How not to behave during a job interview

We were jumping off cliffs into Lake Superior that was so frigid you lost your breath as you plunged into the water. But we didn’t care. It was August, it was hot, we were young and dumb and trying to impress girls and college classes were still a few days away. We had nothing but time on our hands.

And then I remembered I had a job interview that afternoon. Panicked, I quickly told everyone I had to leave and they, of course, assaulted me with insults. After all, we had just played hours of softball and were cooling off in the lake and getting ready to hit the bars. And it was a long day already.

So I rushed to my dorm room, quickly changed and headed to my interview in hopes of becoming the next janitor of University Hall. I greeted my future boss, apologized for being late and proceeded to answer his questions. But it was dark in his office. And really warm. And I remember him talking about squirrels or raccoons or some other furry creature before I did the unthinkable during a job interview: I nodded off.

Now, he was a great guy. And he quickly became worried that I was falling sick or something. But I explained that I hadn’t eaten all day or something. So he took the fan on his desk and aimed it at me. I collected myself and he still gave me the job. It was my first of three different campus jobs.

I look back now and think if some kid comes to me and falls asleep during a job interview, I wouldn’t offer him a stick of gum. But back then, on a college campus, the folks were easygoing. They knew I had no money.

Being a janitor was a great experience. Because I was a student, my boss did not require me to do the toilets. Thank God. But he did require me to work most of my hours on Saturday nights. So while all my buddies were out whooping it up for the weekend, I spent most of my Saturdays vacuuming the cafeteria and sweeping the hallways until midnight. I didn’t like it, but it kept me out of trouble.

I had to work that job on Saturdays because I had two others during the weekdays. One was at the library and the other at the administration building. I needed those hours to help pay for my tuition, books and room and board. Taking out a loan back then never occurred to me.

My dad was already gone by that time, but my parents hated loans. My dad moved us into a suburban ranch house that was small, but newly built. He paid off the mortgage (and the new garage and concrete driveway) in 10 years. And they never, ever had a credit card.

I graduated from college without taking out one student loan. Funny, but I learned about credit cards years after graduation and got sucked in to the notion of buying a bunch of stuff and paying for it later. It was a bad idea. Almost as bad as falling asleep during a job interview.

Ray Kisonas is the regional editor of The Monroe News and The Daily Telegram. He can be reached at rayk@monroenews.com.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Ray Kisonas: How not to behave during a job interview