{"id":28127,"date":"2012-07-18T15:33:55","date_gmt":"2012-07-18T15:33:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=28127"},"modified":"2017-01-26T07:54:34","modified_gmt":"2017-01-26T12:54:34","slug":"why-i-need-more-horrific-job-interviews-susan-schwartz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/why-i-need-more-horrific-job-interviews-susan-schwartz\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Need More Horrific Job Interviews"},"content":{"rendered":"

As told to Susan Schwartz.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve never actually had your head handed to you before, guess what?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not too much fun.<\/p>\n

I am a full-time actuary, and I\u2019d been posting my resume on the job sites for a while, just in case something interesting came along. A few weeks ago, I received an email about a position managing a team of actuarial students in an area that seemed similar enough to my current role. I emailed back and got a phone call within 10 minutes. One thing led to another, and then I found myself sitting the manager\u2019s office for the interview.<\/p>\n

It was going well, I thought. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Where do you see yourself in five years?<\/em> The usual.<\/p>\n

Then he took out a sheet of paper. \u201cI\u2019m just going to ask you a few math questions.\u201d And he wrote this:<\/p>\n

P(x) = \u00a0x\u00b2
\nP\u2019(x) = ?<\/p>\n

I stared at the equations. \u201cUhh\u2026.it\u2019s been a long time,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, that\u2019s what a lot of people say. But,\u201d he cheerfully noted, \u201cif you like math, it shouldn\u2019t make a difference, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

It had<\/em> been a very long time. Five years ago, I could have done those problems in my sleep, but some things you just clear out of your brain to make room for other things.<\/p>\n

He tried to help me along. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you take the log of both sides?\u201d he offered.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just about to do that,\u201d I muttered. I really was.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, as the questions continued, the helpfulness of his comments deteriorated sharply. \u00a0\u201cWhy would you draw that as a straight line?\u201d \u201cYou\u2019ve heard of the Chain Rule, haven\u2019t you?\u201d \u201cYou are a math major, right?\u201d \u201cSo\u2026what exactly do you do at your job?\u201d (More than once this question was asked.)<\/p>\n

Needless to say, the interview was unsuccessful. In fact, I\u2019m pretty sure that as soon as I left he burst out laughing, stopping only after it hurt too much to continue, then shook his head, wiped his streaming eyes, and tried to resume his work\u2026but couldn\u2019t because every time he tried to think all he could see was me struggling for ten minutes on one question, and then leaning over the paper and drawing a single straight line, which at that point I could have drawn in crayon without any additional negative impact on my chances.<\/p>\n

I am not sure if the test he gave me was actually essential to the job I was interviewing for or just a way for him to assess how I would deal with a curveball thrown my way. It didn\u2019t really matter. I walked in with a sense of confidence about being successful in a competitive field, with the assumption that I was up to the task. I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d be given any test I couldn\u2019t handle. I work in a high-level job in my field, and didn\u2019t consider that I should think about the things I had put aside as part of my \u201cless important\u201d past. I walked out feeling as though the air had been punched out of me and I was black and blue on the inside.<\/p>\n

But as I thought more about this humbling experience, I think I learned an important lesson.<\/p>\n

After 120 years, we are all going to be tested. We will all get a blank sheet of paper with the following questions listed:<\/p>\n

How is the world better because of you?
\nList the tefillot<\/em>, prayers, that you davened with complete kavanah\u00a0<\/em>(intention).
\nHow many times have you learned Shas <\/em>(six orders of the Mishna)?
\nPlease account for your actions at the following times:<\/p>\n

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