When you’ve sat through enough job interviews, especially if you consider yourself a creative, you see a common thread. The wind up, the pitch and the hypotheticals all seem vaguely familiar. Because they are.

Their “by the book” style of trying to gauge your fit in their organization, leaves a lot to be desired. It also leaves a lot of you still on the table.

They are taught to hire against the pre-determined job description and dispense with the ad libs. That part, they have down cold.

At some point in the interview, you come to the realization that the only one who knows your true potential is your mother. Unfortunately, she’s not hiring.

I usually make a huge boo-boo by listing all of my creative experiences. songwriting, video production, singing, playing guitar, piano, cheffing, and stand-up. Sales and marketing I throw in at the end. 🙂

I actually put out an album of safety music. (What were they thinking?) But these folks don’t like coloring outside the lines. They aren’t going to be experiencing any light bulb moments in front of you.

I had dinner with a guy named Peter Card one night about my future. After I kept bringing up all the things I could do, he kept coming back to “Bob, what business are you in? If people don’t know exactly what business your in, they won’t know what to do with you.” He was right, they like plain old vanilla.

I had an interview with a guy two days ago, who almost gave himself a brain hemmorhage right in front of me trying to figure out a way squeeze me in to his organization. There’s always hope, I guess.

There was one guy, Bob Sullivan. He took the bet based on a hunch. It was an uphill battle with the V.P. of Sales, but he saw something in me that I certainly wasn’t aware of.

Not a plain man, that Mr. Sullivan.