Self promotion? Uh oh...................

I just this minute got back from the open interview day for the last few jobs left up in the ski resort. Well, i got home then went for a run to vent my frustration, oh and had a shower after. So, here i am. The interview day started at 10am and was being held in the Queenstown resort college. I got there just before 10, parked up Biff and was surprised to see a deserted street. I had thought there would be loads of people milling about but it was dead. I started walking into the college grounds, rounded the corner and was greeted by the longest queue of people i have ever seen, and I've been to Disneyland! There was easily 300 people all standing out in the cold gripping their CVs. My heart sunk but i was so glad i decided at the last minute to bring my big winter coat and my gloves with me. As i begun to walk past the entrance and the front of the queue it felt like i was being tortured. Being shown the finish line before the 20 mile race, having to walk 20 miles to the start line to just run all the bloody way back. As i neared the line though i saw a familiar face. A few weeks ago i came second in a poker tournament, eventually losing to this young guy called Hamish. We had talked as we played and sort of got to know each other. Since then i had played a few times with him and thought he was a nice guy. He spotted me and beckoned me over. We both joked at how crazy this all was and were both shocked to see this many people. I groaned at the prospect of standing outside in the freezing cold for hours, to then wait inside for ages to then fluff up my interview and get rejected. Not my ideal Saturday really. I said my goodbyes to Hamish but as i started to leave he grabbed my sleeve and held me in place. I looked around and the people behind didn't seem to say a word. I'm not generally a queue jumper but Hamish assured me that everyone was doing it. I thought i had been busted though as some official looking guy in a Coronet Peak uniform started asking me if i was cold. I made petty conversation hoping that he hadn't twigged that i had magically appeared at the front of the queue somehow. We went in and filled in forms with our references and contact details, handed them in and then waited in the lobby to be called. After another 20 minutes or so i got called. I thanked Hamish and wished him all the best for the interviews. We were to have 2. One for our first choice and then another for our second.

I got called in by this little Japanese guy for my second choice job first, retail assistant. Probably the only job i had the chops for, having had some retail experience from my Homebase days. I sat down and he informed me i had 5 minutes to wow him. I contemplated getting up and doing a dance or something. I needed to make an impression after all. I sat there and told him why i wanted the job, why i was in Q town. He then told me to pick up one of the 3 objects on the table and sell them to him. There were a pair of goggles, a pair of gloves and a helmet. I picked up the gloves and tried my hardest to imagine being in a sales situation. I did OK. I asked him lots of questions about what he was looking for in a glove, what type of rider he was. He said the main reason for picking the gloves was for warmth. I then produced my own glove liners from my ski coat and said he could always get these. He seemed impressed by my sales pitch but then noticed that this was my second choice job. His body language dropped big time and he asked me why. I spilled some bullshit about being keen to get into ski tech stuff but had the retail stuff to fall back on. Not sure if he bought it. And that was that. I got shown the door and made my way back to the lobby.

I met up with Hamish again but only had a chance to say "They made me try to sell them a pair of gloves!" before i was called again for my rentals assistant interview. Everyone around Hamish overheard me and there were several whispers and shocked looks. Rentals was my first choice because i do actually want to get into the more tech side of skiing. I have good equipment knowledge and know I'd kick ass at it. This interview was less structured. I basically sat there and was asked to promote my self, strengths and all the good stuff. This is a huge problem for a pessimist like me. It's not that i don't know my worth, i do. It's just hard for me to express that. I hate the idea of coming across cocky or arrogant. Thank the lord for my sense of humour because i dropped a few witty lines in which had them laughing, which relaxed me. I tried hard but as i left the interview i felt a bit dirty. You know, like i had sold out. How the frig can you truly evaluate someone in just 5 mins? They say that most people decide if they like you or not in the first 20 seconds! That means that after, pauses, them asking questions and me thinking of witty replies i probably only had 3 and a half minutes to turn them on to me. I'm not that person. I'm not one of those loud American types who truly believe that they are awesome. I know my worth but i'm not arrogant and sure as hell don't like promoting the fact. I'm proud of my achievements but don't brag about them. I hope i don't anyway. I like to think of myself as humble and modest. I told them this but what good is that to them?

I looked for Hamish as i left to thank him again but didn't see him so snuck out of a back door. My god it was more like frickin pop idol or Britains got talent than a job interview! It wasn't fun and it's something i don't ever want to do again. I'm just so glad i didn't have to wait for ages to feel like a unwanted Christmas present. Such a pointless and stupid exercise! I know that it is probably the only way to get through a huge number of people but how the hell can someone get a fair chance in just 5 minutes? You have to stand out but does that mean the person who says similar things to me is going to get the job over me because he had a bright pink coat on? I just wish i had kept to my original plan of doing a striptease. Now, that would've made me stand out from the rest! "Hey i know we should give the job to Darrell." "whose that?" "you know. The striptease guy!" "Oh yeah. Er..........He's in jail." In hindsight it was probably for the best that i kept little Darrell in my jeans.

Other news. We have new neighbours. I was online the other day chatting to Kate at work and joked that they were 4 fit Swedish swimsuit models. I hadn't actually seen them but i wasn't far off the truth! It's actually 2 fit Swedish swimsuit models! Well, i haven't actually spoken to them yet so until i do, don't mess with the fantasy. I'm thinking there will be more of them too as the flat next door is 3 bedroom i think. Kate thinks their boyfriends will be along soon. Doh! I'm sure i will bump into them soon enough. I just hope i'm dressed when i do!

We went for a vibration plate training session the other day. Only because it was free and that the ad made all these claims of how it is the best thing for weight loss since cancer. It didn't actually say that. We went over there and met the big buff guy who took our medical histories and made us define our goals and ambitions. The actual vibro plate thing was way weird! You just stand on it in certain positions and your muscles have to work harder to keep you balanced. You use 30 muscles to just stand still apparently. Standing still on a vibrating plate that is constantly knocking you off balance makes those muscles work like crazy! So we did about a 20 minute session and oh my god it was tiring. I have been running around 20km a week for the last few weeks but this was harder! My legs felt like i had just climbed a mountain with a mini cooper strapped to my back and my pockets filled with concrete. Kate liked it and nearly bought a membership. I talked her into going a few times casually first just to make sure she really likes it before outlaying a big wedge of cash.

We saw Biffs sister the other day too! We had to go to the supermarket and when we came out laden with shopping Biffs sister was parked right next to him. The exact same campervan. Biffs reg is PZ 1968 and his sisters was PZ 1912. Biff was in a bit better condition and has been pimped out with tinted windows and meaty wheels but it looked really cute to see the two Econovans next to each other.

The only other thing this week really was our further domination of the poker prizes available in town. Thursday night saw Kate come second and me third at the Surreal tournament (one of the best in town). Sweet, another bar tab in the bank. It is funny how the town is changing. It is still pretty quiet but we have noticed a few new faces at poker. The odd new guy trying his luck and usually getting smashed and going home early but a lot of new, drunk, young snowboarder types. Cocky little guys who mess up the peace. At Surreal this week there were a few loud Americans from Utah who spoilt it a bit for one table apparently. I think it was probably just down to booze. People forget that a lot of Americans can't drink until they are 21 so still think it's a huge novelty to get wrecked by 10pm and act like a doosh bag. The rest of us more experienced drinkers wait until at least 10.30pm! Amateurs.

So i very much doubt i will get a job based on todays futile efforts at self promotion. If i do get the job i will feel a bit of a sell out but i'm sure i can live with that. I will let you know of my rejection in my next blog entry. Sigh.

Peace

D

XXXX