As I walked through the doors, I couldn’t help but notice how overdressed I was. My heels were killing from walking all the way from the metro to the office, I was sweating under my blazer, my bun was way too tight, the bobby pins were for sure making their way into my brain, and I couldn’t help but feel out of place. My interviewers, however, were two of the nicest ladies I have ever met. They were smiling at me, and as they guided me through the corridors to the little patio where the interview was going to take place over some refreshments. As I sat down in one of those iron chairs that will for sure leave a mark on your bum and thighs, I ran through my checklist: don’t laugh too much (my mom always says I laugh more than I need to), cross your legs like Anne Hathaway in The Princess Diaries, put your purse behind your back not on the floor, wait until the interview serves herself, and don’t, for the love of God, dunk your tea bag several times in the hot water, just let it be.
The interview started and after answering the first question, and having the interviewer watching if I was ever going to drink that tea, I felt my hands were not shaking anymore. I could handle the cup of tea without spilling it all over my ironed blouse and pencil skirt. After the third question, I realized that they seemed to enjoy listening to me talk about my role as the president of my organization at school, my job as a lab technician, my perfect GPA, and how I handled all of this with a boyfriend and my family thousands of miles away from me, while embracing my skills and weaknesses. The feeling of not being at ease disappeared, and I was able to run through my checklist once more before the interview was coming to an end: do not drink all of your tea and do not eat that last cookie, do ask at least two questions before the interview ends, ask about following up, make sure to ask at the front desk if they can give out a thank you note later that day. The interview came to an end, and I followed suit to ask my questions, and as they walked me to the entrance, they commented on how professional I looked. As I left the building, I made sure to deliver my thank you cards to the receptionist and I asked her name in a kind way (in case, of course, the cards got lost in the immensity of corporate mail). A day later, I received a call with an offer and a friendly interviewer thanking me for my ‘thank you’ note.
I want to believe that I was more qualified than the rest of the prospective interns, and that is why they chose me. However, I am sure that the different aspects of my checklist helped in my success. We live in a world of immediacy at a speed where sometimes we are so absorbed in our own lives that we forget to take care of details like an ironed suit or a handwritten thank you note. There is unwritten set of guidelines that, believe it or not, people still care about, especially older people that do not understand the ADD epidemic of millennials. Thus, if you are out there looking for a job, and have no idea what I am talking about, make sure to attend an etiquette seminar talk to the career development department, or basically any professor (in my experience, the older the better, for they seem to be wiser and more knowledgeable about this topics). I am sure your future employer and your future self will thank you.
