One of the most stressful times that we will experience in life is when we are going in for a job interview. We have done everything that we possibly could to make our life a success up until that point and now the interview is the only thing that stands between us and getting the job of our dreams. This would be the absolute wrong time to do something that would jeopardize our opportunity but unfortunately, it happens to far too many people. In the following fictional story, we hear about a woman who had a great opportunity but blew it in a single sentence.
As many of you know, two weeks ago I posted a job for my corporate executive assistant role (pays $90,000-$115,000). Well, while I was out visiting stores yesterday, they received a 473 box truck and had 3 people call out. Immediately, I help them unload the truck and I was on the floor putting up merchandise.
When I visit stores, I don’t wear a suit. I dress like my team. My pants and shirt were dirty from lifting boxes and stocking but I was getting the job done. All of a sudden, my first candidate for my EA role walks in and asked for me. She heard me talking and started laughing. The cashier asked her what was funny?
She said “OMG that guy (pointing at me) talks so country/funny!” The candidate started small talking and then said “hey, are you having fun stocking those shelfs?”
I said, “YEP!” My cashier IMMEDIATELY put her face in her palm.
The candidate asked me what I do for the store. I looked at her smiling and said, “I’m a cashier.”
She said, “Yeah, you would NEVER SEE ME ON THE FLOOR doing that.”
My REAL cashier spoke up quickly, trying to SAVE HER, and said “Lauren, meet John Moore, the President of Store Operations.” Her face turned so red and she apologized. Needless to say, she literally just talked herself out of a $100,000 job. My point?
Leaders, we are called to serve our people and teams regardless of our titles. Guess what? There will be times we get really dirty doing it as well! Also, don’t you ever think you are too HIGH to get LOW when necessary! Lastly, when going on an interview, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! You NEVER know who you are talking to! If you want to know why I think everyone is important (regardless of who they are), it’s because 15 years ago, I was homeless, sleeping in shelters, on a park bench, and nobody thought I was important.
