Yesterday I participated in a Speed Mentoring session, where
mentors (me) sat at a station and the mentees (generally new hires) would rotate
every 5 minutes to come *gulp* talk.
It’s a take off of Speed Dating where singles would rotate every 5 minutes,
use their best pickup lines, and at the end, if there’s a match or chemistry,
they can exchange digits. Here I am, putting
on my A-game, using my most endearing smile, throwing out my best (or worst)
jokes and wearing my twinkle-eyed charm.
Regardless of gender, background, age-range, everyone walked away with “Is
it ok if I call you?” or “Would you mind if I set up a meeting with you after
today?” I was on a roll…. Until she
showed up.
She holds a Bachelors from a prominent engineering school and
has a Masters from another prominent engineering school. What was she even doing at my
company?!?! Then instead of giving me a
chance to exude my charm… she fires off question after question. She came prepared. She had a list. She knew what she wanted. Of the list of 12-15 questions, she would
flip her sheet of paper around, like she almost knew which ones would trip up “this
mentor”. I wasn’t ready for this. I paused too long. I choked Then at the end of 5
minutes, she got up, politely said thanks, and walked away. Failed. [D’oh!!] Hahaha… my one blemish of the
day. And this bothered me more than I
realized. Probably cuz I was this close
to bowling 300, and on the last frame, I guttered it. Had I missed 2-3 more rolls… it wouldn’t have
stung as hard. Ah wellz… such it is.
As I was about to log off today… I see an email
pop up. It’s from her. She thanked me for being candid. And sent some follow-up questions. HAHA!! I didn’t screw up!! I landed a Callback!!
Mood: win
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