Face-to-Face Interviewing for a job in today’s unique environment can force you to face many funny and negative issues that have happened to me or my clients over the last 45 years.
“The Fly” caught me as I was about to present a large purchase of law books to the senior members of a major Boston law firm.
I was brought into the conference room to set up my presentation about ½ hour before the meeting.
My presentation was to last nearly 2 hours as we were going to teach all the partners and admins how to do research between all the competitive publishers and our products.
I was dressed for success, a double-breasted dark suit, white cufflinked shirt and a red striped tie, my shoes had just been shinned that morning.
Just after the setup, which took about 15 minutes, the admin had served me a fresh cup of coffee. Quickly, I used the firm’s facilities before my presentation.
As I reentered the conference room almost all the audience was seated, luckily the Managing Partner was not there yet.
As we waited, I sat at the head of the large conference table and chatted with attorneys, and they explained the various areas of law they practiced.
Finally, the Managing partner entered, and I began. I looked down and saw that my fly was open. I turned around quickly and zipped up.
However, I was laughing so hard, every time I started speaking, I ended up laughing again. I kept laughing and so did most of the attendees.
That laugh won the deal for me. I laugh often, the secret to how I got most of my deals.
Interviewing should never be so painful and fear laden that we forget we are not perfect and screw up often. Laughing and other’s laughing with you, not at you, are the key to a successful interview or sale.
Please take some time to check out our self-coaching course. This site will always be your support through all your job searches.
Bruce Dreyfus
