The Interviewer

There she was again, sitting in front of her desk, waiting for another hopeful to appear. Twirling her pen, she looked down upon the applicant’s impressive CV. Turns out the applicant had exceptional grades, participated in lots of extra-curriculur activities, won awards she has never heard of and even volunteered at a local hospital. It was so well written that she could almost feel the pride that student felt when he finished typing his resume.

But weren’t all of these resumes impressive? The whole bunch of prospective students dress themselves up with godly Curriculum Vitae (CV) and glowing teacher’s reviews. If you never knew the applicant in person, you would think every one of them was a talented young invidual, the new star of tomorrow. From presidents to athletes, from debators to musicians, she has seen them all. Never was there one who said humbly that he was just a normal student. It was as if everyone were under layers and layers of makeup, and you need to slowly remove them to see who he or she truly was.

That’s where the interview comes into play.

Throughout the years, she has broken down those so-called presidents, athletes, debators and musicians. That was her skill. She had an exceptional ability to pick up certain weak spots in what someone was saying and magnify the error, rendering all the talented newcomers speechless or even stuttering. The cynical side of her quite enjoyed looking at the shocked expression on their faces when they run out of things to say, while her compassionate side felt a slight tinge of pity for them. At this point, the applicant will be stripped naked of everything; no more good grades to help, no more leadership positions to his rescue. And this is when she leans back into her chair, puts down her pen and crosses her arms.

But once in a while, there will be this highly proficient conversationalist who comes along. Working as an interviewer for so many years, she can almost always sense one. They all possess a certain charismatic quality about them. The conversation feels genuine; all the pretence and haughtiness will be thrown out the window. This kind of interviewees are not afraid to be stripped naked of their appraisal letters. Rather, they welcome the challenge and respond with such an amazing touch of grace and elegance that blows her away. With every sentence made, her head will be nodding subconciously. The minutes will fly by and before she knew it, she has been throughly charmed by the applicant. That it should happen more often has always been a wish of hers.

There was someone knocking on her office door. It was time again. She put on a smile and said, “Come in.”