Hello All, and welcome to the next installment of Making my Mark on the world. In this post, I share an anecdote about a time that I challenged myself to grow and how that anecdote was perceived when I shared it in a job interview.
Several years ago I interviewed for a highly technical financial job. Given the length of time that it has been, I don’t remember all of the minute details. However, I do remember being asked about a challenge that I overcame or a time that I challenged myself. The anecdote that I thought of was not traditional. Not for the finance role anyway. In very distant hindsight, perhaps they were looking for me to say something about a tough Excel task that I powered through in my undergrad studies. Anyhow, that was not the example that I thought of.
I harkened back to my fond memories of working for the athletic department at my old school. It was menial work (gate keeping, etc.), but I had a tremendous supervisor and mentor that I still keep in contact with to this day. I remember the first time that she was assigning jobs to us. My assignment: enforcing that only allowed guests came into the back entrance of the stadium. However, she did not just outright assign it to me. She asked me first, “Are you comfortable with being assertive?”
My honest answer was that it’s something that I could (and really still can) work on. She was okay with this response and the rest is history. I took the assignment to challenge myself to be more assertive. Anyhow, this was the anecdote that I chose to share with my interviewer. The interviewer’s response was along the lines of “Well, that’s a weird question to ask, most people don’t ask about assertiveness.”
Why is it weird? Assertiveness is an important personality trait related to communication. It was relevant to the job and to me. It was also a considerate question. When people meet me, they generally glean that I am a pretty quiet person quickly. That is to say that it was a person-centered question asked in a friendly manner. Again, why is this weird?
I really think that the interviewer was probably asking why are you sharing this story. I was sharing it because it highlights my journey and my mindset for growth. Personal and professional growth look different in different situations. A growth mindset for a poet is going to manifest differently than a growth mindset for a professional basketball player. Nonetheless, it is a valuable mindset.
Furthermore, I have come to realize that focusing on people and relationships is so important. This is true in work, but also in life. Asking your employee if they are comfortable with something, and if they are open to working on growth in a certain area, demonstrates far more people skills than simply foisting a task upon them.
In short, my points are that how you treat people is really everything. Regardless of the technical nature of the job, people skills are still a must. Further, growth and challenges extend far beyond organizing 1000s of rows of data in Excel efficiently. Lastly, don’t be afraid to be weird or different. Clearly, I was the only person that this hiring manager interviewed to share a story like this. I didn’t get the job, but that simply means it was not in alignment with what I wanted.
As always, thank you for reading Making my Mark on the world! If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing and/or sharing. The journey is just getting started.
Such a powerful experience! It shows honesty, courage, and integrity, and thinking outside the box all great values 🙌