Truth be told, the waiting room is one room where everyone sitting there is anxious, anxious if they will get the job, anxious if their loved one who is in surgery will come out alive, anxious if the news they are about to hear from the doctor is something they can take or not, but despite how anxious they all are, somehow, everyone is forced to keep it to themselves. There is always silence in a waiting room but loud noises in the heads of those seated there, so many questions they are asking themselves, some they have answers to and some they don't have answers to.
It was a Saturday evening, and I decided to go through my email to see if any of the jobs I applied for had sent any response. I was scrolling so fast, thinking it was the usual checks with no positive result, until a particular email that looked like an ad at first caught my attention. Immediately I stopped scrolling and clicked on it; it was an invitation for an interview for one of the jobs I had applied for months ago. That email came with mixed emotions. I was happy at least; that means I could get a job at last, but at the same time a level of tension and anxiety filled my head and heart.
The thoughts of the questions I will be asked and how to answer them, and what if in the end, after all the stress, I still do not get the job, started running through my mind and left me feeling sad and happy at the same time. I started research on the company and read about possible questions one can be asked in an interview for the post of a sales representative. I saw so many questions, and that caused me even more anxiety, and I was forced to study them, as there was no room for mistakes, as I needed the job badly.
I prepared as much as I could, but it did not take away the anxiety and the tension. The big day came, and I dressed up in the best way I could.
"Good luck with your interview and be careful," my mom said as I stepped out of the house.
"Thank you, Mom." I responded as I waved to them goodbye.
I headed to my interview venue with so much anxiety and fear. Even though I had prepared to the best of my capability, I still felt like it was not enough and there were places I had not covered, and questions could come from there, and my inability to answer would make me look unfit for the job.
"Whatever it is, when we get to the bridge, we will cross it." I said to myself as I regained some level of composure.
I entered the waiting room and met other applicants like myself.
"Good morning, please, are you also here for the interview?" I asked a lady already seated as I sat down on a seat right next to her.
"Yes, they are about to start." She responded.
"Thank God I am on time; it would not make sense if I came to an interview late," I said with a smile.
"I am Maureen; I wish you good luck with your interview." Maureen said, and that left me shocked because I have been to a few interviews and never heard applicants wishing each other luck.
"Thanks, I am Kachi, and I wish you good luck as well." I responded, and from that moment silence swept through the waiting room; no one said a word to the other, just the voice of the receptionist echoing from one end of the room to the other end as she called all the applicants by their names.
With how everyone was quiet but their mouths moving and low-pitched sounds coming out of their mouths, it meant everyone was still rehearsing and trying to prepare before they were called upon. The silence in the room was so loud that you could hear a pin drop; I could feel my heart beat against the walls of my chest. I was under so much tension to the point my heartbeat was causing me to shake, and just looking at me you could see the movement.
I fixed my tie a number of times that I cannot count; tension was out of the roof when the receptionist said I was next.
"Offia Godwin Onyekachi." The receptionist shouted.
"Present." I responded.
"You are next." The receptionist said as she went back inside.
Hearing that, my heart sank; it started beating even faster until my phone buzzed. I did not want to check who it was at first but decided to.
"You have got this; I trust you." It was my sister, and my face beamed with smiles as I calmed down and was ready to face whatever the panel threw at me.