Interviews

I have been through six interviews this semester (not counting the one I have on Monday). Mainly for camps, but also (2) for the resident adviser process. Along the way, I have hopefully learned a thing or two about interviews.

Here is what I have for you (I am trying so very hard not to use the cliche tips, sorry if I do):

If it's a phone interview, have your laptop in front of you, with the employer's website pulled up- This has saved me many a time. If you blank on something, instead of freaking out about it, you can just go through the website. Also, a woman I was interviewing with yesterday (about an art's position at a camp) asked me to look through her Pinterest and discuss the crafts I have done/want to do at camp. I was able to pull up Pinterest quickly and continue on interviewing.

Tell stories- "What is your strength?" is an interview question that I hear over and over (mainly because it really is super insightful). The best way to spice up questions and highlight your extensive knowledge of whatever field you want to be in is to tell a story.

Look at Jesus for example. Regardless of whether or not you believe in him religiously, his public speaking skills were through the roof (Bible pun, sorry), mainly because he told stories/parables. The story will stick with the interviewer because it's new to them, and humans are hard wired to remember stories better than plain information. Plus, it adds a layer of believability, since it's more difficult to make up a story vs. lie about a weakness.

(Look at those captivated faces.)


Have Experiences-You can't tell stories without experiences. A lot of people who are looking for their first job complain that no one will hire them due to their lack of experience, which keeps them from gaining experience. Volunteer. Do things informally. Say yes to new experiences. Presto! You have experiences that an employer wants to hear about!

I volunteered as a tour guide for my residence hall when no one else really wanted to, which helped me land my job as a tour guide which helped me landed my job as a "communications specialist". All because I volunteered (and also because I studied up on interview tactics).

Even if you don't want the job, interview for it anyway- I have applied for so many camp jobs I can barely keep track of them. A trekking camp out west (my #2 choice for camps) started my interview off by explaining that, since I was under twenty-one, this would be an internship, and I would only be paid a $500 stipend for the whole summer. Camp jobs pay next to nothing to begin with (especially since counselors are on-call 24/7), but I am used to being paid a certain amount each week, especially with my previous camp experience.I am most likely not going to take this job.

But I continued to interview for it anyway, to practice my interview skills. I wanted to see if I could act like I still wanted it. It was also super helpful/useful to see the kinds of questions she threw out, which included "Tell me a joke" (camp folk are odd folk).

Happy interviewing! You are awesome at life!

Life Comes Together in the Strangest Ways

     So, due to my excessive amount of stress over my upcoming camp interviews, resident adviser interview results, school work, and just regular happenstances, I have not been the most jolly person to be around. Everything has been irking me, especially my classes, which seemed to have no tie-in to my future career as a high school English teacher/ therapeutic-hiker-camp-counselor-Peace-Corps-person-thing.

     Also, due to my easily annoyed demeanor, I keep arguing with one of my roommates, which is a super bad outlet for my stress. Last night, we were discussing whether or not teachers should have to learn Spanish (since one of my goals in life is to move to Arizona). After being woe-is-every-culture/race-that-isn't- WASP-ed to death in my Intercultural Communications class, I was not in the mood to hear it again ,especially when it wasn't for a grade. So we got into it, until one of my other roommates distracted us.

     Unfortunately for me, in my Queer Literature Studies class we are currently reading Borderlands/La Frontera by Gloria Anzaldua, half of which is...wait for it...EN ESPAñOL. Lovely. Karma definitely exists in the world.

     I learned my lesson. Chicano culture has been around for a long long time. In fact, they could be considered Native Americans (if we were looking at North America as a whole). Intriguing stuff. Plus, maybe it's the English teacher in me, but hearing about their struggles in literature form puts them in a new and more poignant light. Here's an excerpt from our reading. Sorry that it's different sizes, that's what I get for screen shot-ing the poem from a PDF.

Just some literature for thought.

What Solitaire Teaches Me About Life

     If you haven't figured it out by my other posts, I love learning lessons. Life lessons, school lessons (occasionally), lesson lessons. I learn lessons from the weirdest things. Today, that weird thing happens to be Solitaire.
     Why Solitaire, you ask? Well, due to the fact that I really don't feel like undertaking the undertaking that is my communications homework (I have no clue why I took two communications classes this semester, not my cup of tea at all), playing endless rounds of Solitaire sounds like a fantastic way to procrastinate. Randomly, while playing yet another game, I wondered what the point of Solitaire was. Why play it at all? It's just a stupid game, a waste of time. That's when I thought about all of the deep and thought provoking life lessons I have learned from a simple card game (which is my excuse to continue to play it and avoid my homework).
    
     It's confusing as hell, but you can always ask for hints- Sometimes, I just have no clue where to put that stupid four of spades. Thankfully, there is a handy dandy notebook hint button that is there for your use (on my computer, I just press H). Life is kinda like that too. There are times when I have no clue where to go or what to do, and just need to turn to a higher power/my parents and friends, in order to figure things out. No shame in hitting that H every once in a while, as long as you are prepared to return the favor . --Insert cove/rendition of Lean on Me here--.

     You lose occasionally, but there is always a new game- You aren't hired for every job, every person that you like won't like you back, and sometimes there is this season called winter that makes me wish that hibernation was something that humans did regularly. If you had everything that you wanted, life would suck. Think of all of the unsuitable partners, jobs that you'd hate, and physical and metaphorical junk that overcrowd your life. Argh. I would be a marine-biologist-priest-writer with some of the skeeziest husbands ever, and own a feret, parrot, turtle, dolphin, dog, cat, and frog with tons of tattoos, dreadlocks, and always wear those skirts that go down to your ankles. Oh, and my room would be decked out in Harry Potter and Gilmore Girls. Basically, I would be the hippie/punk/weird female version of Sister Wives and live in PetsMart (I went through an animal phase when I was little). Scary. In the words of Brand New, "everything that I own, starts to pile up like bones, to make the walls of a prison". Scarier.
     Plus, losing makes all of the wins that much better. My current win rate is 14%. You'd better believe that I cherish each and every one of those victories. (Yes I suck at Solitaire, and yes I have no life.) I am hired for maybe one out of every twenty jobs I apply for, which makes me appreciate the jobs that I have earned that much more. There is more than one match in a matchbox for a reason. The first one doesn't always create a flame. Maybe the second one does though, and then you have a fire.
On a random note, Jimmy Eat World's, The Middle, has been stuck in my head while I was writing this chunkster of a paragraph, so here it is for your listening entertainment.

     Everything is better with music. Everything. Solitaire, washing the dishes, homework, riding a dolphin(although if you're riding a dolphin, I don't know if anything could make that better. Probably not). Even reading this post. If you aren't listening to music while you read this, I feel super bad for you. So bad, in fact, that I am giving you an additonal music video for your listening pleasure. I am debating on doing a purely music post at some point, so I am not going to name specific songs, but my Pandora has been loving life lately, and has been throwing down some amazing new songs and artists.

     Solitaire is fun. Life is fun. You are fun.