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Published: Nov. 7, 2018, 6:24 p.m.

Full Transcript Below:

Show Summary:

In this Job Insights episode, Serina Gilbert talks about her job interview process and the rejection she experienced and more so about what she learned and gained from the interview process.

Serina goes into the details when she found out about a position opening in her work place. How she prepared for each step of the process and what she gained from taking the risk of challenging her self and wanting to stretch her possibilities.

Join Serina Gilbert and Jeff Thompson in this Job Insights episode and learn how landing on the Moon is not so bad when you were shooting for the stars.

We hope you enjoy this Job Insights episode and you can send your feedback and suggestions to the Job Insights team by email

Follow the Job Insights team on twitter @JobInsightsVIP

Job Insights is part of the Blind Abilities network.

A big Thank You goes out to CheeChaufor his beautiful music!

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Full Transcript:

Serena Gilbert:
Recently, I was presented with an opportunity to apply for a position that was not one level, but two levels above where I'm at right now. I am not joking you guys, there were literally nine people on my interview.

 

Jeff Thompson:

Job Insights, a podcast to help you carve out your career pathway and enhance the opportunities for gainful employment.

 

Serena Gilbert:
You will never know what you can do until you try. Even just the interview process built my confidence up.

 

Jeff Thompson:
To help you navigate the employment world and give you job insights and enhance the opportunities to choose the career you want.

 

Serena Gilbert:
It's a really good experience that helps me see that that interview process, wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it was going to be.

 

Jeff Thompson:
You could find the Job Insights podcast on blindAbilities.com. Part of the Blind Abilities network with host Serena Gilbert and myself, Jeff Thompson. You can contact us by email at jobinsights@blindabilities.com. Leave us some feedback or suggest some topics that we cover on Twitter @jobinsightsvip. Check out the job insight support group on Facebook where you can learn, share, advice and interact with the job insights community.

 

Serena Gilbert:
There's lessons to be learned in every single life experience that we go through. Sometimes they're easier to find, and sometimes they're a little bit harder to look for, especially when it's news that we don't like.

 

Jeff Thompson:
Learn about resources for training, education, and employment opportunities.

 

Serena Gilbert:
Especially you, Jeff. I keep you on your toes.

 

Jeff Thompson:
Now please welcome Serena Gilbert and Jeff Thompson, with job insights will come to job insights. Welcome to Job Insights, I'm Jeff Thompson. We're back with a brand new show with my co-host, Serena Gilbert. Serena, how are you doing?

 

Serena Gilbert:
I'm doing good, Jeff. How are you?

 

Jeff Thompson:
I'm doing really good. I'm glad to be back in the studio with you, and we're going to talk about a topic that's quite personal to you as of late. It's about rejection during a job interview. Serena, I really want to thank you for sharing this with the listeners.

 

Serena Gilbert:
Yeah, it's something we all go through. It's not super fun, but I really wanted to ... Jeff and I talked about this podcast is like our therapy session in a way. So I wanted to take some time to share my experience and also talk about what do we do when we hear no, and when we get a little bit ahead of ourselves when we're looking at, oh my gosh, that'd be really cool to have that opportunity, and how do we make the best of those opportunities.

 

Jeff Thompson:
Yeah, and sometimes opportunities turn into lessons that we learn. What do we gain from them and I'm sure there's a list of stuff that you have gathered lately and are going to use them for in the future. If you don't get out there and try, if you don't challenge yourself, then you're not putting yourself out there. You're not making opportunities so good for you. Some people that have a job, they get complacent and they just want to keep that job, but I think when someone looks at the job and sees that this is not the peak of the mountain, they want to keep climbing a little bit further and you did just that. Good for you.

 

Serena Gilbert:
Yeah, and it's perfectly normal to want to advance your career. Sometimes when we get into the, "Oh my gosh, it was so hard for me to get this job. I'm just happy to be working. I'm happy to be earning an income," we do get a little bit complacent like Jeff said. It's something that I'd like to avoid because if you're not growing and moving forward, then why are we here? I really strongly feel that it's important to advance our skills and abilities, even if it's in our same position or if it's promotional opportunities like the one that I went for a few weeks ago, that Jeff helped me with.

