Hear that world? It hurts a lot worse than I show it. After I flubbed the test I was cheerfully answering questions the woman asked about America. And I wandered around dazedly, unable to navigate off campus after I was so overwhelmed.

I don't have a single person except my other half that I can be honest with about how I feel. And my other half while sympathetic doesn't have the tools to help me feel better.

I'll keep going until I die of natural causes. I'll even stay physically healthy, well presented and the like. It just hurts and is difficult.

Now to fix this grant app for these refugees, who really deserve help. Honoured that S is letting me fix it. Glad I've got it to do.

Deep breaths. You will keep going, as you said, and things will likely eventually work out. Perhaps not in the way you envisioned, but in a way that works nonetheless.

I've got so much stuff to say but it would probably just make everyone mad :( I'm usually pretending to be stronger than I am (even tho i seem week as shit here already) and it just makes me tired.

Thanks for commenting occhiblu. I feel like leaving the oxygen for someone else at the moment..

I am assuming you are referring to Google Docs & Spreadsheets. Many small businesses and non-profits use online applications as a cost-cutting measure.

No I am not. I am talking about an excel thing I can't remember. should have googled it.

I wish I knew the right words to say. But what I do know is that, having met you and corresponded with you outside the bunnyroom, I can say with some assurance that you are one of the kindest, most principled and generous-hearted people I have ever met.

aw. Bless you essexjan. I can truthfully say the same about you. You create huge positivities in the world. Your kindness, emails and the like are profoundly valued.

If you charmed the panel, the chances are good you instilled in them a confidence that you could learn the needed excel skills easily. That said, it's likely you won't get the job for some other stupid reason. Applying for jobs just plain sucks and is basically a crapshoot. I'm sorry you're going through that particular bit of suckitude right now.

Did you at least get to point out, on the way out from the interview, that you'd normally just look up how to do X and carry on with the workday? If not, is it too late to do so now?

I did, Pax.

Chin up! I do hope they know that while technical skills can be mastered, committment and knowledge are harder to find. Best o' luck. And if it isn't this one, it'll be a better one!

Interviews, like all other manner of first dates, sometimes don't go so well. Either they see the value in you as a person or they wanted a frickin' robot.

Nonetheless, prayers and crossed fingers.

I'm interviewing for the next step in the career over here, too. Two in a row yesterday afternoon (one of those, a "twofer"). And a technical interview tomorrow night.

Hey -- Eep right back atcha, kiddo!

IME, about 98% of placements succeed or fail on personal/personality issues, not technical considerations. Short of neurosurgery, electronic engineering, or plumbing, most "skills" can be quickly augmented through on the job training, or short investigations. So, an organization hiring on the basis of an "office skills" test seems likely to consistently hook up the carts to the wrong ends of the geese, so to speak, and leave the donkeys to go for swims. In other words, be glad you weren't selected.

It's hard, but really important, to keep your sense of humor about you, in job interviews. It only seems that you are submitting yourself for examination and selection by total strangers; what's really going on, I used to find, is that groups of people you otherwise wouldn't have likely met are showing you sides of themselves they wouldn't admit to having to anyone else on the planet. After you do enough of these, you may suddenly find that you aren't the most nervous person in the room, hard as that may be to believe just now. What an incredibly liberating moment that is.

When you appear a good fit for a particular job appears, in an organization that is worth being a part, it isn't such a difficult process. Keep paddling bravely until you find it!

≡ Click to see image ≡

I do everything with a Google window open.

I agree with deborah, By the Grace of God, I'm sending hugs your way. You are a good person, and don't let it bug you!!!!!

Sending lots of hugs your way, BGOG. It may be disappointing now, but you'll get through!

They don't deserve you.

The approach that paulsc mentions is still far too common, unfortunately. I have recently been able to convince my bosses that we can teach people the skills they need, but we absolutely have to have people with the right attitude and background or they will almost always fail. Our last recruitment process used this approach and it was a complete success, which well and truly cast the scales from their eyes. Unfortunately, we are only one little unit and bad HR practices abound everywhere else.

Don't give up hope, though - when I came out of the interview for my job here, I was absolutely convinced that I had failed completely and had no hope of getting the job. I was told that I was far and above the best applicant, so we are not always the best judge of how well we did in an interview.

Awwww, Gracie, it’s alright. We all make mistakes (I’ve flubbed two jobs in a row now, and am in the process of learning a third one, which I’m also not extremely good at), but we all get better at it. I’m sure you will too. And like others have said, the people interviewing you, might also see the goodness in you as a person, and the assets you bring to the job (like your willingness to work hard, or your commitment), and they’ll value these ideals as well. So please don’t cut yourself short. You deserve better than that.

(Chin up now.:))