Interview Update in Blog Form

At 8:30am, I pull into the parking lot. "Shiiiiit," I say, realizing that I have a good wait ahead of me due to my obsessive compulsive nature. I tap my foot against the clutch nervously and check my watch roughly every thirty seconds. A crow lands on the hood of my car, cocks his head to one side and glares at me through the windshield. I stare him down as he waddles closer.
"What," I ask through the glass. He turns his head the other way. "You think I'm not going to get the job, don't you?" An attractive transport medic makes his way from the building to the ambulance, and I duck so fast I smack my head against my gear shift; the crow flies away.
"Stop. Talking. To. Crows."
8:37am and I'm getting restless. I pull out my camera and take stupid pictures of myself to make the time go faster. I look good for the interview, I might as well commemorate the occasion.

I'm getting restless. I start running through interview questions in my mind. "What do you feel you can bring to the company." "What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses as a provider?" I start panicking when I can't even answer my own questions.
What if they don't like me? What if I stutter or I use infantile words? What if I have something in my teeth the whole time, or when I go to shake his hand I sneeze in his face?
Finally, I take a deep breath and remind myself that I'm a good EMT with a great résumé. I'm going to be fine. Getting out of my car, I smooth out the new wrinkles in my just-ironed skirt suit. I call the number on the slip of paper in my hand and breathe.
"Hi, Michael? This is Sam Montgomery, I'm here for a 9am interview and you told me to call so you could let me in? Thanks so much!"
I see him coming to the door and I take a final deep breath before plastering that professional look across my face.
"Samantha, come on in!"
"Sam Montgomery," I say holding out my hand with a smile, "so great to finally meet you!"
He leads me inside past a line of various medics changing shifts who all turn to look; I realize I must look a bit out of place with my green suit and clicking high heels, but I nod at them with a smile and follow Michael into his office.
I fill out some papers that will allow the company to dig into every aspect of my past. I don't really mind--in 18, nearly 19, years of life, I haven't done anything that they should care too much about--well, nothing bad, anyway. He tells me about company policies and different kinds of schedules I can request. After a long pause, he pulls out a few pieces of paper and a pen, clicks it a few times and looks up.
"So, Samantha, tell me about yourself."
"Really, Michael? You want me to tell you about myself? What do you want to know? Want me to tell you how I'm a test tube baby? Or how about the way I love the color green? I wear a perfume that smells vaguely of vanilla and sometimes of apples, and when I'm angry you can hear my texan accent. You want to give me a more vague question, Michael?" I stammer. "Well...I'm..." I take a deep breath and look him straight in the eye with a smile. "I'm a college student right now, and as I transition from childhood to adulthood, I've come to realize that it's time for me to start taking responsibility for my life. I've grown up in the medical field and been in EMS for about the past year and a half, so becoming a part of your company seemed like a natural choice. I'm a compassionate and intelligent person, and I combine the two well in my patient care. I get along well with others and truly enjoy the camaraderie I find within EMS partnerships." I see him trying to write down "camaraderie" with an "o" thrown in there somewhere--he scratches it out and writes "friendship" instead.
We go through the whole rigmarole of questions, and then he looks up from the sheet which is by now completely covered in notes.
"Samantha, do you have any questions for me?"
"Actually, yes. I know that your orientation process is a full-time week. As a current college student, however, I cannot take the time right now to complete this should I be offered employment. Do you have any information or advice about this?"
"Samant--Sam," he says with a smile, "let me tell you something. You are an exceptional candidate. You have impressed me greatly; I can't even begin to tell you. When we--er--should we offer you employment, I can make a great case to my boss as to why we need to push back your orientation to May. You can absolutely finish out the semester before beginning orientation. I wouldn't normally do this, but if I feel a candidate is strong enough, I will definitely make exceptions to the rule. Do you understand?" I blush a little and nod.
"Yes, sir, thank you very much." We finish up a few final formalities, and I stand up and shake his hand, thanking him for meeting with me. I turn around after gathering my things and see two medics behind me, staring holes through me, both with smiles on their faces. I smile awkwardly, wondering how much of my interview they heard, when one of them winks and says, "welcome aboard."


I think hope I nailed it!