Tilt a Whirl

Years ago I was being interviewed for a leadership position with a company that has a reputation for doing things differently. This wasn't the first conversation.  I was told to plan on spending most of the day there and I would be interviewed with managers from different departments. No problem. I'd done this before. Or so I thought, until I arrived on the appointed day.

That's when I learned that three other candidates were also attending at the same time. We were all in consideration for the same job.  The guy in charge waited until we were all settled around a table to explain it.

"We call it the Tilt A Whirl, and it's just like that carnival ride. Each one of you will be in a separate  room. A manager and an associate will come in and ask you a series of questions pertinent to their department. They will be with you for an hour. When they are done, they will leave and move onto the next person."

Upon reflection, I realized this was a good use of the manager's time and if it made a candidate uncomfortable, that would be helpful in seeing how they would deal with a stressful situation.  When the day was done, one candidate claimed it was the most nerve wracking, harrowing experience of her life. No surprise that she didn't get the job.

Lately, things have been so busy, it reminded me of the Tilt A Whirl.   In early September, I learned that Secret Cravings, the publisher I've worked with for the Jamie Richmond series, was going out of business.  A week later, while attending a writer's workshop, I had the opportunity to pitch my next novel to a literary agent. Meanwhile I continued to polish the manuscript and get it ready for consideration.  This is in addition to working both my full time and part time jobs and looking for a new publisher who would accept books that had previously been published.

But at some point, the ride will slow down and I'll move on to whatever is next.  And in case you missed it, here's an older post about sharing stories you might enjoy.




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