by Johanna Fredericks, Bachelor of Education, Perth WA
In preparation for next year, I have recently been going through the interview process to apply for teaching positions and am being interviewed for the advertised appointment pools. In the last couple of weeks I have experienced how powerful my everyday living, and the quality that I bring to the classroom consistently each day, actually is.
I have not only learnt about the power of my everyday living but I have been able to claim another level of love for myself, and the future class that I will work in. I have been completely trusting during this process and open to where I could potentially be employed. During the whole interview process I have had a strong understanding of what I bring to the school environment, teaching and the classroom in general, knowing without a doubt that any school would be lucky to have my presence in their environment. I also have a deep knowing and understanding of who I am – that I am Me – and I can bring Me to any class, to any school, in any suburb.
In the past when writing a letter for a job, I would tailor that letter to completely meet what I could see the position was asking of me. Now my cover letter not only outlines the desired criteria that the job is asking for, but it is filled with relevant examples that are all based on…
- The quality that I bring to the classroom,
- How love, people and relationships are my foundation, and
- The importance of the children feeling supported by how the space in the classroom feels.
It has been during the actual face-to-face interviews with a panel of ‘head’ people that I have felt the greatest power of my everyday living. Commonly, in the past, the interview process has been nerve-wracking for me, as I am sure they are for a lot of people. In the past I have bought into the ‘what ifs’.
What if…
- I don’t get offered a job
- I can’t remember all the notes I revised over and over
- I don’t say everything they need me to say
- I stumble on my words, my hands shake or I get a dry mouth
- They don’t like me
- I don’t have a clue what they are asking me
- I look like an idiot
- I am not experienced enough or don’t know enough, especially ‘teacher talk’, etc, etc, etc?
…and the list could go on, but you get the picture!
BUT NOW!
I have found that because I go into the interview process with All of Me:
- I feel completely relaxed, calm, confident and with my body,
- I go in knowing the beautiful effect that I have on those I interact with and teach,
- I know that my ‘everyday living’ and the way that I am in the classroom considers all of the students – their whole being,
- I know that I have the solidness of my ‘everyday living’, the way I am and how I educate in the classroom, behind me.
So this is what I have been able to speak from… which is awesome because there is no preparation needed, except a quick review of the advertisement and what their school is about.
So not only do I have this amazing support behind me, but I have found that I have also been going in completely detached from what those on the panel think of me, and detached as to whether I get offered a job or not. This has been quite refreshing to feel because I have been able to approach the interview process not only knowing what I bring, but I am also able to say what conditions I would prefer in an employment contract. I am willing to go wherever I am needed and I am even willing to move to a new area, should I get a position with permanency.
The beautiful thing is, I have been completely enjoying the interview process. I have enjoyed sharing my everyday living, that I know to be true in my classroom, with others. I have been able to express this joyfully and clearly without any inhibitions because I have had no attachment to the outcome.
Whether I get offered a job or not, the people on the panel get to experience a joyful interaction with someone who has a passion for people, children, relationships and teaching. A blessing for them if you ask me! My interviews have been so great that I have walked out saying;
- I would hire me.
- If they don’t hire me, then that’s crazy!
So let’s just wait and see what happens…
Inspired by the work of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
‘I have also been going in completely detached from what those on the panel think of me, and detached as to whether I get offered a job or not’, is an understatement. I totally relate to this when I attended an interview last year. It was the best interview I’ve ever had in that I let go of many expectations I had from all angles. And yet all my life I had the exact feelings you had described in your sharing and the main one, I often consumed by, is I’m not good enough.
Being yourself represents you and ideally that is what interviews should be about, not this ra ra-ing of something we are not.
Time will tell how I’m going to be in the next interview, but I will go in with no attachment as to how it goes afterwards. Life ought to be about this more and more, then we wouldn’t be walking around hurt majority of the time, and when we are in that, then no one gets to meet who we truly are then – what a shame!…
Johanna I love your spunk and joy in writing this blog – you really have allowed yourself to embrace the situation of job application and realising what an opportunity it presents to feel all your qualities to share with others.
When we focus on things we don’t know or can’t do then we can feel like we are a failure. But if we focus on what we do know and can do and then draw upon those as strengths to bring ourselves up to speed in areas we may not have been so strong in then it is a win win situation.
Henrietta, this is amazing sharing not only for interviews, but also generally in our every day life. Focus on what we do know and draw upon those as our strengths. This will pull that other side that we annoyingly been asked to focus on instead which keeps us exactly where we do not need to be in continually. Much to ponder over with this revelations.
When we appreciate ourselves and value ourselves deeply, we know what we bring to all those around us. When we live every day with this depth of appreciation then we are more open to expanding and growing and inspiring ourselves and others even more so.
