Alright-
Just got home from the interview and it went ok. Not fabulously well, and I was irritated on my bus ride home thinking of all the brilliant interviews that I did for stupid jobs while this interview, for a job which seems even more perfect now that I have the inside scoop, was just average. I lost my vocabulary a bit. Also, I like to practice in my head the answer to questions like what is your strong/weak point, etc. I didn't do that so I ended up sort of floundering around, which is such a waste when its easy to have a good answer down pat. I couldn't think of the word 'transacation', which was just nerves. I didn't have to deal with any direct questions about my French level, which may be a good sign (she didn't see any reason to ask me) or a bad sign (it was so evident that I am NOT bilingual). Hopefully, I'll hear something before holiday.
I had a bit of a crisis this morning which sucked up a bunch of my prep time- I didn't know what to wear and had no one to ask for help. I know that this is a very traditional French company so I thought that a black skirt suit would be the right thing, but B told me to wear my grey Sonia Rykiel pants suit. I tried them both on and I still liked the black suit better but I realized that I don't have any good black office heels. I decided to wear my new animal print Manolos, but got super worried that even with a black suit and black tights that it would be a bit too flash for a very buttoned up business. I decided at the last minute that changing into my new glasses would balance out the heels, because glasses are nerdy and serious, everyone knows that. Ooo- I just realized that maybe it looked like I was dressing up as 'naughty librarian'. Gosh, I think that the leap from stay-at-home mom to financial wizard may be more of a shock to the system than I thought...
Anyways, I came home to an empty house because Ella's grandma picked her up extra early; I didn't even get to say good-bye. I figured it was better that way because if they waited for me, maybe Ella would get upset and then the poor woman would have to sit in Paris traffic with a screaming toddler, and frankly, just trying to keep sane while battling traffic is enough for one person.
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4 comments:
Nicole: It sounds amazing to me that you coped with an interview in French for a senior corporatre post. Nerve wracking. You must be good! Well done. This post prompted me to ask (as someone about to re-learn school French) how you learned the language - was it at high school/university? or in France?
Anna.
Hi Anna. Thanks for the vote of confidence! Actually, I moved to France not having studied the language before and so I had to start from zero. I took classes in a French language school for about 2 months and then I got bored with the classroom thing and I found work in an anglophone office. I hired a private teacher to come for an hour a week and do classes with me, which helped me go from stumbling French to fluent (the spoken language) within a year. I don't think that I became completely comfortable though until I was working in a French speaking office and was forced to use the language all day/every day. Now, I need to work on written French and I think the only way is through a proper school program. I can read French just fine, but I can't seem to translate that into the ability to write decently in French. Ulitmately, I think the trick is being forced to use the language. Move to France!
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