Interviewing for a Spot on the Planet

 

   It is a very cold wintery Saturday morning so I decided to stay indoors and maybe clean out a couple of files. I fired up the paper shredder and after a page or two I stopped when I came across a stack of sheets of light blue paper. They held a list of the questions I used to ask when I was interviewing candidates for a teaching position. The questions were designed to help reveal qualities about each candidate to help me decide who should get the job.

   Looking over the questions, I thought about how I might answer each if I were being interviewed in today’s somewhat topsy turvy world, not for a job, but for my ‘spot” on today’s planet.

  Question 1. Tell me about yourself. Although you might not know the other candidates, what are some of your personal qualities that might make you unique from the others?

   I liked this question because it gave people an opportunity to talk about themselves and most people really do like to talk about themselves. There was never a single correct answer but there may have been some wrong ones. Do you know what they are?

   Question 2. If I were to meet someone on the street who knew you and I asked them to describe you, what might they say?

   Again, no correct answer here but a common response was often “It depends upon who you meet.” So, think about the answer. Do people see us in different ways, or do we act differently with different people? If so, what does it say about us as a person, as an individual.

   Question 3. (My favorite) If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?

   This question often received a number of unusual and sometimes very funny responses. Many wanted to be a cat or a dog, a bird or even a lion. One person answered by saying they would like to be a salamander. Remember, we are applying for a spot on the planet. What’s wrong with being a salamander?

   Question 4. What do you see as your strengths and weaknesses?

   Wrong answer? I have none or I have many strengths and very few weaknesses. The truth is that people do tend to underestimate themselves and a person’s strength may be another person’s weakness. We all can’t be leaders. Some must be followers.

   Question 5. What do you see yourself doing in five years from now and what steps will you take to achieve that goal? Do you go through life looking forward or constantly looking in the rearview mirror to see what or who might be chasing you?

   Unfortunately, many go through life thinking about what could have been instead of making it happen. Common last words for many…” I wish I had.” So the question may be…” why didn’t you?”

   There were other questions in the sheet. Last book read? Favorite color? Most favorite movie of television show?

   An interview can sometimes be a ‘crap shoot’. The day of the week, the skill of the interviewer or even the weather can play a role in determining a successful outcome. But as I said at the beginning, this is not an interview for a job, but for our place on the planet where everyone gets accepted regardless of the quality of the answer to the questions. We all get our own little spot, our own place in time. What we do while we are here is truly up to each of us.