One of my favorite Career Counseling Connecticut success stories involved a student I knew from years past. I run The Learning Consultants and knew her from her days as an SAT student.
“Meghan” had a bubbly, engaging personality from what I remembered. Now, she was 23 years old and having no luck getting a job even though she was getting interviews.
She called me and told me that her interviews were causing problems. I was really surprised. Meghan came to our office for a role playing job interview. She was the same upbeat and relaxed person when we greeted each other and spent a few minutes catching up on our lives.
We then engaged in our mock interview. Meghan changed. She went from relaxed to tense. Her body language became unnaturally tight. Her answers sounded like a high school student who spent time memorizing a speech. Her smile disappeared.
After about 10 minutes, I stopped. “Where did Meghan go?” I asked. She knew what I meant. We then spent time discussing how she became “Interview Meghan” and the reasons for doing so. These ranged from standard nervousness to a long standing insecurity about being taken seriously since she was known as the funny and goofy one by her friends. She thought she had to be someone else. But, regular Meghan was better! She understood. She, too, was hired after her next interview.