The Job Interview

The NFL Draft, 2022 version, begins on April 28. Ends on April 30.

I tell you that so you can mark your calendar. Nothing else you watch could possibly be as scintillating.

I watch Good Morning Football. In the weeks leading up to the draft, they have top prospects on the show so people can get to know them. At the end of their appearance they conduct a mini-interview. 

"Tell us why you deserve to go in the first round of the NFL draft."

These are football players. The responses are predictable. "I'm the toughest, I'm the fastest, I have the best hands, I have the best work ethic."

No different than any other chump at any other mundane job interview. It is pathetic.

I have had 3 job interviews since I "semi-retired." Since 2016. 

First one was for a non-profit that offers emergency homeless services to those in need, with support coming in all forms - food, housing, counseling. They maintain a thrift clothing store; profits go to the organization. 

In the interview I told them I "always" wanted to work for an organization that helps people versus a heartless corporation. They bought it. They hired me.

Second interview was for the theatre I currently work at. Told them I love music, I love "the arts", I wanted to work for an organization that supports the artistic community. They bought it. They hired me.

There was "some" truth in my words at both interviews.

Third interview was for the City of Concord. Much more corporate style interview. I gave them predictable corporate bullshit. They bought it. They hired me. No truth in that interview at all. I only cared for the money; the job meant nothing to me.

Corporate america is cancer. It is not the efficient machine it pretends to be. It is sloppy, it is lies, it is a waste of money and talent.

The first clue comes at the lowest level - the portal, the first step - the Interview.

An interview should be horrifyingly specific - nail people down, ask precise questions that make people squirm, find out exactly what they know.

Instead, interviews are vague. Vague enough that a talented actor like me can excel. Someone who can feign sincerity convincingly, someone intelligent enough to come across as intelligent.

Ultimately it is a pathetic, humiliating thing for a prospective employee to go through - doing the dance, mouthing the words - the interviewer is playing a part, the interviewee is playing a part - and they both know it.

I don't want to get too preachy here....but I will.

The Job Interview is a symptom of the fatal disease called corporate america. corporate america is a symptom of the fatal disease called america.

Everything is a smoke screen. There is no truth to your life. Except your own truth, which you probably can't even define.