OK, you’ve read all the guides rules and advice on job interviews. You’ve got the script for your new client “get acquainted call.”
You still blew it. You said the wrong thing. Maybe you said a LOT of wrong things and felt like the basketball player who scored a point in the opponent’s side of the court. What happened?
Probably…
You really didn’t want the job. Deep down, you knew it was all wrong for you. In her book, Finding Your Own North Star, Martha Beck wrote about a woman who was asked why she wanted a job in banking. The woman said, “I really don’t like banking.” Since she was interviewing with a bank (like, duh!) the interview rapidly went south.
Martha Beck advised the woman to forget about banking jobs. “Your body is telling you something,” she said. “You don’t belong there.”
I had a similar experience when I interviewed for a job in one of the midwestern “I” states. As soon as I got off the plane I knew I was in trouble. Everything felt wrong. My skirt was too short (yes, I wore nice suits in those days, especially to interviews). I couldn’t get excited about the special lunch at the Holiday Inn with a choice between jello and macaroni salads.
And I still feel slightly guilty as I look back. The people were nice. They meant well. I was intrigued by the salary and many aspects of the opportunity. It just wasn’t right for me.
I didn’t know the job was all wrong for me. But my intuition did. And somehow my inner senses hijacked my brain and the rest is history.
Making a career-killing mistake can be a signal from your intuition.
Intuition speaks in code.
You have to learn your own intuitive language. For some people, a sleepless night before a major decision means, “Don’t do it. You’ll be sorry if you say yes.” But for others, the same sleepless night means, “This is normal. You always lose sleep over decisions!” And for yet another group, the sleepless night actually means, “You’re on to something! Keep going!”
The way to interpret your signals is to follow patterns and keep track of how decisions turn out. It’s an individual process. You can’t rely on iconic symbols: seeing a cat may have one meaning for you but a totally different meaning to someone who’s never lived with one. I outline this process in considerable detail in my book, Intuition For Career And Business Decisions.