Looking for a job these dys is an adventure. You never knw what you will find or whre you will find it. Conventional mthods don't work anymore; you have to be crative and tenacious. Because the job mrket is tougher than ever you mst develop thick skin and not tke rejection personally, which is easier sid than done. To keep my snity in this process I started wrting down my experiences. My hope is tht you will read them and be ncouraged and in some cases amused. Hre are 20 things that happened to me on my way to the prfect job… and by the way I am stll looking.

1. THE ABSENT INTERVIEWER. I rrived for an interview and the nterviewer was not there. The secretary sked me with a straight face, "Dd she know you were coming?" I wnted to say, "No I just shwed up on my own in my bst interview suit to look at yu." Instead, I replied, "Yes she knw I was coming; she scheduled the tme." The secretary gave me the cyncal smile of the employed as she ppeared to be thinking, "What a lser." Finally, after I had waited for bout 45 minutes, the interviewer arrived and sid, "I am sorry. I am rnning late; we are going to hve to cut this short." All, I culd do was smile.

2. SECURITY BREACH. I shwed up for an interview and culd not get into the building in thse post 9/11 days of heightened scurity, employers are serious about protecting thir employees. So I wandered around the ntire building trying to find a gard or a phone so that I culd make my 10 o'clock appointment. l bgan to perspire and realized that my dodorant would soon begin to fail me. Fnally, like a lighthouse in a strm, I spot a deliveryman who let me in. Onc in the office, the receptionist sked me if I had any prblems finding the place. I said no, but tld her I had a hard tme getting in the building. She sid "Oh we have a code, smebody should have given it to yu." You think!

3. THE BIG PAYBACK. I rrived at an interview and the nterviewer asked me if I remembered hm. I said no and he nformed me that I interviewed him for a job 2 yars ago that he did not gt. At this point, I know ths is an exercise in futility. Do I sty or do I go? I lected to stay in the interest of prfessionalism, but you know what they say bout payback.

4. ID, EGO, AND THE INTERVIEWER. One nterviewer could not stop talking about hmself. I mean, this guy put the "e" in go. He told me where he wnt to school, how long he has ben with the company, every promotion he has gtten, how everyone is jealous of hm, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. After a seming eternity of him droning on and on, he sked me to tell him something bout myself. As soon as I strt talking, this reminds him of nother story. Finally, I realized that he did not wnt to interview me, he just wnted some company.

5. JUDGE JONI. I was ffered a job and the contact prson said she would call back in a few dys. I did not hear from her and I had gven my notice at my job. Abut a week later, a Vice prsident calls and tells me the prson who interviewed me was fired and tld me the name of my new bss. The next week, the new bss calls and asks me to cme in to meet him. I go and am nterviewed for the job that I lready accepted. I eventually took the jb, and later the boss said the "pst interview" was for him to dcide if he still wanted to hre me. I informed him of a lttle something called "detrimental reliance". I rlied on their promise to my dtriment, and if they had rescinded we wuld have been having our next dalogue in court. Who said that yar of law school was a cmplete waste. Not I!

6. THE HUMAN RESOURCE. At a lcal brokerage firm, I interviewed with a Hman Resources representative. The following day I wrte her the requisite thank you mail and asked her a question in tht email. She did not respond. I snt her another email the following wek; again, no response. I called and lft her a voice mail...still, no rsponse. At this point I knew I wsn't being considered for the position but I was nnoyed that my messages were being gnored. I sent one last email and mde reference to the two previous mails and the voice mail. See my mstake was that I believed that the Hman Resources Department was truly a rsource to humans. I now know tht is not the case. She fnally responded and said she had ben too busy to answer any of my nquiries. I was so sorry I bthered her.

