My most embaressing/mortifying moment still makes me upset. Whenever I think of it, I get red in the face and extremely angry. I don''t think I''ll ever get over it!
Three years ago, I was a 21 year old restaurant manager who really wanted to get out of the food industry, but hadn''t taken a single class in college or had much experience in any other field.
I decided to apply for teller positions at different banks in the area. I figured that since I have experience handling large sums of money and have been in the customer service field for years that I might have a decent shot...plus, I''ve seen 17 year olds working as tellers.
I was very naive when it came to job interviews, I know this NOW. Having only a few highschool jobs before I became a restaurant manager, I hadn''t ever had a "real" interview. But, I drew up a resume, turned it in, and got called by Southwest Bank of Texas for an interview. I was SO excited. I spent about an hour getting ready.
I arrived to the corporate headquarters and waited for my interview in the waiting room. I was wearing black dress pants with a collared shirt and a little black jacket. Everyone else was wearing suits. I thought that was weird, but figured that they were probably applying for positions higher on the ladder, and I felt that I looked fine. Looking back I still get mad because I DID look fine, darnit! Dressier than a teller, but didn''t wear a "suit".
Rhotunda ***** came out to greet me. (I even remember her name.) She called my name, I stood up, and she GLARED at me up and down with complete disgust. I''m not exxagerating. We shook hands and she instructed me to follow her.
We went into her office, and she proceeded to tell me everything that I did "wrong" in the 10 seconds she knew me. She said I was dressed inappropriately, which maybe I was but I was always taught to dress for the position you want, which I did. She went on and on and on about how I was dressed. Then She said I didn''t grip her hand hard enough when we shook, and that I didn''t look her in the eye.
Most people I tell this story to say, "Well she''s right!" But I swear to you, if you were in that room you would have RUN out. I almost did. She was SO mean about it. I mean, if I were in her position I would at least try to say it nicely. She wasn''t telling me these things to help me, she was telling me these things to let me know that she was wasting her time. I can swear by that. Her tone, her looks, the way she said it...I mean, I almost started crying. But what really bothered me about this whole thing, was that I wasn''t there for "interviewing with Rhotunda 101". I don''t know she thought she was. I think it would have been more professional to either not say anything, or at least wait until the END of the interview, after she had a chance to see my personality. By dropping it on my lap as soon as I walked into her office she had already stamped a huge "NO" on my application.
I fumbled on the handshake because a mili-second earlier she was staring at me like I was the devil''s spawn! I was merely reacting to her reaction.
It isn''t like I showed up there in jeans and a t-shirt. I made an honest effort to do my best, and I wanted to impress her with my personality. She didn''t let it happen. Some say I should have thanked her and walked out the door without having the interview, but I suffered through it. But by this time I was sad/morified and couldn''t form my ideas or opinons clearly. She was rude in that respect to. She had a standard set of questions to ask me, and she would skip over some and say she''d get back to them at the end, but then never did...an obvious sign that I lost the job as soon as she saw me.
I still have nightmares. It was hands down the worst interviewing experience of my life. I really wish I would have told her off!