 

Jeff Thompson:
That's right, and I would do it again. Serena, you shot for the stars, landed on the moon. That's not a bad thing. Let's take our listeners back to when all this started.

 

Serena Gilbert:
So why don't we start with my story from the last few weeks, because that's part of the reason we haven't been recording in a while. Right, Jeff? One of us, I don't know who, was a little bit distracted with some things going on. Right, Jeff? That was totally you.

 

Jeff Thompson:
Plus, who had a cold for a while too?

 

Serena Gilbert:
I was sick and then I was feeling better, and then what a month later I was sick again. So that was fun. So for those of you that have been listening to the podcast, you know that I am currently a rehabilitation counselor here in Colorado. Recently I was presented with an opportunity to apply for a position that was not one level, but two levels above where I'm at right now. In our State, we have counselors and then we have supervisors of the counselors and then above that, we have program managers which is middle and high management level positions. So I thought, "You know what? I'm going to try for it, see what happens." If nothing else, this is me showing, hey I would like to at least be considered for upcoming leadership opportunities and get the experience of interviewing on such a different level of the interview process.

 

Serena Gilbert:
It was a little bit intimidating until I was actually sitting there and then I was like, "There's nine people sitting around me." This is awesome, but it's a great experience for what I went through. One thing that happened with me is the position posted early October and they did interviews late October, mid to late October. In that time from when I applied to when I had the interview, as is normal and human nature, I started thinking, "Oh my gosh, what if I get this position? What are the things I want to do? What are some things that would be different for me? How would our life look different," because it would have been a commute for me from where I live up to Denver, which I had already figured out.

 

Serena Gilbert:
I'm a researcher when it comes to at least figuring out what are my options. That in a way made it a little bit harder to take the, "We're sorry, but this isn't quite right for you right now," kind of conversation that was hard with me and that's tricky.

 

Jeff Thompson:
Because you put all that work into it.

 

Serena Gilbert:
Yeah, because you start thinking about it. You know when you apply for that position that you're like, "Oh my gosh, this would be so cool." You start imagining yourself in that position. So in some ways, that's great because it shows that you're really thinking about what you'd like to do with that position, and the goals, and things that you have but then in other ways, it makes that fall a little bit further when you don't hear the news that you wanted to hear.

 

Jeff Thompson:
But you did hear some positive news.

 

Serena Gilbert:
I heard some great news. So I got really good feedback on my interview. It wasn't that I bombed my interview or anything. I was really well prepared. If you guys have listened to other podcasts that we've done on job interviewing and preparing, as you know I researched all kinds of really difficult interview questions that might be asked at the management level. I can answer lots of different questions from the counselor level, but there's a different way that you're looking at and approaching situations when you're interviewing for a management level position. So I did a lot of research with that and I knew that I did not have a lot of the management leadership experience that they would traditionally be looking for in candidates for that position.

 

Serena Gilbert:
So I took it a little bit above and that's just me, and I wrote a little at least two or three pages proposal for what I thought some of the important goals would be for one year, three years, five years down the road in that particular position. I presented that as part of my interview. I got really good feedback on that. I know that that was something that they appreciated, because it shows that you're looking forward and you're not just thinking of the two weeks from now or a month from now. It really just came down to you. I just don't have that experience that they need for such a high-level position running literally an entire unit at this point in time, but the really whole news is the director of my agencies specifically gave me some tips and complimented me on my interview. That really made the blow a little bit easier to take, even though I didn't get the news that I wanted.

 

Jeff Thompson:
What was some of those tips that you got?

 

Serena Gilbert:
It was really just that I needed to develop more management leadership experience. I have some ways that I'm going to go about that and partner with some staff that's within our agency that can be really supportive of that and look forward to the next opportunity down the road because our agencies go in through lots of changes out left and right. There's always changes with any government agency, so I never know what might come about down the road.

 

Jeff Thompson:
There might be a supervisor position opening up.

 

Serena Gilbert:
You never know.

 

Jeff Thompson:
Keep your ears spilled.