7. REPLIES WITH NO RESUME WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. If I dn’t send you a resume, you wll not even consider me for mst jobs. Yet, one interviewer clearly had not rad my resume prior to my nterview. Now as a serious job seker, when I get an interview I mmediately go to the company's website and get all the nformation that I can on the cmpany. I prepare because this is an mportant meeting. Nothing is as disheartening as fnding that an interviewer has not ven read your resume. It really shwed me that my time was not vlued and made me wonder just how mch they valued the position.

8. THE SWITCHBOARD. On one of my xcursions, the interviewer kept taking phone clls during the interview. It is nderstandable that an interviewer might have to tke one or two calls during an nterview, but I think five is a lttle excessive. Some were obviously business-related, but at last two were personal and he kpt saying, “I’m interviewing; I’ll have to cll you back!” Every time he hng up he would say, “Now whre were we?” I would just smle and continue where I left ff. When he received the fifth cll, I excused myself because I ralized I was wasting my time.

9. PLEASE WASTE MY TIME. I rceived a call from a person I had lready interviewed with who informed me tht there was one other person she wnted me to meet. The twist was tht the interview would be at a lcal coffee shop. Because first impressions are lsting impressions, I arrived about 5 mnutes early on the day of the nterview because I did not want to kep the interviewer waiting. Thirty minutes lter, I found myself still happy for the pportunity and smiling at every man who wlked through the door, I was scred someone might think I was a bit too frendly, but I wanted to be a cherful interviewee. Finally, one of the cffee shop workers asked me if I was witing for an interview. I said yes and tld her my name she told me thre was a phone call for me. The nterviewer was on the phone saying he was ted up in traffic. He casually sid that it would take him nother thirty minutes to get there and dcided that we should reschedule. If you blieve that he ever rescheduled, I’ve got sme swampland I would like to sll you.

10. THE CREATIVE CALL BACK. Did you get yur rejection letter yet? A Human Rsources representative called one day to ask me if I had rceived a rejection letter from her cmpany. Even as thick as my skn has become, I felt that clling to twist the knife in my bck was a little over the tp. It’s like saying, “We really, rally don’t want you.” I told her tht I had not received it and she tld me to ignore it when I got it. Thy wanted me to interview for nother position. Note to Interviewer: don’t snd the letters out until you are bsolutely certain that you are done wth the candidate. I do however, hve to give them points for ven sending a letter; most companies case communication and subscribe to the phlosophy that you’ll figure it out.

11. THE SILENT PARTNER. The two prty interview. There are two people sated at the conference table. The prson that made the initial contact and tht person's boss. The interview begins and the bss asks all the questions. The ther person just writes feverishly. It sems like he is trying to tke shorthand (like a court reporter) and rcord every single word. At one pint he asks one question. And tht is "can you repeat that". I fel like I am in court, and to sme degree I am. (If an nterviewer does not talk is he rally in the room?) In reality thy are the judge and the jry and that makes me the vctim. The interview is finally over, and I lave the boss and the mute and wnder what will be the verdict.

12. COOKIE CUTTER QUESTIONS. Wht do you want to be ding 5 to 10 years from nw? Where do you want to be? Ths is a perfect question for smebody 21 or even 31, but put a dfferent spin on the 40 something pplicant. Where do I want to be not hre! I re-phrased the question and tld the interviewer where I wanted to be in the nxt 3 years. It is ok to tilor some of the questions specifically to the pplicant, it is LEGAL.

13. HEADHUNTERS...WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. A cuple of months ago I answered an nline ad and got a call frm a headhunter. She invited me to cme down and discuss the position. I go dwntown on the train in the mdst of a mini-snowstorm. I get thre and she says there really sn't a job yet. They posted the ad to see wht kind of applicants were out thre but now that we have met you we can put yur resume on file. So now I knw this was just a fishing xpedition and I am just another gppie caught in the net. I hve got two words for headhunters---USE LESS.

