worst. interview. ever.

so i had an interview this afternoon with a local ad agency. (ask me and i'll tell you which via e-mail or phone.) the interview, and all leading up to it, did not go well.

it started at 10:45 this morning when i find out that one of the client's at my current freelance job (which is my old full-time job) had a rush job for me and wanted me to proof their entire, hellish website (that i've already read a million times because our head copywriter had to rewrite most of the copy) ASAP because the client wanted it "perfect" before they start web testing it tomorrow before it goes live. my company contact already knew i had to leave by 2 for an "appointment", but i lost track of time and realized after i was about halfway through with the long e-mail with my corrections that it was already 2:15!

the time 2:15 is important to me because i ride the bus to work. it takes me about 10-13 minutes to walk from the building i work in to the bus stop. and the next bus is never on time. so i started freaking out because one, i wasn't finished with the rush job, and two, i missed the bus that would've gotten me home with enough time to take a shower, freshen up, and not feel rushed for my interview.

it was on.

i walked as fast as i could to the bus stop. then, by mere luck (which i should've seen as a bad sign), the 2:34 bus arrived at, gasp, 2:31! the bus ride went smoothly, up until we got to my stop a block away from my apartment at 3:09.

raindrops smeared the bus's windshield. it was misleading, because as soon as i stepped off the bus, it was raining so hard i felt like i was going to be bruised. when i got to my front door, i was sopping wet. and now only had 10 minutes to dry off, put on clean, dry clothes, and try my best to stay dry as i ran to my car, which i turned on around 3:30.

the rain was coming down just as hard, and it wasn't until i was halfway to my interview that i realized that not only had i forgotten to pack my dictionary (just in case), but i had also forgotten to print out my references. but it was also at this halfway point that the rain let up a bit. that is, of course, until i parked and it started to come down again as i was putting money in the meter. it took me 15 minutes exactly to get to my interview.

when i walked into the office, i wanted to cry. here i was, kinda wet, bangs getting frizzy, glasses spotted, and i had walked into a real ad agency's front office. it looked exactly how i thought a real agency should look like. vibrant. kinda hip. an overly helpful office manager. all i could think of is how my first impression is probably going to be a bad one.

the h.r. lady came by almost right away and whisked me off to a conference room, where she left me alone to take their proofing test, which consisted of some of the agency's past work, but messified. she said she would come back in 20-30 minutes to check on me. i was done in 25 and quickly got bored. after 40 minutes, i had wondered if she forgot about me. at the 42 minute mark, she came in to check on me. i lied and said i had just finished the test. she said that's great and she'd be back with the creative director.

i was not ready for an interview with a man, let alone a hot man. which, of course, combined with my already less-than-stellar appearance and the fact that i felt i had missed some important things on the test made me feel pretty crappy. there was hardly any eye contact. and it was a weird interview, too, because it was mostly hot creative director guy talking and me nodding my head and saying "yeah." there weren't very many questions asked of me, but in the ones that were asked i did talk kinda not-to-kindly about my past/present employer, which, you know, is a pretty big faux paux for an interview.

then i forgot all the questions i was going to ask. i never ask any questions at the end of an interview when they ask "do you have any questions for us?" i stayed up until 1 last night going over the agency's website and their clients and work, and had come up with some questions i thought would at least get a laugh out of my interviewer.

and i forgot every. single. word. of. them.

also, the interview kinda felt like they already had someone in mind, and they were just pity interviewing me. or maybe i've just been sipping too much out of the half-empty mug.

i left there at 5:15, 45 minutes after i told my current supervisor that i would be back home and typing in the rest of my corrections for the rush job i had gotten that morning. stupid graduations and post-work traffic slowed me down. i got home at 5:45.

sitting at my desk, where i am now, i opened up my work e-mail and got my marked up printouts that i brought home with me and starting typing away. for time's sake, i disregarded some of my edits just so i could get an e-mail sent to the account director by 6.

the e-mail was sent at 6:01. and after all that rushing and bad interviewing and more rushing, i just need a drink.

i e-mailed my references to the h.r. lady and said how it was great to meet her and the creative director and thanking them for the opportunity and to hope to hear from them soon. at the end of the interview, they said they wanted to have a decision made by mid-next week. i'll be looking forward to their rejection.

gag me.

with.

a.

spoon.