Why I didn’t get that job…

Hi, so I have spent the last 2 months looking for a new job as we recently moved to Dubai. I went for a few interviews during this time. Of these, there is one that will stay with me for some years to come.

So this particular company found my details on LinkedIn, I applied for the position and they phoned me almost immediately. I for the first interview and it all seemed good but nothing major. Within a few hours they phoned to say that I have a second interview.

After my second interview, I walked out of their offices and I couldn’t stop smiling. My husband was waiting outside and as I approached him he could see something was going on.

So the first words out of my mouth was “That was the best interview of my life!!!” It was not 30 minutes later and the company phoned me to tell me I have the job and I need to come back the following day. I was beyond myself. I remember it felt surreal walking out of the building and being on top of the world.

I spent the whole evening recapping the interview. I met with the CEO and I can remember he kept saying how perfect I was for the position, and they interviewed so many people and they couldn’t find the right fit, but he can now stop looking. He kept saying that there is something about me and he knows his search is over and that I am the person he is looking for.

He called in one of his partners, and together they made this position sound like I would be working for the next Sir Richard Branson himself. (No, sorry that is not right, he made a comment about the legend himself being a has-been, clue number 1)

He was so eager to have me on his team that he “created a position just for me” (clue number 2) and wanted to know there and then if I will be accepting the job. With hesitance, I said: “Yes”.

As the evening went by I tried to think what the following day would hold. I mean could this be the start of a whole new career for me?

I phoned my mom that evening and as I told her everything about the interview I could hear myself saying everything out loud. Suddenly doubt started to sink in. Is this all sounding too good to be true? (Clue number 3)

I went in to the offices the next day to find out that it was a negotiation. They asked me what my salary expectation was. I did my research about the position so I was ready with the answers, but I was not expecting them to low-ball me quite as much as they did. So they came in at a very low offer and extensive hours. After about 15min we came to an agreement. I agreed that they send me the offer and I will be available to start in 2 days’ time after I have received and reviewed the offer.

Now for the best part…. I never heard from them again. Yes, I know!!! After telling me I am exactly what they were looking for; Bla bla bla bla!

I spent the next 3 days looking at my phone anxiously. Every time it rang, every time I got an email, every time I received a message. My heart was constantly beating in my throat. By the 5^th day I realised all that was wrong with the firm. All the red lights that had me worried but were concealed by all the wonderful words from the CEO and his partner. My favorite aunt always says: “If it walks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck…. It probably is a duck”. And this guy was trying to conceal his duck walk with a swan swim, and it was too good to be true.

About a week after the interview, I had an ah-ha moment, a light bulb going off on top of my head like in the movies. Right then and there I realised what I want to do with my life. I had a brilliant idea for a new business venture.

I was writing down ideas, steps, to-do lists, every time I got a chance. I found myself working on my website, Facebook Page, Logo and anything to do with this new venture, I was working 24/7. I was even dreaming in my sleep about it.

I finally realised that I needed that interview to show me what actually gets me excited. I finally saw myself 10 years down the line in a new career path that I loved. I realised what I wanted to do, what I feel like I was meant to do with my life.

I realised that once you find what you love, give it your100%. I know that I am in the very fortunate position that I have a clean slate. I have a lot of time on my hands and a loving husband that works really hard and really long hours to pay all the bills by himself. But whether you start that new business venture on the side, and work on it every free minute that you have, don’t stop dreaming, don’t stop working and if you want it bad enough, you will make a success of it, because once you put your mind to it, no one will be able to stop you.

Keep dreaming and keep working for it!

Love,

An intro to me and my personality

Welcome to All Zesty,

Thanks for taking the time to read my first blog entry. 

Now let me start by giving you background on myself and how I came to writing this entry.

I am a lecturer in Event management. I studied communication studies (which I loved), started working in events after Varsity and decided to combine both when I got a job as a lecturer.

I have contemplated for several months on what I can do to keep my inner self satisfied. And yet another day at the office, trying to do 100 things at the same time, I thought to myself, “Myself, what can you do to better yourself? What would best suite your personality? What type of personality is that that you have?”

So, did a quick Google search, did a random personality test on www.16personalities.com and BAMMM. I found out that my personality type is ENTP, now for you that don’t know what it means; it stands for, Extraverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiving (ENTP). I know that’s a mouth full. I had to Google it myself.

Now being an ENTP personality type that basically means I am analytical person.  I love talking, debating, and playing devil’s advocate, and to argue just for the sake of it. I am so busy analysing information, and juggling ideas and I sometimes lose the plot and leave it all together. Best way to talk to an ENTP is to be straightforward and don’t cut corners. www.humanmetrics.com/personality/entp.

They were spot on. Suddenly I was at 250 words in at 3.36 minutes, writing a blog that I struggled to get going for nearly 3 months. I never knew what writers block was, then again, I never saw myself as a writer. Shows you what a little inspiration can do.

As you read on you will realise that I have so much crap going on in my head that it is hard to concentrate on one thing at a time. And with that I don’t mean I multi task, because I forget whatever I was busy doing, starting to contemplate on the next worldly problem, I know that contemplating what I am going to eat for dinner doesn’t count as a ‘worldly problem’, but I do feel like a contender on MasterChef, when I have 1 hour to cook dinner with limited resources and 3 judges who will be waiting for their plates by 19:00 sharply. My plates never quite look (or tastes) like theirs though. I do think it would be interesting to participate in something like that, (but that is for another entry)

So now that I have introduced myself, and my fellow ENTP personalities will relate when I say it, I have struggled, had to show serious self-restraint to try and keep myself on track as my mind have wondered at least 10 + times with additional information. I am actually sitting with a piece of paper next to me, writing all the ideas down so that I don’t forget them while thinking of the next idea.

That aside, finding out what personality type I am, made me think, if I struggle to understand myself (and I have been living with me for 25 years), how important is it for you to try and understand other people? It is important to try and listen more and talk less, listen with the sole purpose of understanding, not replying.

Here are 10 advantages of knowing your personality type and that of the people around you:

1. You learn about yourself, and why you react the way you do.
2. You learn about the people around you and how they will react and how you will react towards them
3. You learn how to communicate with fellow colleagues, friends, family and even strangers
4. You can identify where your comfort zone is and what you need to do to challenge yourself to get out for your comfort zone.
5. You learn what career paths would best suite your personality and why.
6. You improve on your problem-solving ability as you have more information about yourself and the people around you and how everyone will react and review the situation.
7.  It helps you identify your strengths.
8.  It showcases your weaknesses and where you need to improve.
9. Makes you a better leader or team player, as you can identify others strengths and weaknesses.
10. You learn how to be content with yourself and your personality

So go check out your personality, let me know what interesting things you’ve learnt about yourself or others, and make a true effort to try and understand other people, and why they do the things they do. www.16personalities.com/

Welcome to my journey to understanding myself, hope you find your reason to sparkle.

Love,