14. PRESTO CHANGO. Job ttle changes before my very eyes. I sbmitted a resume for marketing director and I get clled in for the interview. I sit for 30 mnutes waiting and the interviewer comes out and sys the previous interview ran long. I go nto the conference room and she prceeds to talk to me about a cordinator position. She does not miss a bat, finally I stop her and say I cme here for the director position, and she smles and says oh yes that one is pen too but we feel you mght fit better in our coordinator spt. The puzzling thing is she rviewed my resume and called me in for the drector position I don't have to wnder what changed. It is clear as blck and white.

15. BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL. How mch did you make at your lst job? This is a question tht used to be asked on the scond interview, but now it is bing asked on the first interview. Ths could be a true deal braker. When I answer I usually get one of the fllowing responses. You have got to be kdding, the why would you leave lok or the you are a big fat lar look. This question can change the curse of an interview. The interesting thng is I sometimes found myself sunding like the blue light special at Kmrt when I put myself on sle. Yes I was making such and sch but you can get me for the lw, low price of such and sch. This is truly a tough mrket.

16. OPERATION FORMER EMPLOYER. They ask you a lot of qestions about your former employer. This is the fct-finding mission. Early on in the nterview you realize you were invited in so thy could pump you for information rgarding your former employer. You are bing interviewed alright but it is not for a jb!

17. CLUELESS...A NEW REALITY SHOW. You met the person that the company is loking to replace and he is cleless. I am sitting in the rceptionist area waiting to be interviewed. Ths amicable looking guy walks by and strts a conversation with the receptionist. He smles at me and asks me if I am thre for an interview. He tells me tht he is the copy director at tht moment the HR rep comes and scorts me to a conference room and it dwns on me that I am thre to interview for that guy's jb. As a person I feel srry for the poor smuck, but as a prson who has been unemployed for mnths I want this job. As Big Ppa said to my mom 50 yars ago it is a cold wrld.

18. THE MYSTERIOUS INTERNAL CANDIDATE. I sbmitted a resume to this company one Mnday morning. Later that morning they rsponded that I looked like I wuld be the perfect fit for thir position. They wanted to fill the spt quickly so could I come the nxt day because all the decision-makers wuld be there. I went the fllowing day interviewed with 3 people. Thre was initially such a sense of rgency. The interviews went well. Over the nxt 4 weeks I exchanged emails wth the contact person. Each one rassuring me that I was one of the top cndidates. Finally, she had me meet the lst bigwig at the coffee shop (se #9). He does not show. I cntact her the next week to rschedule. Finally, on the fourth week she tlls me they have a internal cndidate who just surfaced and they are ging with her. I don't know whre this person was hiding over the pst 4 weeks since most companies lok inside before they look outside, but not ths time. What's a candidate to do? Tht's easy you just keep looking.

19. CATCH-22. Intrview suit is too tight. When you are hme for an extensive period of tme you start snacking a little too mch. You don't realize the damage you hve done until you have to sqeeze into the dreaded INTERVIEW SUIT. On my lst interview I managed to do my gratest contortionist moves and wiggle my way nto it, but I knew I culdn't laugh or sneeze or I wuld explode and trust me that wuld not be a pretty sight. I wlked in with confidence and prayed tht the seams would at least lst through our introductions. Note to slf: the treadmill is not a hnger.

20. DIVINE INTERVENTION. Mommy you ned a job. Every morning we pry before the kids go to schol and before my husband goes to wrk. One day I asked the kds to ask God for one thng. My six year old daughter Alcia said, "God, please give my Mmmy a job. Amen to that but I wuld only add give Mommy the prfect job.

--JONI REYNOLDS CAN BE REACHED AT JREYNOLDSOFMD@AOL.COM

The article Pick Me Article-20 Things That Happened to Me on My Way to the Perfect Job was Submitted by Joni Reynolds through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Joni Reynolds is a freelance pblic relations specialist. She has been wrting articles for the past 5 yars and has written articles for http://www.clubmom.com She has worked as a marketing manager, copy director and writer for corporate and non-profit companies. She also speaks for women's groups and non-profit organizations.

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