October 19th 2007: The Best Friend Interiew

This interview had an especially interesting preface: two wine tastings with Dana that morning and a four o'clock bed-time the previous evening.

Somehow, amazingly enough, I was full of energy as I walked into the office. I felt excited and that I deserved to be there. I wore a new dress I had bought a couple weeks previously that was neo-30s, high-wasted, and beaded (yes, my "best-friend" did ask me where I got it at the end of the interview). Kirk*, the semi-new AC, brought me a large glass of water which I promptly gulped down and while he went to grap something from his desk, I drank down two more as I stood next to the water cooler.

I talked with Kirk for about 45 minutes and he seemed like a nice, yet moderatly awkward. I could tell though he was smart, capable, he was impressive in the young-artsy-organized-guy kind of way.

Then Kate* came in and the first thing she said was,"Omigosh, I feel like I've known you forever." Immediately, I felt at ease. We sat down and I thought, this woman is just awesome. She asked me a bunch of questions and I asked her some. The conversation just flowed all over the place, never lagging, always interesting. I felt lightened, eased, and happy. How crazy is that -- being happy and thoroughly enjoying oneself in an interview!

Some high-lights:
1. We talked about how Barak Obama has a horrible handshake: weak and kind of slimy -- limp even! We were both so excited to be able to share this with each other, both of us said that we'd thought this for so long and no one else felt the same way.
2. At some point I referred to moving to SF as the next "great adventure" in my life. And then it suddenly occurred to me all the different adventures I've been on and I think I must have then used the word "adventure" at least two more times in other references. I worried the third time that I was over-using it, but the whole conversation was so natural that I thought, eh, what the hell, I'm the kind of person who over-uses words like "fabulous, adventure, love."
3. At the end of the interview, she leans towards me as if to tell me a secret and says "So. What is your sign?" Sagittarious. "Omigod," she says, "all my BEST friends are Sagittarius'! Sagitarrius' are always interested and the life of the party and you seem just like that." Tell me about it -- I failed to mention that I like going to bed at 11 every night.
4. When she complimented my dress, I told her I had gotten it for a Green Fashion show. She then asked the obvious questions, oh, is it a green designer. And I told the truth: nope, its actually from anthropologie. We both laughed.

This was the interview where I walked away thinking that I could have been best-friends with the woman who interviewed me. I did something I have never done in an interview before, I complimented her in a round-about way about being a strong, powerful woman and said how much I respected people like that, in particular a boss/mentor I had at a previous job. I felt like the girl on the L Word who gets a job by telling this woman that her arms look really fit.

I didn't get the job, but she did recommend me to a lot of completely interesting people. I almost felt like I could call her up for plans when I go to SF next time. It was really the most wonderful interview I have possible. I walked out of that door feeling light, free, and like I had just won American Gladiators without breaking a sweat.



*As always, names have been changed.