Interview

I can write this now because the interview is over and a week has passed.

The job wasn't something I was necessarily interested in, but then isn't that what a lot of people say about the field of work they end up in? 'I'd never thought of the business and then one day I looked around and saw I'd become a Black Sea fisherman'. Not so many, 'I just knew the day I went to the circus I'd end up reading fortunes from strands of hair, and here I am'. Besides, I had a good referral and was asked to submit an application, so I did.

I've worked for the company in question before, but on an ad hoc basis as a database entry to be called upon at weekends. Each seasonal stint presented different work- Halloween parties in October, Christmas in December and a range of interview and speech competition judging work too. Each time there was the same mandatory orientation session, which would find us trainees bouncing around the room at some point, proving we can lead a game designed for kindergarten and elementary school aged children. Everyone must play the part of the kids when not demonstrating their assigned activity.

And thus enfolds a scene of bizarre role-playing, with much squawking about, bad impressions and mouths bending around words carefully and slowly e-nunciated to a group of intelligent, young adults. You always leave the room a little lighter, for having shed a skin of dignity.

This all happened at the interview for this latest, more permanent job too. There was also a special someone flown in on the shinkansen from Osaka, a man high enough up the ranks to present the introductory, promotional video screened at the orientations and interviews. The video was screened and the man in the video was the man in the room was equally bizarre as the game demonstrations. More of a 'rub your eyes and blink twice' bizarreness rather than a 'screw your eyes up tight and hope it ends soon' leaden-feeling-of-sorrow kind of bizarreness.

The presenter of the video then interviewed us with one other man, one-by-one. It came to my turn, the others had already been discharged en masse and the man from the video began questioning me. Now, I haven't attended too many interviews before, but I can tell even in my own relative naivety that if the interviewer starts to look beyond you, at the wall behind you, as if reading a camera-mounted prompt whilst you're answering his questions, that can't be such a great sign. I found out a few days later I didn't get the job, but I have another one, so it's ok.