Job interviews

(Continued)

My second interview was a little bit awkward. I proudly hold a Master's degree and am applying for a hostess position in Hilton. I was debating with myself if I wanted to apply for this job or not. I want a job that has the stability and potential for me to move up. And I got a good referral so I decided to apply. Then I found myself debating again. Should I send my best resume with all the education, awards, and conference presentations to them or send them a hostess resume? I thought they would not want to hire a Master's student to be a host. So I made up a very nice hostess resume that no education is mentioned.

I got a phone call to an interview right away. The awkwardness started right from the moment the employer said he was looking for someone to do hostess, bartending, room service, and other job. It's a part-time position with benefits if you work more than certain hours. And he asked us about education level. Well, I tried to avoid it but didnt want to lie. I felt my disadvantage right there. He was interviewing all three of us at the same time. So questions after questions, we had to find a most appropriate answer to the question and add something the other people hadnt mentioned. It was really hard. I came prepared but still was not feeling well prepared enough.

Lesson learned: We are never prepared enough for a job interview or anything that is in the future. That might be what you already have makes you fit into that position. One more lesson, job interview is like a two way street. It is the opportunity for the interviewer to find a most suited candidate and for the interviewee to find a likable job.

Job interviews

I am a recent graduate and am looking for a job, a real job. I do have job now, or should I say "jobs" because I have couple of them and they are not the one that I am looking for. And in this economy, it is very common. There are millions of people out there who are in the same situation as I am. I share the empathy with them but I have to compete against them also.

I have been sending applications out for months now and I just got into two interviews so far. The first one, I had to demo-teach for 15 minutes. I prepared something general and lectured through it to the possibly future colleagues. It turned out that I needed to teach a mini lesson instead. Oh well no one told me that and I didnt know what the criteria of teaching were. So I was thinking this was not my fault.

Getting down to the real interview, two on one. I didnt expect it that way. And the questions were massive. I came unprepared. I have a couple pages of interview questions which I have told myself to go through each and all of them thoroughly. But I have never gotten to finish it. There are very tough questions that I probably cant come up with a good answer. Anyway, I provided answers to all the questions. Some of the answers I thought were pretty good, but some were not answering the question at all. I got over it though and walked out with a very positive thought. It was not because I thought I did well on the interview, but because they may hire me because they didnt have another candidate. Huh, it turned out that they did and obviously they made a right decision. I am glad for them and for whoever who got the job.

Lesson learned: Come well prepared to an interview. It can change your life. Got to take it more seriously.The Job Hunting Handbook: How to Land and Interview, Impress the Hiring Manager, and Get the JobLanding Your First Job Out of College: The Ultimate Job-Hunting Handbook

Cherry Blossoms Festival

It is beautiful, amazingly beautiful. It might be something you dont see very often in your lifetime. That is because Cherry blossoms blooming peak for only a couple of days. And if the weather is bad, the blossoms dont look good and you dont want to walk in the rain to see them either. In case the weather is as nice as this year, the scene is amazing, you still have to juggle with a sea of people. There are moments that you have to stop and capture the scenes you are seeing. It's really breathtaking. But most of the time, you have to watch your friend so that you wont get lost. More importantly, you have to watch other cherry blossoms lovers because their eyes are mostly glued on the blossoms or in their camera. There are spots we have to actually line up to take a picture from there. It normally doesnt take long to snap a picture but it takes us a while because people keep walking by in front of the camera. So we have to say a very long "cheeeeeeeeeese."



I dont like the crowds that much but it may be worth it seeing the beautiful scenes. However, I now know what it is like going to see the blossoms on a peak day. I may go again next year but definitely wont be walking and juggling with people. Maybe we will sit down for picnic and enjoy watching people walking and juggling.D C for Free: Hundreds of Free Things to Do in Washington, DcDC for Free: Hundreds of Free Things to Do in Washington D.C.