Hindsight In 2020 #10: The Interview
Few things are as nerve wracking as a job interview. Especially when it’s your first one. Think back and try to remember sitting in that chair, looking directly at the person who has the power to either hire you...or not. You were probably experiencing some pretty sweaty pits and nervous gas in your belly. I remember that feeling. After graduating from college, I began filling out applications for jobs all around the state. While an upperclassman in college, professors and those in the world of education tried to warn us: physical education jobs were slim pickings. Physical education was not viewed as important as math, reading, science and social studies anymore. After countless applications and considering working at a local sandwich shop, I got a phone call that would forever change my life. Not joking.
It was late July in Columbia. You’d consider yourself lucky to find shade less than ninety degrees. I had moved to Columbia in hopes of getting my masters degree from the University of South Carolina; however, that didn’t happen. The program for which I applied got dropped like a bad habit and I was left in Columbia looking for a J-O-B. I sent my application to any school that was willing to take a look at it. I would have taught elementary, middle or high school. Heck, I’da went to work at a school for adults if they would have hired me. I waited around for at least a week. Zero phone calls. No job interviews. I mean NOTHING.
The guy who we rented our house from had a sub shop in downtown Columbia. I was thinking about asking to work there. I needed some cash. I had to pay the bills. I didn’t want to be the guy in the house who was always being asked about rent. It was time to grow-up. Plus, the place made delicious subs. It seemed like everyone in Columbia ate there. Shoot, maybe he’d even let me eat a couple for free on occasion. About the time I went to fill out the job application for that sub shop, I got a call from a number I didn’t recognize.
I answered the phone. It was a principal! It was a principal from an actual school! He wanted me to come in for a job interview on Friday. I couldn’t believe it. I had a job interview that Friday. Then I thought to myself, I had no dress clothes for the job interview on Friday. I mean, I could wear basketball shorts and a t-shirt, but that wouldn’t portray the message I wanted to bring across. So, I did what I had to do. No, I didn’t go buy a nice outfit because I was low on cash, remember? Instead, I called the principal back. I asked him if we could do the interview Monday instead of Friday. If I were him, I would have rolled my eyes and thought, who does this guy think he is? But he agreed. What a guy.
The next call I made was to my parents. I let them know that I had an interview that following Monday and they were tickled pink. My first chance at entering adulthood and getting out of their hair. This would not just be a job, it would be a job directly related to my college degree which, at the time, the outlook wasn’t good for us physical education teachers. Needless to say, my parents were happy that I would begin to pay back my student loans and stop asking them for money! I joke. My parents are great and would have helped me as long as I needed it...unless I stopped trying.
I traveled home that weekend, got some clothes and absorbed any quality advice for job interviews from family and friends. After a good restful weekend, I traveled to the site of the job interview.
I was a little stressed out before the interview even began. See, I’m not that great with directions and the school was hard to find. It was in a really rural area and my GPS tried to take me down some single lane dirt roads to get there. Surely there had to be an easier way to find this place! After finding the needle in the haystack, I parked my truck and began to pray. I needed this job. I wanted this job. I hoped and prayed that it was meant to be. A little pleading to God couldn’t have hurt any.
I walked in to the front office and came face to face with the receptionist. She was an elderly woman with a big smile and a sweet disposition. It was her who conducted the first, unofficial, interview. After I sat in one of the four chairs in the office, she began to grill me. She asked where I was from, if I had a girlfriend, and where I went to church. Once the preliminary interview was complete, I looked up to see an older man leave the office wearing a tie and khakis. Another interviewee. My competition.
Thoughts began to run wild in my mind.
Why would I ever get this job? I don’t have any experience. What could I offer to this school that someone else, with a better resume, couldn’t offer themselves?
The principal entered the front office. I knew it was him. I had scoped out the school online the weekend prior. It was him, no doubt. He called my name and I followed. The nerves began to work. I felt like Eminem on 8 Mile. Knees weak, palms were sweaty. Was there vomit on my sweatshirt already?
I wasn’t wearing a sweatshirt...it was late July in South Carolina.
We sat down and I looked around. Immediately I noticed something. This guy obviously loved anything and everything Gamecocks. You name it: posters, pictures with players, signed memorabilia, and even garnet and black pennants covered the walls of his office. We had one thing in common very early in our relationship: we loved the Gamecocks.