 

Serena Gilbert:
I was lucky in my agency that I got that feedback so openly. I didn't even have to request that it was just provided to me by the person that let me know, "Hey, here's what happened and here's the feedback that I have for you." If you're not lucky enough where that feedback it's not just given to you, then just ask. If there was nothing that I learned in the situation that I was just in is that you will never know what you can do until you try and ask for what you want. It definitely built my confidence up, even just that. Even just the interview process built my confidence.

 

Jeff Thompson:
That's great because now you're willing to share that experience with all the listeners here. I listened to you because when you're talking, you're invested in this all the time and I was really rooting for you to take this challenge. You did take the challenge. You got different news, but you're another step forward, I think.

 

Serena Gilbert:
Well, and I left the situation knowing that I literally did everything I possibly could to show my passion for that position. I researched, I talked to stakeholders, I put together that proposal. I prepared for really common interview questions and that they helped, because even if I didn't get asked that exact question, some of the scenarios that I came up with were still applicable to the questions that were asked of me. So I did not leave with any regrets. I don't feel like, "Man, I should've done this better. I should have done that better." I literally put my best foot forward and I'm proud of that, and that's a really good experience that helps me see that that interview process wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it was going to be. Don't get me wrong. It was a hard interview, but I was prepared for it.

 

Jeff Thompson:
Only nine people, huh?

 

Serena Gilbert:
Only nine. There were nine people. I'm not joking you guys, there were literally nine people on my interview.

 

Jeff Thompson:
All in the room?

 

Serena Gilbert:
All in the room, in person. They were all very nice, very supportive. There were many times when we were making jokes and things like that. I never felt like anyone was out to get me, it's never ... That's the thing that I want our listeners to hear is when you come into an interview panel like that, nobody wants to see somebody fall on their face. They want to see you do your best. They want to see you put your best foot forward. One of the people that was interviewing me, saw me when I arrived and said good morning to me. They asked, "How are you doing?" I was like, "I am really nervous." He said, "Don't be nervous. It's just a conversation between friends, and we all want you to do really well." That helped a little.

 

Jeff Thompson:
That was great.

 

Serena Gilbert:
Yeah, I mean that's how supportive of an environment that I'm lucky enough to have to be in. That's why I'm like, uh. I was sad for a little while, I went through all those stages of no, man. At the end of the day, I really do feel that that's the case, that they really do want to see us succeed.

 

Jeff Thompson:
You're more prepared for next time this opportunity comes up that you decided to take the challenge, and put yourself out there again. You have gone through it once, this won't be your first rodeo?

 

Serena Gilbert:
No.

 

Jeff Thompson:
No.

 

Serena Gilbert:
No. Far from it, you know me. I don't give up.

 

Jeff Thompson:
That's right and it's the tenacity. Now someone that's out there that doesn't have a job to fall back into that is trying and tries again, I've known people who have tried eight, nine times. They keep that tenacity, the move forward and they're gaining from each time and they'll land a job.

 

Serena Gilbert:
It's really important to in my situation I was lucky enough that I'm in the agency. So I don't have, I have no problem. If I wasn't offered the feedback, I had no problem picking up the phone and saying, "Hey, how did I do? I need your honest feedback. I just want to be able to take that to improve the next time I go for something like this." We're not all applying for jobs that are within the agency, or the field that were already working in. So when that happens, I would still say do not hesitate to try to get that feedback from the employer that you interviewed with. You just say, "Hey, totally understand. I'm super grateful for the opportunity to have been able to interview with you, but so that I can move forward and improve upon myself, can you tell me a little bit about what I can improve on. What are maybe some skills and abilities that I need to work on?”

 

Serena Gilbert:
Maybe they'll have some feedback about your interview, and maybe you do have those skills and abilities but had a hard time selling them in the interview room. So that does two things for you. The first is if there were other positions that maybe they thought you might be a good fit for, they might give you a second look because they're like, "Wow, this person really wants to seek some feedback and show that they're able to improve upon themselves." Be humble about it, not angry and bitter about it because yes, that's definitely an emotion that is going to come up, but you don't want the employer to see that ever. Then number two, if there's not an opportunity in that particular company, then use that feedback to improve for the next job interview that you have, and the next after that because there will be lots of them. All you need is one person to say yes.

 

Jeff Thompson:
I got to hand it to you, because that is stressful to go through, put yourself through. I know over the last month that off and on you were talking about it, sending me emails on this and that and the other thing and it was consuming.

