Getting past the gatekeepers

Hands up those of you who like “the job hunt”? My guess is not many. You, like me, probably find it a pain. A pain to decide what I really want, a pain to find the “right match.” A pain to write the CV and cover letter. The inevitable rejection letters (if you are lucky to get one these days)—and if you are lucky enough to be invited for an interview, the pain starts all over again.

Recently I was looking for a job and completed MANY applications to receive only a few responses. One positive response invited me to an interview. “Great,” I hear you say, “you did well.” That’s what I thought as I read the first line informing me of the good news. Generally, I consider myself a confident person, especially when in front of a group of people. Perhaps it is my years of teaching or years of work in the theater and on stage? Whatever the reason, I’m generally pretty good at making a good first impression. So, back to the story …

As I read on, I discovered something new … Interviews only require one person! That is to say: me and a computer screen. I had been invited to a “one-way” interview. This was new to me. I had never heard of it before. What happens (as I soon found out) is: You are provided with a link to follow. Once you get to the page, you are given a series of questions to answer, with one minute to complete your response. Luckily you can check your response and if you don’t like it re-record. I think from memory I had six questions to answer. And if I remember correctly, I took about an hour to complete them! Record, check, re-record, check, didn’t like my expression, re-record, check, didn’t like the tone of my voice, re-record … I think you get the picture. The more I analyzed myself the worse I got. What a disaster. Needless to say that was the last time I heard from that company.