatomy to a class of twenty-five undergrad students?

On the day of the interview, I was beyond nervous. Right before the interview, I made a call to India to my family. My parents tried their best to boost my confidence, but it didn't work because I had started to take their positive feedback about me for granted. I had started to think that they are my parents so they have to say nice things about me even though I am the biggest loser in the world.

After talking to them, my brother came on the phone. He wished me good luck. I told him- ' I am extremely nervous. I cannot get a job like this in a million years.'

My brother is a very blunt and straight forward person. He stopped me from whining and said in a stern voice- Okay, first of all, you need to stop acting like this is a life and death situation. It's not the end of the world. Your life will remain the same even if you didn't get this job. So chill!

He continued to show his tough love- Second of all, if you really want to get this job then you have to truly believe that you are the best candidate for this job and project the same to the interviewers. If you can't convince yourself that you are the best, how will you convince the interviewers?

And lastly, in front of the interviewers, do not act like you are at their mercy and they have the power to change your destiny. They should know from your attitude that if they don't hire you, there are a lot of other people who would be happy to give you a decent job.

My brain immediately got rewired after listening to his words. My nervousness had evaporated and for the first time in my life, I felt I was ready for the interview. I ended the call and told myself- 'Bring it on!'

There were two interviewers there. I thought the first question they would ask me is - tell us about yourself, but instead they asked me the most unpredictable question- 'If you were to be an animal, which animal would you be? and why?'

I was blank. I looked at them stunned, but I didn't start blabbering. I took my time to soak in what they had asked me, pondered over it for a few seconds, and finally came up with an answer- If I were to be an animal, I'd like to be an elephant, because elephants are a very intelligent and generous animal. When they take the first bite of their food in their trunk, they don't eat it. They spray it around on the ground so the smaller animals and birds can also have food.

Now it was their turn to look stunned. Both of them looked at each other and said- There's so much we don't know about animals.

The interesting thing is I had learned this fact about elephants only a couple of days ago, and it's amazing how I could recall it at the right time.

Then they asked me a bunch of other questions, which I continued to answer without any nervousness. They didn't ask me any anatomy subject related questions. They told me that they don't want to know if I know human anatomy, because they called me for the interview in the first place because I submitted my undergrad transcript to them which stated that I got a good grade in Anatomy in college. What they really wanted to know is how well I could teach Anatomy to students. So they gave me a book and asked me to pick a chapter and teach it to them.

I took ten minutes to get prepared. I picked my favorite system- the circulatory system, and started teaching them as if they were my students. In stead of just lecturing them about the circulatory system, I asked them a question. - What is the circulatory system?

One of them said - Something that goes in circle and circle.

I said- That is absolutely right! So do you mean that it starts at one point and ends at the same point? Is that what you mean by going in a circle?

She thought about it and nodded her head- Yea!

Excellent! And what do you think is the start and end point of this circle? - Instead of giving them the ready-made answers, I led them to come up with an answer by asking them more questions. I could tell they were impressed by it.

After this teaching session, they told me that they'd let me know in a few weeks if I got the job, but the most amazing thing is when I stepped out of that place, I already knew in my heart that I got the job. I knew that I had nailed it and they will not be able to find a better candidate than me. This was one of the best feelings in the world. As the days went by and I didn't get the call, I didn't get nervous even for a bit. I knew they'd call me. They had to call me and finally one day, they did.

I got the job. The most far fetched dream had come true. Maybe today, it seems like a small victory but at that moment that was the biggest achievement of my life. The confidence that I gained after this victory was the founding stone of all other future victories. I have never been rejected from an interview since then. This also includes an interview that involved a panel of seven executive-level interviewers who had 15-20 years of experience in the field, who interviewed me for two and a half hours for a director level position. When I was talking to my brother on the phone that day, I would've never thought that one day I will be able to crack this kind of interview.

I realized it later that just because I couldn't get a receptionist's job, it doesn't mean that I am not good enough for any other job. I know that if I apply for a front desk position today, even now I will get rejected, because I have zero skill and talent in the field of customer service. Everyone has their own unique set of skills and talent.

The real hero of this story is my brother, who is five years younger than me and who completely eradicated the negativity and nervousness from my mind before that interview. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have nailed that interview, and all other subsequent interviews.

I still remember the three things he taught me that day and I owe my entire career to him.

Love you, Bro!