As someone who has experienced complex, vivid dreams my entire life, I tend to dislike dreams categorically for the following reasons:
Bad dreams are obviously unpleasant experiences, hitting our fears and discomforts ā¦ or possibly even invoking straight-up terror while we are in our most-vulnerable, REM-state.
But good dreams are, in some ways, worse - the better and more pleasant the experience, the sharper sense of loss you experience at the moment you wake up. That moment you realize all those good vivid experiences and positive "memories" ā¦ are false, generated by an over-creative subconscious.
In this most-recent dream, I was in an upscale event/party - I was being my usual boisterous extroverted self and was pulled aside by someone who introduced himself as a CEO of a startup. He likes my vibe, and I could sense he was also sizing me up intellectually and professionally. We spoke casually, and I sensed he was trying to probe my skillset without trying to look too obvious - the way a woman whoās attracted to you wants to figure out how much money you have, without coming out and explicitly asking.
Having been in situations like this, I knew that if I dislike the man or his business, I can feign some severe character/professional flaw to end the conversation, so heād revise downward his initial positive assessment of me, and disengage. But for some reason, I *wanted* him to like me, to be impressed with me.
So I did the opposite.
Didnāt make it obvious (which would tip my hand as an amateur and try-hard) but feigned obliviousness while āinadvertentlyā dropping hints of skill in my areas professional strengths (marketing, messaging, creative problem-solving and salesmanship).
He drops the dance and straight up asks: āWould you be interested in senior position at our organization? We are still in stealth and canāt tell you much about what we do precisely, but we are well-funded, and you have so many of the skills we need.ā
There it was - we went from tap-dancing to being asked out on a date.
Havenāt been on a formal job interview in a very long time. But sure, Iām down to be wined and dined, and itās flattering to be admired and desired.
Continuing to play coy at this moment would be a dick move - if theyāre earnest, itās appropriate to match their energy āIām honored to be considered. I assume thereās a formal interview process with at least a few of your other executives, what time in the next few weeks would be a good window for us to coordinate?ā
āHow about right now.ā
Whut.
Up until now, Iāve been calm, collected, calculating - revealing enough to demonstrate competence and skill, filling the rest of the conversational space with fluffy (but nonsensical) chatter, while quietly assessing and gathering information on the CEO. This request for an immediate formal interview took me off-balance.
Sensing my disorientation, the CEO snaps his finger and points at me. āThatās what I want. I am sure given time, you can come up with a convincing performance to sway my executives, but I want to see what you are like, raw, without preparation. Come with me.ā
Other senior executives at the company were at this same gathering and he quickly summons them while I sat at the end of a table, nursing a bubbly alcoholic beverage. Drinking while waiting for a job interview? Not particularly professional ... what do I do with this drink?
Iām now being judged and sized-up by strangers evaluating my professional comportment and have a drink in my hand, so which looks weirder - self-consciously dumping it in an effort to look professional, or hang on to it and be judged as a lush/alcoholic who canāt even ditch a drink while being evaluated for what is presumably an executive high-paying job?
Be confident. YOU know youāre a light drinker with no addiction issues, and if they draw an inaccurate autocomplete from the data of you holding a drink you had before you knew this interview was even happening, thatās their faulty judgement, no fault on you.
As the final executives roll into the room, my impromptu interview begins - round-robin style as different VPs ask different questions. I had to do several things at once - size up the different personalities swiftly, and quickly figure out who is the most-skeptical of my candidacy (and thus, needs the greatest level of charm/charisma to sway to my side) and what the subtext of their questions are.
If the goal is to secure an offer, itās a tricky balancing act: you want to answer questions asked honestly, but also in a manner that gives a positive impression.
Itās obvious nobody wants a suckup toady, who reflexively tells people what he thinks others want to hear. But a man too oblivious or crass and incapable of reading the room to understand which uncomfortable truths everyone else tap-dances around and just shouts the quiet parts out loud, would not be welcome either.
The impromptu nature of the interview is a pressure-test.
Normally for client meetings or job interviews, Iād spend dozens of man-hours research the personalities of the executives grilling me, building profiles of each of them and preparing myself accordingly. The CEO knew this about me (or sensed it) and wanted to view my raw performance without the benefit of such preps. Something about this job required a high degree of improvisational skills, and there is no other way to test for such abilities than to spring surprises on the interviewee.
After what felt like an interminable gauntlet of questions, case-study hypotheticals thrown at me by very smart executives, and a smattering of personal questions (intended to make it feel less like a 5v1 interrogation), we finish our conversation.
The executives huddle and confer with each other and then the CEO, presumably discussing their individual impressions of me.
I play it calm, and finally finish my drink I held in my hand this entire time.
He walks over and asks when can I start, also quoting a very generous starting income package.
Before I open my mouth to respond, he holds up a hand:
āI know your personality type is to try to counteroffer any initial compensation offer. Even though this very high income by industry standards, your default assumption is that any initial offer, no matter how generous-sounding, is a lowball bid, only accepted by chumps too ignorant (or timid) to counteroffer. You imagine thereās a higher number you can hold out for, a maximum comp that weāve budgeted for this position you'd need to negotiate your way to, through a series of counteroffers and dragging out the signing of an offer letter, yes?ā
Damn. Iām usually the one doing the mind-reading in high-stakes negotiations, or making meta-commentary about whatās going on in othersā minds as they are thinking it, but thatās exactly what was going on in my head.
I nod.
āI want to assure you thereās more down the line and you have my word Iāll reassess in six months and I expect you to be paid a lot more by then, but this is our best and final offer right now. I don't want to pressure you, so please take the next week to consider, but we'd like to have you on our team.ā
I accept, thrilled to be joining what looks to be a high-powered team and trusted to solve large, complex problems as one of their senior executives.
And then I awake.
Whatās the exchange rate between dream-dollars to USD/BTC/ETH?
Itās zero isnāt it?
You are interesting person and this was one fine story telling, I'm hooked up
Will wait for more