When Opportunity Knocks
Years ago, I remember seeing a quote that opportunity is everywhere, but it seldom docks in your harbor. For some reason it stuck in my mind. Recently in my post, “How to Interview: What I Learned after 20 Years of Interviewing, ” I mentioned that while I was being interviewed once, I spoke too quickly so the interview was unusable, and a wasted opportunity for me. It was regrettable, but a major lesson learned. Opportunity came knocking again, and this time it was in the form of a live radio interview. When opportunity knocks at your door, are you prepared?
Yesterday, Valentine’s Day, Rosemarie Bowen interviewed me on CIUT 89.5 FM Culture Hour in celebration of Black History Month. Although February is Black History Month, the interview wasn’t solely on that, in fact, it was on reading books, how texting and abbreviations are impacting writing, and the impact of including abbreviations such as LOL and YOLO into the dictionary. Rosemarie sent me the questions before the interview and she also took the time to prep me because it was the first time I was being interviewed on the radio. There were a couple of questions that I asked her to drop, simply because they were not applicable to my situation.
CIUT 89.5 FM is the University of Toronto’s radio station that has over half a million listeners. On Saturday, I spent an hour reading through all the questions, then answering them, as a way to prep myself for the interview. I arrived for the show early, looked at my responses one more time. I wrote SPEAK SLOWLY across the top of the document with my answers. The interviewer mixed things up, and it was okay because I did not have to rely on my notes. This is an important lesson here, if you are invited for an interview, and given the questions beforehand, it’s important to answer the questions as a way to think things through and clarify your thoughts, but do not become dependent on your notes because you will have a lousy interview.
I think the interview went well, the interviewer and the tech guy say that it went well, but I haven’t listened to myself. For the next live interview, I strive to do better, because there is always room for improvement. There are times I doubt myself, and I wonder what I have to offer to others, but each of us knows something that others do not know, and I need to remind myself of that. The interesting thing, is that Rosemarie researched me before the interview – which is the responsible thing for an interviewer to do – and she saw my blog post that I mentioned above about lessons learned after 20 years of interviewing, and she paid attention. She has under five years of interviewing experience, while I have 20, but that’s a non-issue because it’s her show, and she did a good job. She told me that she read my post after our interview.
There is another major lesson here, for the first time in history, there are three and sometimes four generations working together in the workplace. This means that we have to learn how to communicate effectively with people in different age groups. And if you work for an organization, and you are over 50 or even 40 years old, there is a chance that you may have to report to someone who is younger than you are, and you have to figure out ways to make the relationship work. Rosemarie Bowen is younger than I am, and has less interviewing experience, but I gave her the respect she deserves. She was the interviewer and I was the interviewee, and we were able to build a rapport, and that’s why the interview worked.
Based on my role as an interviewee, I have also learned some lessons that I would like to share.
Interviewing Tips for Interviewees
- Be grateful and honored you are an interviewee.
- Prior to the interview, ask what the interview is about, to decide if you are the right choice.
- Treat the opportunity with respect, prepare for the interview, and never try to wing it.
- If you have access to the questions before the interview, at the very least, read them, think of ways to answer them as a way to clarify your thoughts.
- Arrive early and center yourself in preparation for the interview.
- Build rapport with the interviewer.
- If you do not understand the question, ask for clarification.
- Leave your ego outside the door.
Opportunities dock in your harbor from time to time, but it’s up to you to get rid of the ego, and any other barriers, so that you can see and capitalize on them. When opportunity knocks, be ready to open the door.
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