I have had a skype job interview last Thurs.
Ok, many will just say "so what?", others will say "cool", but there's generally very little exceptional in an interconnected world. The interesting thing, however, is that I have Tourette's and this poses interesting challenges in a job interview.
As many of you probably know, being a tourettic can't be hidden. Unlike other diseases, we do bark routinely so... well... it's a tad hard to hide, you know
But this is not the fear I want to talk about. It's rather a much more common one, it's the fear of new things.
As a few of you will probably know, I am from Italy and I can't find a decent job here. It's been a few years that I keep applying for jobs in the UK and that's what I was interviewed for. One of those job advertisers did indeed show interest in me.
He showed interest to the point of scheduling the interview and actually bring it on to completion, ultimately adding me to the short list of candidates.
The worst part of job interview is not the actual moment it's attended, rather what goes next, i.e. what you do or do not and that might affect the outcome.
I have spent 10 years of my life travelling around Italy for work, but it still is Italy. Same language, conventions, culture.
Going abroad faces totally new challenges to me, although familiar, because I have had many opportunities to travel abroad for leisure.
But, then again, that was leisure. Leisure is temporary by definition.
You eventually go back home, ya know. Work isn't like that: there's no
home to go to if you get what I mean.
And the fear builds up. Fear makes you do stupid, really stupid things. Or maybe not.
Maybe it's a chance. If you acknowledge it is there - if you're honest about it.
There's nothing wrong in being scared like hell about new things: when the phone
technology came on the market, many considered it evil - not because of some
specific or substantiated reason, but ultimately because it was new.
So I had been barking throughout the interview, twitching and grunting like any good
tourettic should be doing lol and he commented that after all it wasn't all that bad,
that he would nicely cope with it because volume wasn't too high etc.
He almost complimented me for being such a kind tourettic LMAO ok maybe not
lol but you get what I mean.
And here comes the fear. The fear for new things, I started thinking of all the times I
shout and bark loudly. I was about to send him an email highlighting these things, but
then I stopped.
I stopped because I could recognize and ADMIT my fear.
Bloody hell, it's another country and it's normal to be scared to no end.
And immediately, other details about my shouts, my yells, my loud barks came to light.
Yes, I still do shout loud at times, but mostly when nobody is in the same room as I am. Mostly when the office is empty or almost empty.
I have coped with it before and I can still cope with it.
My colleagues ALWAYS got used to me, provided that some time was given.
When they would get to know me, what *I* did disappeared.
Melted away like snow when meeting sun.
This is how fear can help us: it tells us our inconfidence and if we
acknowledte it, we will have done a great service to ourselves.
Learn to recognize your fear, because that's the way to strengthen yourself.
Oh, and, obviously, don't fear to comment :D I don't bite, promise :D
Hugs,
Andrew
