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of Department Heads - a la Donald Trump's "The Apprentice" - only we faced the panel one applicant at a time.

As with any employment interview - the Department Heads asked "Tell me about yourself and why you're the right person for this job" questions; and as with any interview, when I was the person in the "hot-seat", I responded to employment questions the way I always do under "sell myself" conditions - with elaborative responses and asking questions of my own - including - what were they going to do for my "exquisite" services.

I remember having a great feeling about my performance once the interview had ended. I recall feeling more than confident the panel had been impressed with me. I also recall feeling shattered from the surprise and disappointment that overcame me when I learned my coworker had undergone a completely different experience.

She told me that she'd bombed the interview. "What do you mean?" I'd asked in disbelief. Then she proceeded to fill me in on how nervous she'd been. How she couldn't answer any questions correctly - said all the wrong things.

As she went on with her story, my mind drifted to the fact that "we" were supposed to get those two jobs. "We" were supposed to work together - not "me" and "somebody else". What my mind got stuck on, however, was how could she bomb the interview? She'd been working in the field for a number of years - many more years than I had. There'd only been a few minor job-related questions asked by the panel - and theyd been general - and most of all, I'd seen her in communications with personnel on all levels of the job. She'd never been nervous. I fact, she hadn't an unconfident bone in her body as far as I'd been aware of. Or had she?

That's when it hit me... Throughout the time I'd known her, she'd often told me of things about "myself" - positive things mind you - and in the same breath told me contrasting things about herself "negative things". I'd follow up with she shouldn't talk that way about herself - putting herself down like that - that she was a highly intelligent and knowledgeable person. She'd just laugh and before I could turn around twice she'd belittle herself again.

A few after the interviews, my fears of her not getting one of the jobs were realized when I received a call offering me a position but she didn't. Someone else took the other spot. This was totally unbelievable to me, because like I said, she'd been working in the field for years longer than I had. In fact, it would be fair

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