The first one was called "Neuf Mois Ferme" (or Nine Month Stretch in English.) A judge in her late 20s early 30s has a one night stand while drunk and falls pregnant. The father of the baby, a felon convicted for a crime he did not commit, happens to capture her and force her to take up his case and prove his innocence. I have to say, I actually laughed quite a bit.I captured one quote that I thought was very interesting:
A force de prendre la porte il a appris comment les ouvrir.
In English, this translate to "Having been shown the door so many times he learned how to open them." In the film it was meant literally, as the felon, rejected by his parents, orphanages, schools, apprenticeships and society as a whole, began intruding on and stealing from other peoples' property. But if one were to expand the meaning of this quote, it could actually be a real message of hope.
Indeed, rejection after rejection, interview after interview, or audition after audition, when you get no result you can quickly become discouraged. But just as you learn how to get rejected, you also learn how to not get rejected.
This year, I went through a great many interviews, most going disastrously. Some of the mistakes I made I am too ashamed to talk about in person, but I will write what I learned here:
- Never ask how your application stands in regards to others. A friend told me to do this as it could put the employers' minds at ease. It only makes the interviewer feel embarrassed and, actually, it leads to a direct rejection.
- Know exactly what you want in life. Do not go into an interview without having thought before about what you want from a job, why you are fit for this job, where you hope to be eventually. I made the mistake of saying I was interested in teaching at the end of my career. When trying to get into banking as a graduate, do not make that mistake.
- Learn about the industry. It seems cliche but it actually is not all that easy. This year, I hope to read a number of books on each industry I am interested in. I realize that memorizing one or two formulas (WACC = [Equity/(Equity + Debt) * cost of equity] + [Debt/(Equity + Debt) * cost of debt * (1 - tax rate)] or again Adjusted Present Value = Vlevered = Vunlevered + PV (Interest Tax Savings) etc.) These formulas, albeit important, matter not in the grand scheme of things. Also, memorizing a bit of data from an article you read in the Economist will not work either. Better to talk about a lot of different areas with not as much detail than know a lot about a single area but with detail that could be false.
- Use different sources. Read books. The Economist, the Financial Times, all these are used and overused. Look to innovate. Look into what you want. At the end of the day, the interviewer will not care where you learned the information, as long as you learned it and can talk about it!
- I guess the last one goes without saying, but do not assume that having the best credentials will automatically gain you access to the workplace you desire. As a linguist who has learned about Finance, Accounting, Math, History, Statistics, Politics, and has lived in many different countries, I thought it would not be too difficult to get a job. After all, how many were there like me? A First, a Mention Tres Bien, three internships. And yet, here I am, writing this article. Do not take yourself too highly, and try not to take things too personally. This is one I am still working on.
I guess those are the key points I learned through my interviews.
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The second movie I went to see was called "Qu'est ce qu'on a fait au Bon Dieu?"
TBC
a sense, it is also all about control, because the aim is to gain better control over my life, emotions and mind.
