Thursday, April 2, 2015

The interview

I have been working for a number of years now and had plenty of interviews in my life.  Some have been quick, some have been long and drawn out.  One was a panel of three people grilling me for about 10-15 minutes, asking me questions as quickly as possible.  None of them have been so weird as the interview for a local yoga studio.

Shortly after I got my 200 hr. YTT certificate, I discovered a yoga studio that was opening up down south.  I sent in my application, but hadn't received a response.  A fellow student and friend of mine was already teaching there and said he would pass along my name.  Shortly after that I received an email from the owner asking if I was still interested.  Of course I was and we set up a time to meet.

The day of the interview I was nervous, of course, but also excited.  It was a new studio so I might get to teach a couple times a week there.  I could be part of a new yoga community starting up from this little studio.  I worked my day job, which kept me from spiraling too much.  I arrived at the studio and found it was inside an office building.  It had a great entryway and a cute little reception area window, much like doctors offices have, except this was out into the hall.

I met the owner in the hallway, though I can't remember his name now.  He was tall with a thick beard. He told me that the studio was created by a research company that he works for.  This company had discovered yoga was a hot commodity along the Western Range and wanted to create a small network of yoga studios.  I didn't particularly want to get into a corporation of studios, but I wanted experience and figured this was a good way to do it.

We moved on to the actual interview, got interrupted by a couple of ladies who were interested in classes, and then continued on.  The first part was fairly normal.  He sat there asking questions like "What kind of music do you listen to?" "What is your experience with yoga so far?" etc.  Then he had me demo my teaching skills.

This is where it got weird.  He had me teach to an empty room and sat there watching me.  Mind you, in my training program, we were taught to watch the student, to give hands on assists, to interact with the students.  So I had to walk around an empty room, pretending there were students on their mats. Lest we forget, he was still watching me do this.

I have no training in acting.  I'm very scientifically minded, and my imagination is pretty minimal. This was THE most awkward thing I have done, that I can remember.  I know I sounded robotic, just regurgitating what I'd learned from my training.

I managed to get half way through my sequence, when he told me to stop.  We completed the interview fairly quickly after that.  He told me my energy wasn't right for the studio.  I thanked him and walked out wondering what the hell just happened?

It wasn't a fair interview in my opinion.  However, I know a few things now that have changed my views a little.  That studio has closed shop.  They didn't do very well at all.  I also know that I may have more bad interviews, but they probably won't be that weird ever again.  Even if they are, it won't feel so weird because nothing can compare to teaching an empty room how to do yoga.

Blessing to you,

Chess