This is just a quick post for this morning (or for the whole day)..... It is something that has been on my mind since Wednesday night's finale of the reality show called Stylista. I was not going to be sucked into watching a show so fashioned after The Devil Wears Prada but, what the heck, nothing else was on and I generally trust Tyra Banks judgement. AND, after a while - it took a while - I did find myself getting drawn back to watching this show. This is not to say I thought it was a great show BUT, like some of these, it does have lessons for the younger ones to learn from should they choose to learn. The constant sniping drives me up the wall -- but, in retrospect, I have to admit this is probably part of growing up and learning how to behave on the job. Maybe. And I am sure all of us walked down this patch even though we think we were perfect in our younger days on the job and the rest of the world and workers were wrong. No, that is not a self-examination of me. No not me.
Back to the finale that aired on Wednesday, three young adults were selected to go through a final job interview with the Editor-in-Chief of Elle, Robbie Myers. Yes, they had done weeks of interviewing (with Anne Slowey and Joe Zee) for the coveted position of an assistant to Anne who looked and acted (especially in the early shows) like Merle Streep in Devil Wears, yada yada... but after the niece incident (was a very good episode) she seemed to become a kinder gentler future boss, maybe. However folks -- a free apartment in NYC and clothing allowance for one year - I was salivating. Go for it kids.
If for nothing else, this show showed me what I have known for a while. There are individuals out there who do not have a clue what it means to interview for a job -- especially the final interview. Take for example a receptionist who came to interview with us years ago and had made it through the preliminary interviews and to the final one. OK, you get the scenario here. In the final interview with the one (executive director) who had the final say on if she would be considered -- only one final answer stood in her way. And you ask what it was? -- when asked the question, "What job in an office do you like the least?" the answer was ----"Answering phones." End of interview and it had gone fairly well up to that point.
One of the final contestants on Stylista, Megan (whom I thought she would be the "winner"), went into the interview with the Editor-in-Chief, Robbie Myers, with an attitude of "I've got this job, I know it, all you have to do is look at my resume, consider it against the other two jokers out there, and I am like so your baby!" Please, gentle readers, take time to hear the tires screeching to a halt. STOPPP... Megan, sweetie, that is not all there is to an interview. How about doing some homework and have a list of questions you would like to ask the head fashionista honcho. Robbie (as in Myers) took her resume and said something like, I see you went to Fordham University. Megan - yes. Robbie asked, and... silence. Robbie asked how did you like it? Megan - I dropped out after a year. Silence. Robbie, and.... Megan - silence. Robbie, you started your own boutique? Megan - yes. Robbie - and.... Megan - I sold it after a while because I got bored.
Now what does this tell the interviewer no matter how talented you are? Hmmmm, went to school a year and quit. Started a boutique and sold it because you were bored. Hmmmm. Then, are you ready kiddies, time for the final chance you have to prove that you are the right fit! Robbie - and do you have any questions of me? Megan - no. There is the end of the story, folks, Megan was ushered to the door immediately following the other two interviews and did not have a chance to prove what she could do in the final challenge. No surprise.
This may be a lesson for all looking for a job - make sure your interview skills are honed. Just like another finalist on the show, his last question was - and where do you see Elle magazine in ten years and am I in the position. Cool question. A similar question back to Robbie was also presented by the winner Johanna who was a China Military Analyst with a BA from Brown and a Masters from Georgetown - neither directly related to the fashion magazine industry but she had a natural talent, a burning in her soul, and a hunger in her belly for that job. I wish her good luck. I really do. Hopefully, she will make it the full year!
Yes, I really really do..... she wanted it that badly!
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