| Back to Home > Bulletin Board > Media Issues > Topic: interviewing for your not dream job |
Topic: interviewing for your not dream job
| Author | Message |
| peyton | Posted – 2/28/2008 11:51:34 AM | show profile i have an interview tomorrow for a very good magazine that i am excited about. however, it certainly isn't my dream job. i am interested in their subject and think it is a terrific publication, but it wouldn't be my top choice to work if conditions in this business were different - i.e., you could get a job exactly where you wanted. i'm curious how people have handled situations like this before. i want to express interest, but don't want to be disingenuous. i want to show i know a lot about the publication and what it covers, but i think it would be wrong to act like it is my burning passion to be there. i mean, in many ways it is - because it is a good job at a good magazine. but i guess i just don't want to feel like i am dishonest in the process. |
| AWC | Posted – 2/28/2008 12:17:31 PM | show profile I think that you are over-analyzing this situation. I don't think anyone expects you to demonstrate a "burning passion" for the job in the course of a normal interview. And I really doubt that the person interviewing you tomorrow thinks that this position is indeed your ultimate "dream job." If you want the job, just be professional and have a positive attitude about the opportunity, and leave it at that. However, if you don't want the job, and are grasping for reasons not to pursue it, just politely cancel the interview so that you're not wasting everyone's time. |
| catlondon | Posted – 2/28/2008 12:19:06 PM | show profile I've found that dream jobs are few and very far between and often come with unreasonable bosses (dream job #1) and/or rigid hierarchy (dream job #2)--which makes them dream jobs no longer, whereas bills come every month without regard for what kind of job pays them. What you said about being interested in the topic and thinking it's a great pub is just what you need to tell them. Would you dread going there every morning? If not, you'll be a good employee for them and it won't be too hard on you while you continue to try to land your dream job. |
| Guiseppina S. | Posted – 2/28/2008 12:32:52 PM | show profile If it's not something I am absolutely dying to get, I find that I am more confident in the interview because there isn't the pressure to be perfect or to say the best answer. I am more honest in these interviews instead of trying to fit myself into their ideal of the position. IMO, you should use the interview as a way to practice for the job you really want. At the very least, it will build up your confidence or you may even be pleasantly surprised when you are offered the position. Plus, if they are really impressed, they may even recommend you for another position or pass your resume along to another division of the company. You could leave with a good networking connection. |
| Cyrus | Posted – 2/28/2008 1:44:47 PM | show profile As others have outlined, for better or worse, few people are currently or even ever get to work in their dream job. It's true that to some degree employers sometimes expect employees to have a higher degree of loyalty than they show employees, but that doesn't mean you give up the right to manage your career. You should only not go to the interview and/or not pursue the opportunity if you have no intention of putting forth a best effort in the job. As long as you think you can do the job and are willing, then that's all anybody can ask for. Most of the time, employers actually don't begrudge good employees' leaving for a good opportunity. They understand that's how the world works. What would irk somebody is if they thought a person never had any real interest in the job and just came in for an interim paycheck. ------ Cyrus Afzali Astoria Communications www.astoriacomm.com |
| peyton | Posted – 2/28/2008 2:29:56 PM | show profile thanks for the thoughts. i am certainly interested in the job because i think it is a great opportunity at a very good publication. i feel like i am more interested in the job and the opportunity itself than the content of the magazine, though i do find it interesting enough. when the man called to schedule my interview he said that he was curious why i was interested in the position since my background is really different than what this magazine covers, but that he was really intrigued by me and wanted to bring me in. so...i was just feeling like, well i don't want to fake it and act like this is a topic i have always been fascinated by. it's not so much the topic they cover that i am interested in as it is the job and opportunity itself that excites me. |
