A disastrous Interview

It was disastrous not for me but for the outlook of a certain industry.

In short, the interviewers (who were both rather young, and dress "appropriately" like punkish artists) were "not impressed" with me and tried to offer me a job at half of my starting salary when I was a fresh graduate from NUS.

Granted, I am in the middle of career change and I have no prior experience in the industry I am trying to get into. But some experiences can more or less be carried over: Organizational skills good enough to organize a nationwide event (and I am not talking about Singapore, which is more of a metropolis-state); Leadership skills good enough to be the key assistant of senior managers in a department of 40. They can "not impress" with all these achievement but to NOT see the value and to tell it in my face is nothing short of a revelation that I have just been "interviewed" by people who are totally unfit for the task. After all, you do not paint a good picture and ask the blinded what they think. They will rightfully be "not impressed" by what you have painted.

They are of course also "not impressed" by contacts that I can named. One is just a Managing director of a fledging MNC and the other a famous figure in the print media industry of Malaysia. It is of course of not immediate values to them.

It is all very proletarian: we think you can only do this job, and therefore you are paid for this job. That I also bring valuable experience to the job seemed to get right pass their (airy) head. Of course, they have much more experience in their adopted industry to know whether my experience counts, right?

In the end of the day, I don't blame them. I really don't. I am not even angry with them. To be angry with a blind person when he tells you he cannot see is simply silly. And I never looked down on blind person: it is unfortunate enough when someone simply cannot see, and to show any condescending attitude towards such unfortunate soul is simply mean.

I am primarily angry about myself. I had realized something was terribly off base as soon as I saw my two interviewers. I was right about my intuitions, but I was wrong to stay and be "interviewed" by two people who basically operate at a different plane of existence. I should have immediately excuse myself politely and blame it on some kind of cosmic joke.

It was a very hard lesson to learn: never submit yourself to the judgement of someone who is going to under-value you.