I sing opera and musical theater and my goal was to perform a lot in 2011. I went to three auditions in January and February and got two of the roles I was after, Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music and Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance. I was happy enough to hear from the two directors that I’d been cast in those parts, but it was the role I didn’t get that burrowed its way into my brain.
I didn’t know anything about that part when I auditioned for it—a friend recommended it and I impulsively reserved an audition slot and showed up. I sang Why Can’t You Behave? from Kiss Me Kate and they liked it. I read some lines and saw the directors smile, so I left happy. I got an e-mail the next day, inviting me to a callback—a dance callback. I asked the friend who had nudged me to audition: “Is this a dancing part?”
“Not too much,” she said. I went. I danced. The choreographer said, “great energy,” which is choreographer-speak for: “Good try, Miss Not-a-Dancer.” I got an e-mail message. I didn’t get the part. By then, I knew that there was only one line of singing for my character in the show. I didn’t even like that particular musical. Plus, thanks to my other two parts, my rehearsal-and-performance dance card was full. Why did the rejection bug me anyway?
It bugged me, of course, because it was a rejection—a disappointment on the heels of a gratifying audition process (until we got to the dancing part). It doesn’t matter that my reaction wasn’t rational: I wouldn’t have had fun in that part. As it turned out, the show ran into problems and turned out not to be the world’s most enjoyable experience for anyone involved. (A friend in the crew kept me posted on the backstage dramas.) Still, a little voice in my brain nagged at me. What didn’t they like? Should I have read the lines more broadly? Should I have sung a different song?
Job-seekers run into this phenomenon when they’re flying through the selection pipeline with a prospective employer. Once you’re in that vortex, it can be hard to keep your mind clear enough to continue asking, “is this the right job for me?” It’s fun and affirming to hear voice-mail messages that say: “We’d love to have you come back and meet a few more of our managers.” If you’re working already, you feel like a double agent—you have another life your boss and co-workers don’t know about. There’s a level of drama involved. People like you and want to talk to you.
Your brain is engaged in someone else’s business problems while you’re interviewing with a new employer. That’s intellectually rewarding, plus a nice boost for your business mojo. Often, when friends and clients accept new positions while working elsewhere, they’ll give notice and their manager will say, “I sort of knew something was up.” The job search shifted the employee’s mojo to a higher level.
When you’re deep in the energizing vortex with a given potential employer, it’s easy to miss red flags. You’re caught up in the river’s current. When people are taking you out to dinner and calling you for advice and shoving job offers in your face, there’s plenty of incentives to sign on the dotted line. That might prove a great thing for your resume and your well-being, or it might be a disaster. If you’re interviewing for a job that wouldn’t please you, or one with an employer who won’t appreciate what you bring, you’d be smart to bail on the process. Once in the vortex, though, it’s easy to get pulled right through.
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