Grab a doughnut and let me tell you a story.

A couple of weeks ago my friend Joe came across a job opening that required he go from company to company training management teams.

It was a non-office job which is exactly what he was looking for.

He picked up the phone and gave them a call.

After going over the qualifications babble, the talks drifted to the all-important interview. There was a slight problem, though. The manager doing the interview was going to be out of town the following two weeks, and the only day that was available in the near future was the very next day.

Before Joe could give it a second thought, he said "yes."

Then, the manager pulled a fast one on him. He casually told him before he got off the phone, "Oh yeah, for the interview you will be giving a presentation in front of eight interviewers. Well, actually two presentations. You'll need to do one in English and one in Spanish."

Again, before he could think about it, Joe said "yes."

As soon as Joe hung up the phone, that's when the "oh crap!" kicked in. He was stressing out and wondering what the hell he was thinking agreeing to this type of interview!

For starters, he didn't know anything about the subject they wanted him to present on. And secondly, he would have to do it in two separate languages in front of eight scrutinizing interviewers!!! Yes, he speaks Spanish, but never under these circumstances.

What would you have done? Would you have said yes?

Consider the stress factors:

The pressure of a job interview in an unfamiliar environment

environment The interview being a group interview

He’d have to give a presentation to these interviewers

to these interviewers He had less than 24 hours to prepare a presentation on a subject he knew nothing about

a presentation on a He’d have to give the same presentation in two separate languages