i had my first interview & completely forgot to talk about it (oops!)

so, after the con was over and the week of the con ended, i decided to take job searching more seriously; it wasnt that i didnt apply to anything before, but i struggled to incorporate it into my routine, making my job hunt a much longer process  for a few days straight, i spent several hours searching on linkedin, going through listing after listing, filling in so many applications (did you know you can apply for walmart locations/positions in bulk? because i do now,) often using most of my free time to look and apply.

it, for the most part, hasnt shown any fruits of my labor... aside from one singular interview 

it wasnt a standard interview, for the record; the closest ive gotten to a face-to-face conversation about work was when a nearby Lowe's tried (and failed) to coordinate an interview time with me, and ended up choosing someone they had an easier time meeting with. no, this was a virtual interview- but not with a real person (it wasn't AI, either- i probably would've left mid-interview if it was.)

it was through a service called "harver," and it was both more and less nerve-wracking then a normal interview. it was simple enough- the employer (who i won't be mentioning by name, just in case they somehow find my blog.. theyre a company who seems to really care about appearances, and my family/friends have mentioned that they've bullied non-normal employees in the past ) records a few videos asking a standard interview question (why work for us, where did you hear about us, etc.) in a < 2 min. video. that part didn't freak me out, it probably helped me when it came to keeping calm.

no, the nerve-wracking part was that i only got one take for each video, and only 30 seconds to think of a response before it would start auto-recording.  i LOVE to ramble, and sometimes its hard for me to stay on track when discussing something. having less than a minute to gather my thoughts, and having to give a cohesive answer in only 2 minutes? horrifying. this was communication 9/11 for my yapping self.

however, despite that.. i think i did a good job, actually?  taking a mandatory public speaking class in high school and a non-essential class with the final being a solo presentation (that i NEEDED to speak clearly during to get high marks on,) practically saved me. there was one specific moment where i needed to explain how i would recommend their products to customers- giving *specific* examples via name-dropping things in their catalogue; despite having to look up their site right before answering, i think i was able to give a good example !! and when i did inevitably lose track of my thoughts during an answer, i was able to get back on track pretty quickly, without stuttering that much or pausing for too long.  did i do perfectly? definitely not, but i dont think i did a horrible job or anything.. it was at least a 6/10 performance