I vividly remember a few things about the job interview. First, the principal was a very nice guy. He seemed genuine. He did not impress upon me the fact that he was the boss and I was his subordinate. Instead, it felt more like we were just two guys talking about life, our college years and what we wanted from our future. Because I had zero professional experience, I brought along a huge binder full of journal entries detailing my college internship at an elementary school in my hometown. In that journal there were stories of me tying tiny tikes’ shoes, seeing kids throw up and one cringeworthy story about a little boy pooping in his pants in the hallway. While reading one of the journal entries, I saw my possible future principal laugh. That brought a smile to my face and relieved some of the anxiety that was coursing through my veins.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: it’s crazy what your brain chooses to remember and what it chooses to forget. I was asked what is probably the most common question asked during an interview: what is your biggest weakness? Believe it or not, I was not prepared for this. Silly, right? The most common and likely question that I was going to be asked, I didn’t even think about how I would respond. Here’s how that bit of dialogue went…
Principal: “So, what’s your biggest weakness?”
A short pause for a moment of thought.
Me: “Well, I’m a little short.”
Yep. I said that my biggest weakness was my height. I’m not the tallest person in the world. In fact, I would describe my height as average. But, knowing that middle school kids are taller than elementary school kids, I wanted to express that I understood that my height could cause some ‘balance of power’ issues. Update: It hasn’t cause any issues to this day.
I must admit, I used my perceived knowledge of his love for Carolina to my advantage. I brought up the Gamecocks and we talked a little football. I even clued him in on the fact that I lived with a few of the Carolina football players off campus. It wasn’t a lie. I did live with two guys who were on the roster. Maybe I wanted him to remember a little something special about me and that something special just happened to be that I had a little ‘in’ with the Gamecock football team. What? I have no shame about it.
After our talk in his office, he showed me around the school. We walked through the halls to the gym, checked out what could possibly be my office and then ended the interview in his office. The school reminded me a lot of where I went to high school. It was small, but seemed to be just the right size for me to get my feet wet. We said our goodbyes and he let me know that he would call to tell me whether or not I got the job. As I was leaving, the receptionist wished me luck and said goodbye.
As I walked out to the truck, I remember thinking...man, that went terrible. I couldn’t remember anything that I talked about and just felt so uneasy about the whole thing. Surely he wasn’t going to hire some fresh out of school, young pup that had never taught a class before in his life. The most intense teaching I had ever experienced was teaching third graders how to jump rope and dribble a basketball, albeit, not at the same time. But hey, I gave it my best shot.
I went about my day as normal. The guys came home, we cooked supper and sat down together to eat. Just as we were about to start our meal, my phone rang. I stepped away from the table, swiped to answer and said hello.
It was the principal from the interview. I braced myself for the letdown. Fully expecting to hear the typical, “Thanks for coming in, blah blah blah; but, we’ve decided to go a different direction, ladida…”. I was completely and utterly shocked when he told me that he wanted to offer me the job. I froze.
Me? He wants to offer me the job? Holy crap.
I don’t remember what I said, but I remember what the hiring principal said to my response…he said, “You don’t seem too excited”. That’s really what he said! I explained to him that I wasn’t expecting to be offered the job. He then told me that he liked the idea of hiring someone young, with fresh ideas, that could relate well to the students. After all, I was the perfect height to reach them at their level. During the middle of our conversation, It finally hit me...I had a job. Not just a job, but a grown-up job. I was going to be a teacher!
That next week I attended a training for new teachers. The week after that I showed up to the school with all the other teachers and began to get my office, the gym and myself ready for the arrival of students. And just like that, I was a middle school physical education teacher.
And I still am. I teach sixth, seventh and eighth grade boys and girls physical education. I love it. The same principal who I interviewed with was my principal for seven great years. He has since moved on to greener pastures...well, maybe not. He works for the school district now and instead of dealing with about forty teachers, he has to put up with about four hundred of them. I’m sure there are days he’d rather be back at that small school in the boondocks, keeping us crazy teachers from flying off the handle.
I’m forever grateful to that man. He gave me more than a job. He took a chance on some punk kid right out of college and allowed me to teach the way I wanted to teach. His decision to hire me set my life on the path I am still blessed to be on today. While on this path I’ve met and married my beautiful bride. We’ve had two kids who bring more and more joy to our lives every single day. We’ve built a house just a hop and skip away from my place of employment. I’ve met people and made friends with some of the best coworkers that a guy could ever hope to have in his life. I know that he’s just a man; however, the guy who hired me after that interview is a pretty darn good man.
I still love the job I interviewed for all those years ago. That job interview was my first and, in complete honesty, I’ll be perfectly content if it was my last. Afterall, moving stinks and I sure would hate to wear a tie again. I’ll stick to my basketball shorts and t-shirts. You can be a little jealous.
Happy Fryeday!
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