 

Serena Gilbert:
That is a little bit of a weakness for me. I do tend to go full on into stuff, like it's either all or nothing with me. I'm either completely and totally committed to it, or I'm just completely and totally disinterested in it and do nothing towards it. So there's no in between for me.

 

Jeff Thompson:
That's a good something to have or to illustrate on your resume. It's a good quality to have because people like to see finishers. People who go into something, invest into it and see it through. I know you gave 110% on this and I know it must have hit hard. When you got the news, how did you gather yourself after that? I mean you had to take a few minutes to just reflect.

 

Serena Gilbert:
It was kind of, it's going to sound really weird, but it was nice in a way. So I interviewed on a Tuesday at 9:00 AM. I knew by the following day, literally the next day at 9:00 AM that I did not get the position. I was at work, there was a handful of friends at work that knew what I was up to and helped me prepare and things like that. So I immediately went and chatted with them and I was like, I'm okay with it because they did tell me the individual that got it, and that person was well deserving of it. Think that person will do a fantastic job, and there was truly no hard feelings. It's still just the, "Man, I went for it and I didn't get it." It's not like I was truly slighted I guess is not the right word, because I knew even in the back of my mind, I was always telling everyone, "This is going to be a long shot, this is going to be a long shot."

 

Serena Gilbert:
As I prepared more and more forward, I was like "Maybe it's more reachable. Maybe it's more, maybe it's more realistic than I think." Then you get in your head. Really what helped me a lot is being able to chat with friends and reflect upon the feedback that I got that truly was really positive, and that helped during the work day. Then that night, I got home, and you start to ruminate about things. I had my little, I call it a blue funk for just that night. The next day was perfectly fine. I think that that's okay to go through that and be like, "I don't really want to talk to anyone right now for a few hours. I'm just going to go, listen to an audio book for a few hours. Just escape for a little while." That's okay. That's where I usually go when I need to regroup and things like that. This was almost a week ago now and I'm not letting it keep me down.

 

Jeff Thompson:
Serena, with this experience that you just went through, does any of this help you at your current job that you're doing today? Does any of this roll over into it?

 

Serena Gilbert:
With the position that I applied for is management level, so you're looking at things from a much more strategic perspective. I'm starting to look back and look at the job that I'm doing and starting to think, "How can I do this better? What are some strategic things I can do to expand what I'm already doing in my current role, and also serve the clients that I'm working with a little bit better?" Just look at that from more of that leadership slant on things, as opposed to just being the counselor. I think that that's going to help me down the road when it comes to being able to demonstrate some of that leadership experience. So it's just changed my perspective a little bit, because I put a little bit of a different hat on when I was looking for getting into that opportunity.

 

Jeff Thompson:
So all that work and all that studying, and all the questions that you went through and research that you did may be paying off today.

 

Serena Gilbert:
Yes sir. Darned schooling.

 

Jeff Thompson:
I tell you. That's the trouble with students, they lack education.

 

Serena Gilbert:
Just can't stop learning. Jeff, have you ever gone through some disappointments with a job search or business opportunities you were hoping to get into?

 

Jeff Thompson:
Of course there has been. There's been positions like even in the workforce when you want to move up a step, or a grade, or ask for a raise, or do something. You challenge yourself and you put yourself into that, to go into your supervisor's office or like you did. You went into a job interview with a panel of people talking to you. To go into those situations, you have to be thinking about yourself, putting your best foot forward. When it doesn't happen, you have to walk back out to where you were and do the best you can. Typically like you did, you improve upon what you're doing, and you take on extra steps, and other people will notice. I'm glad people noticed and gave you some good feedback in your situation as well.

 

Serena Gilbert:
I think it's important. One thing you just said is that other people will notice. People are watching you. When you have that kind of thing happen, people are watching what your reaction is going to be. Especially if you're already in the workplace, and you had gotten from promotion like we were talking about. If you react poorly and speak negatively of the individual that got the position, or down the road start talking negatively about that particular person, people are going to take note of that. They're going to start to wonder, "Well, how are they going to react if things don't go their way in the future?" They're going to fill in the gaps. They're not going to let you have that opportunity to demonstrate or show them, because they're going to look at your historical behavior.

