MY INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE IN COSON- THE ESSAY THAT SAVED MY LIFE

I got into the COSON building at about 8.30 a.m. As I sat at the reception, I observed the happenings in my environment; the smiling receptionist that offered me tea and coffee, the nervousness of a fellow candidate next to me and the demeanour of the artistes that trouped in to make inquiries (of which none, I knew). Typically, when I attend interviews, I am always attended to almost immediately, but as my allotted interview time passed by, I had to ask the receptionist if the interview panel was informed of my presence. I was told to call my office to inform them that I might take longer to arrive. That prompted my first lesson of the day: Every organisation has its interview ethics, and henceforth ,I had to shift from my mindset of an ideal interview situation, to adapting to the interview situation of any organisation I found myself in. Subsequently, I was given the prospectus and literature of COSON to digest, which I did, alongside familiarising myself with my resume.

On being called upon for my interview, I went straight to the interview room and greeted the three-man panel, before taking my seat. To my rudest shock, I blanked out for about two minutes when I was asked the simplest question of all: the full name of the organisation I was in. The funniest was, I was holding a manual in hand that contained the name of the organisation, and I was staring directly at a placard inscribed with the name. This threw me off balance and questioned my eligibility for the interview amongst  my interviewers. I am usually composed and organised in interviews, but I had to learn the hard way, that there is no such word as over-confidence;every interview requires thorough research and preparatory work. More saddening was the thought that my interviewers would never  know what stuff I was made of. Luckily, I was given another shot, which I took, to the best of my ability. I was told to talk through my personality, to my work experiences and my understanding of the role I was applying for.

I knew that I would be functioning in the capacity of a sales/business development executive, but I needed clarification on the nature of my client base, which I got from the panel. I was also asked to describe a challenging process I faced in the course of handing my job roles in previous organisations, and how such challenges were handled. I told them about a challenging situation in Wapic Insurance Plc, where after two years of aggressively prospecting a potential client for insurance sales business worth I million naira, did not yield results. However, this did not deter me from keeping in touch every now and then. In the end, I was able to get him to patronise my current organisation in providing outsourced HR services to his organisation, worth  10 million naira. I was also told  to describe how I would function in my prospective role in COSON, knowing well that I would meet opposition from organisations that would not heed to my message of seeking permissions from authors of musical works before usage. To this end, I stressed on the importance of a resilient attitude, which is a major characteristic of successful business development executives;the ability to push and pester, until an attitude changes. From previous experiences in selling, I have long realised that it is not enough to stop at one or two approaches. Consistency in stressing a need and value would change the mindset of whoever I was to meet.

I was also told to talk about my direct approaches to achieving my sales objectives. In the course of the interview, I was informed that there have been challenges in clamping down organisations that misuse authors' works because the law hasn't been fully enforced in that regard, so I suggested emotionally appealing to the organisations to consider the damages done to the owners of such musical works, as against forcefully threatening them to seek permission, because a rational approach might not be the most suitable. As there are different people, so are there different characters, hence all must not be dealt in the same vein. By studying  my different target markets, I would be able to know the manner of approaching them to doing the ethical thing, as well as emphasizing this tool as an advantage to their  line of business.

 .........One would wonder why I took time to write on an interview experience that might not concern anyone. I was told to write this two-paged essay,and that landed me an opportunity for the second phase of the interview. this was how I laid it down verbatim. In fact, the chairman of COSON told me he was interested in working with me. To be honest,I cared less whether I got the job or not.  He told me I was a good writer,if I was able to scribble sense within the fifteen-minute time frame I was given. I always wondered why people shed tears of joy in happy moments. In my opinion, it was faux pas. But tears welled up in my eyes. Not because I knew I would be considered for the job, but because I was told to sleep peacefully knowing that I had a gift, although I needed some  tweaking.  As I left the building, I thought I was walking in the clouds. It felt good that I was appreciated. Henceforth, I vowed to write more. Sometimes ago  I applied for a creative workshop organised by Chimamanda Adichie (my all-rounded role model, story for another day). I felt distraught that I wasn't chosen. However,I was gingered to write more, learn more and put in more effort. Dreams never die,.Peace.