the interview from hell.

I was early for my interview. As always. Standing in front of a door marked "Room 303". The door was locked. I could hear a loud voice coming from inside. "What the hell is going on here?", I thought to myself. I knocked, not really sure what to expect. A friendly looking guy opened the door and it turned out I was in the right place. A bunch of boxes were piled up in the corner, a massive shark balloon was lounging out in the middle of the room and there was a huge table over by the windows. In case you didn't know - because I sure didn't - these are all attributes that help in the creation of an awesome first impression.

They were nice guys the two founders, friendly looking, happy. They asked me the usual; background, experience and all that. Then they talked about the website, how it works and so on.

Then all hell broke loose. One of the guys told me to pick one object in a hotel room and then sell it to them. I asked if I could pick any object in this imaginary hotel room. Sure, I could. First thing that came to my mind was a giraffe. Seriously Jo, don't say giraffe. I went for something more conventional. A TV. "Are you ready?" one of the guys says.

Words coming out of my mouth: "If I have to be."
Words in my head: "I wonder if I would die if I jump out that window?"

So I pretended to sell them a TV. It went something like this:

Me: Hi, I'm Jo from........................................................ Jo's TVs.
The boys: Jo's TVs! (Laughter.)
Me: So can you tell me about the TVs you have in your hotel right now?
The boys: You don't know? You didn't do the research?
Me: Uhm. Apparently I didn't. Refresh my memory, please.(At this point a loud drilling machine goes off in the hallway. Excellent timing. Also, how do you do your research on something that was made up five seconds ago? Is there an app for that?)
The boys: We have Apple TVs and they are the best ones.
Me: .....I can not only match that product, I can top it.
Guys: How?

Questions that followed were "Does it come with a remote control?" and "How can we make money off this TV?".

This was by far, one of the worst things that has ever happened to me during an interview. I understand that this is a Sales & Marketing Internship - but seriously. I repeat: seriously.

I looked like a moron. The most obvious reason for this? This was a fictional environment. Put me in a real-life situation like this, i.e put me in front of the customer, and you'll get the real me. And a pretty awesome one. Why would they have me do this act, when, in 2011, acting is the last thing you should be doing as a marketer. I know how to talk to customers. I'm genuine, personable and likable. I've been doing it for 12 years. That's 4380 days (leap years excluded). You pick up a thing or two.

However, I don't think we're a match. In fact, I think we're from different worlds. I think I have a different approach and a different perspective - and I don't think these guys are looking for a new one. One of the guys might have a Goldman Sachs Global Leader Award but has he dealt with a customer who's taken a shit in a store?

Exactly.

That being said, I withdrew my interest in the internship. It's a great product and I'm sure these guys will be doing very well for themselves. Best of luck to them.


In hindsight - I totally should have gone with the giraffe.