 

Jeff Thompson:
Yeah. Earlier episodes we've talked about what they're really looking for. One of the key things they're looking for is someone who fits the culture. Someone who is a team player and even though you're doing a job interview, it's always related. It's always 100%, you're on the clock. I mean there's no, that was during this situation. No, they'd look in at a comprehensive view of you whether your  in this situation, the other situation, they want team players and there's no room for negativity. Did I say that word right?

 

Serena Gilbert:
Did you say negatitivity?

 

Jeff Thompson:
I think I did.

 

Serena Gilbert:
We're totally leaving that in there.

 

Jeff Thompson:
There's no room for negativity.

 

Serena Gilbert:
Yes, there you go. Good save.

 

Jeff Thompson:
Well Serena, I'm glad you went through this experience and I'm glad you took from it and came out of it with a great positive, and you're willing to come back here. It's only been a week and you're here talking about it. So I think this was really good experience for you.

 

Serena Gilbert:
Yeah, I think so. Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm not going anywhere. When I got into working for Vocational Rehabilitation, I already decided, and I even said this in my interview. I was like, I don't know if there's a really nice way to say this. I didn't want to say I'm an old timer or whatever, but I was like, "I'm not going anywhere." I plan on retiring from Vocational Rehabilitation, so this is a position or an opportunity that I'm committed to and that's why went for this opportunity, because I see myself being able to contribute to the agency on a little bit more strategic and larger scale. Not that I don't like my counseling job. I love it, but there's other ways that you can also contribute in that position.

 

Jeff Thompson:
I think it's really good. Here you're the host of Job Insights and usually talking about people going out and doing what you just did. So you actually experienced exactly what we've been talking about, and you're going to bring back this information and you're going to carry it with you. So like you said earlier, we both have been talking about it. The experience you gained from these, even though it doesn't come out the way you want it, there's so many little gems in there that you can take with you that enhances your job that you're in right now, and your opportunities for the future.

 

Serena Gilbert:
Yeah and not to sound too cheesy, but there's lessons to be learned in every single life experience that we go through. Sometimes they're easier to find, and sometimes they're a little bit harder to look for especially when it's new is that we don't like. Having that true growth comes from looking at, well what lesson can I learn here? How can I improve? What can I do better the next time?

 

Jeff Thompson:
That's good and I'm glad you came back and talked about it.

 

Serena Gilbert:
I honestly want to take the time too to thank all of the people out there that helped support me from that first day when that job was posted, and I sent all these frantic text messages out saying, "Oh my God, that position's posted. I thought I had time to think about it. What do I do?" Every single person that surrounded me said, "Go for it. Try it. I support you." I had lots of people offer to write me letters of recommendation, and I just really appreciate every single one of you guys. I thank you for encouraging me and lifting me up to go for that opportunity.

 

Jeff Thompson:
You did a great job.

 

Serena Gilbert:
Especially you, Jeff and Pete from the Blind Abilities team.

 

Jeff Thompson:
Well, it's not hard to speak highly of you because you do such a great job.

 

Serena Gilbert:
I keep you on your toes.

 

Jeff Thompson:
Yes you do. Yes you do. Well I want to thank all of you for coming on the Job Insights. You can check out more of the Jobs Insights on the Blind Abilities website, that's at www.blindabilities. com and follow us on Twitter @jobinsightsvip.

 

Serena Gilbert:
Well, don't forget about our Job Insights Facebook page and Facebook support group, and you can also follow me on @BlindyBlog that's on Twitter and Facebook.

 

Jeff Thompson:
And @KnownAsJeff on Twitter for myself. A big thank you to Chee Chau for his beautiful music. You can follow Chee Chau on Twitter @lcheechau. I want to thank you all for listening, we hope you enjoyed. Until next time, bye bye.

 

[Music]  [Transition noise]

When we share

-What we see

-Through each other's eyes...

 

[Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]

 

...We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities.

Jeff Thompson:
For more podcasts with a blindness perspective check us out on the web at www.blindabilities.com. On Twitter @BlindAbilities. Download our app from the app store, Blind Abilities, that's two words. Or send us an email at info@blindabilities.com.

Thanks for listening.