Snap! Crackle! Pop!

At a recent party with friends, I felt a little blue explaining my latest adventure in job hunting.  When asked for updates by caring chums, I described the grueling process of a pharmaceutical sales interview.  There are actually 4-5 standard steps: 

1) Phone interview

2) Initial face to face interview with a panel of managers

3) Second interview with managers

4) Spend a day shadowing a pharmaceutical rep so that they can report their opinion of you to the managers

5) Interview with your potential manger’s boss

This month I made it through all of these steps for a company, then suddenly with a snap, I was told “we decided to move in a different direction with the position”.  The feedback I received during this process was that I had too much experience and that they were uncomfortable with me accepting their potential offer which was a pay cut from my previous position.  Really?  Last time I checked this is a recession and almost everyone has been making less money.  Not to mention that this is sales…wouldn’t taking a cut in base pay be motivation to earn more bonus dollars?

Even though I was sharing this story with my fellow party goers, I was not a Debbie Downer.  I brought firecrackers.  I was really looking forward to the bright flicks of light and loud crackling sounds.  One of my good friends lined up the fireworks for a well choreographed display.  But when he lit the firecrackers, the wick only fizzled out to leave me once again disappointed.  My friend investigated the mystery of these duds.  The result:  The firecrackers were NOT fireworks, they were party poppers!  The party people still enjoyed pulling the strings to make the confetti pop out and of course a good laugh in my honor.

Success of the Day:  Realizing that sometimes things do not always play out the way you thought they would, so just roll with it

Pink Inspiration: The pink lighter that tried to light the "fireworks"

Stiff Interview Simulation

Career transition courses at a local center were offered as a part of my severance package from work.  I definitely took advantage of this opportunity.  I really enjoyed being updated on the changes in the job hunting arena.  The job market has changed in the past decade... Skype interviews, Linked In networking, and no "references available upon request" on your resume are just a few new things.

The final class was an interview simulation.  This course was a mock panel interview conducted by 2 career counselors pretending to be a hiring manager and an HR representative.  The goal was to be asked common interview questions, answer in the manner you were taught, and receive feedback in order to be prepared for actual interviews.

One of the questions that I received was "What was a mistake you have made?"  I proudly set up my answer in the CAR format. C- explain the challenge.  A- describe the action. R- give the result.  This over achiever, even remembered to state " an example from early in my career", which was an instruction given in one of the previous courses.  My answer blew the mock interviewers away!

I explained that I sold Viagra when I first started as  pharmaceutical rep.  The selling message to doctors was that this medication "gave the patient a harder and firmer erection versus the competition."  I told this to a physician of a cultural background that did not discuss erectile dysfunction (ED). He said "no penis" and walked away.  I was not allowed back in the office for sometime.  I proceeded to explain how I turned this doctor around, he began to open ED dialogue with his patients, and became a good Viagra customer. I was so proud of myself for giving a stellar example.


After being laughed at by the career counselors, I was told not to use the words "erection" or "penis" in an interview.  This is especially true when interviewing outside the medical community.  I guess after nearly a decade of aggressively selling medications and discussing body functions on a daily basis, you forget how to communicate with the rest of the world.  It is a good thing that I went to this career center because I honesty thought I did well! 

Success of the Day:  Learning to how to polish up my interview style

Pink Inspiration: The pink cheeks of the embarrassed male mock interviewer

Larry the Lobster

Earning enough Skymiles for a free trip seems impossible, but I FINALLY did it!  I redeemed my miles to visit my best friend in Boston over the memorial weekend.  I love Boston!  The old historic buildings, the ocean, mass transport, seafood galore, and shopping (of course). 

There is a particular pet boutique that I frequent on every visit.  When I walked in on Saturday, the owner said "Good to see you again.  How is Chicago?"  Well, it is Detroit, but I did not want disappoint her knowledge of repeat customers.

In the boutique, I found a rare white "Chewy Vuitton"  and a "Chewnel".  My boys love little doggie purses.  No, I am not pushing my favorite things onto my children.  They like the handles so they can toss them up in the air.  And yes, they are secure enough in their manhood to like purses.  I thought these would be my only purchases until I saw the most adorable lobster cookies.  One cannot go to Boston and not bring home a lobster themed souvenir.  So, I bought 1 Larry the lobster cookie for the dogs to share.

The shopping trip was a success.  The boys loved their presents.  The Silky Terrier picked the "Chewnel" and the Yorkie choose the "Chewy Vuittion".  However, only the 4 pound Yorkie wanted the giant cookie.  It took him all day to eat Larry.

It has been raining constantly here in Michigan.  Anyone who has owned a Yorkie knows that they are never 100% potty trained and that accidents increase with inclement weather.  Well, the next morning there were 2 new spots on the white carpet.  I used the pet cleaner to remove the mess, however only wee-wee came up onto the cloth.  The red die from the lobster cookie had filtered from the treat, through my dog, and onto my carpet!

Success of the Day:  Learning to bring home a real lobster from Boston as a souvenir and not a fake

Pink Inspiration: The pink residue left on my white carpet