Walk Out

Over the phone the interview sounded promising. The biz dev manager seemed to be enthusiastic to me and shared how he was impressed with my resume. He even confided and practically apologized for the poor state of the company's website, saying that the company needed a lot of help in the marketing area. This felt a  good place to land for a new job, not fighting to fit in at an established, polished company, but to come into a small place that struggling to make sense of marketing.

I arrived on time for the interview and rang the bell at the front door. No secretary was at the front desk, and the halls inside seemed dark. After a few minutes, someone came and opened the door, looking at me like I was lost. I mentioned the person I was scheduled to meet.

A few minutes later the biz dev manager showed up and brought me into the conference room."Just one more and I'll be right back." He went out and then escorted an older man in, introducing him as the CEO of 34 years at this company.

"Well were you offered anything to drink, or did this cheapskate forget," said the CEO, grinning widely. After I got a drink, we sat down and they started to interview me.

"So tell me what you've been up to," the CEO asked. I talked about where I'd been working.
"What's a typical day like for you," he asked. I tried to put together the feeling of a typical day, starting with opening my email, but it didn't sound so exciting. I didn't do all my projects in one day.
He seemed to grow impatient and asked me about each previous company I worked for, going back over 10 years.
"Are you hands on?"
Yes of course I was, I did lots of stuff myself.
He went further down my resume to look for the software I could use.
"Oh you use Word, I know Word too," the CEO laughed.
I felt uncomfortable.
"Oh don't be so serious," the CEO said, "we like to joke around here." He looked over at the biz dev manager and smiled.

They asked me to step out of the room, so the two of them could talk among themselves. "There's only one of you and two of us," said the CEO with a big smile, "so it's easier for you to leave."

I stood up. At the door to the conference I stopped and turned around to face the CEO and the biz dev manager.

"If I walk through this door," I declared, "you will never see me again!"

No. Actually I didn't say that. But I would have liked to. I just went outside and waited for them to call me back. Today was not a good day for just a walk out.


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