“Please don’t hold my achievements against me. I’m super-organized, I have great follow-through,” she declared. “I’m tough when I need to be . . . and professional. I’m coachable, too. I want to be part of a team.”
He angled back into his desk chair with a bemused grin. “Hold your bachelor’s against you?”
She knew the game was up. This guy was an advertising wunderkind, just as all the trade rags said. He could see right through her plan to land a spot to pay the bills until she could find arealjob.
“Mr. Walker, I know I seem overqualified to be an admin, but can’t overqualifying for a job be a good thing?”
“If you’ll stay awhile,” he’d replied.
“Capability and motivation are different things,” he’d stated, making the pronouncement sound like a fresh insight. Her fingers twitched with the desire to take notes. She reminded herself she was no longer in school. He proceeded with his inquisition.
“How would you feel if . . . if I asked you to send a reel to a client?”
“No problem,” she assured him.Easy one.
“Asked you to schedule appointments?”
“Of course.”
“Personal ones?”
“Okay.”
“Make travel arrangements?”
“I know the duties of an assistant. I can take care of correspondence, calendars, protect your time, make excuses to stave off unwanted calls, serve as your proxy for internal staff and even handle difficult clients.”
Is him grinning a good sign?
“I repeat, how are you going to feel about doing all that? When you were the star of your high school paper? When you just earned your degree in the musings of James Joyce? When you want to be a copywriter?”
Crap, tough psychological questions.
Other interviewers would dance around her skills and reject her without giving her a chance to respond. He clearly had seen her potential, but needed to verify his instincts.
She straightened the jacket of her pants suit, borrowed from her mom for the interview. “Copywriting can wait. I’m going to feel like I’m learning about the industry from the ground up. And I’m going to push you for opportunities to be part of the creative process. That’s still my strength.”
He nodded, as much in control of this interview as he probably was over everything in his life.
“If you fulfill the job’s priorities, there are always opportunities. New business presentations that need all hands on deck. Networking events.”
Her heart quickened.I need to go shopping.
“I still want to know,” he questioned. “Do you feel like you’re selling out?”
“Do you?” she shot back before she could think.
That bemused grin.
“We sell out every day, but hopefully with our analytics and not our souls. Now, what questions do you have for me?”
Her standard queries about the company had suddenly seemed trite.
“What made you do it?” She waved her hand to indicate the people and rooms beyond the clear glass. “What drove you to create this?”
For a moment, she didn’t care about the details of the job. She was transported. She wanted to know more about this agency superstar.
He seemed amused. He studied her, measuring the earnestness of her question.Who’s interviewing whom?