I love the power and strength in your confirmation, ‘I have had a strong understanding of what I bring to the school environment, teaching and the classroom in general, knowing without a doubt that any school would be lucky to have my presence in their environment. I also have a deep knowing and understanding of who I am – that I am Me – and I can bring Me to any class, to any school, in any suburb.’
Such a beautiful, joyful piece of appreciation. When life is no longer about me and my security and survival in the world, what we can bring and offer to the world is just endless expansion of possibility. Not being attached to the outcome, which usually is based on what we have been conditioned to judge as either good or bad, something true can be expressed and shared with everyone.
“Knowing without a doubt that any school would be lucky to have my presence in their environment”. This is how we all should go into interviews, knowing our strengths and what we have to offer an organisation. They then get to see that and can match the right person and qualities to the job and the existing team.
To live free from pictures and being detached is an empowering way to be, you can then respond to life and all that is offered rather than being disappointed or upset when things don’t go your way.
This is a beautiful blog. What happened next?
Our movements determine what part of ourselves and how much of ourselves is up to be inter-viewed.
It was gorgeous to read your blog and feel how reclamation of yourself within the interview process. Being able to claim that it is crazy if they don’t hire you simply because of how awesome you are for being you, is more of a reflection of your immense love of yourself than it ever is about the job and what you can do in it.
Not only is this a template for how to approach an interview, it is a template to approach everyday.
Claiming and knowing what we bring to humanity, very beautiful.
Certainly setting the standard jstewart51!
Letting go of attachment to the outcome and living from the foundation of presenting all of oneself, then life flows so much more harmoniously and simply. To live this way consistently for me is an ever-deepening journey of development.
Definitely worth appreciating that solidness and the quality of how you live. I too feel the same in that I go into an interview with me and what a bring rather than trying to fit myself into the criteria.
When we make the quality of our livingness true to ourselves in our every day then what we have seen as challenges in the past are no longer challenges. They are events and situations enjoyed and confirmed through the connection to ourselves, our foundation supported by our livingness.
Hi Johanna, what you describe here is like going to a test and knowing/having all the answers, which is exactly how it is when you go to a job interview and speak from how you live.
Johanna your blog is a great support for anyone going through the interview process, it is very inspiring the way you held yourself and the value you place on all the qualities you bring, there is so much we offer others when we share our lived ways.
I so agree there should be no preparation needed for a job interview. It’s actually quite insane how there is an industry that specializes in that in order to appeal and be accepted in a job – it’s like we already have this agreement that says simply being ourselves and presenting what we live in our every day won’t be good enough.
I wonder if it depends on the job. There are quite a few jobs where it is a good idea to prepare for an interview and even if it is only researching the organisation that is interviewing us. However, you are completely correct that worrying and fretting beforehand will have the opposite effect.
We can get so caught up in the what ifs of life that it can undermine the true joy and opportunity to learn in any given moment or experience we have.
When you bring your livingness with you and express from it, there is a solidness that cannot but be felt. Yet, there is more than that. There is a way that flows naturally without any imposition that people align to.
This is a great thing to be writing about… You know, public speaking, public performing, it’s all the same… It’s our livingness that counts. If we are settled within ourselves, connected within, we can actually stand up on stage singing, speaking, do what is needed, without disturbing that connection within. And the thing is… when one is this connected it is so easy to listen to.
Having been on the other side of the table at interviews it is very refreshing when someone just presents themselves as who they are and one of the most important attributes you are looking for is whether the interviewee will work well with others.
It is beautiful that if we stay ourselves in the application for a job, when we don’t get the job we don’t feel double rejected. The double rejection we otherwise feel because we did not get the job and in the process we also abandoned ourselves. I found the latter the most crushing to feel, to go away from my natural expression to get a job and then not to be accepted even though I did ‘all that effort’! Really a great thing to recognise and realise there is nothing better than being true to ourselves in life.
When we let go of needing an outcome and allow ourselves to express who we truly are, life flows and all is complete no matter what happens. Hence whether we get a job or not is not the end goal, even though it may happen, rather it is our quality of presence we are responsible for bringing to an interview and every part of life.
It is empowering to feel that in being ourselves, living in connection to who we are through our every day, we do not need to try being anyone else or practice fitting into a role or feel like we need to perform. As when we live who we are in essence, we know all that we are, and we know we bring this quality of presence to all we do.
A job interview should not be a place to go to to find out if you are “good enough”, but a place you go to to openly share who you are, what you would bring of you to a role, and to hear what the employer would like to see. It is a 2 way street and in that way all the nerves and worry about being accepted can disappear.
Beautifully said Heather – I am certainly one of those who has gone into an interview feeling like it was an inquisition, where as it was for me to claim my qualities and appreciate myself in order to back myself and walk in sharing all of me instead. Funny how we can be set up, but also how we can set ourselves up too when it is not needed!
I love what you are presenting here Johanna, a full on appreciation of all that you bring. It makes it so clear how insidiously suppressing we have made life to be where we always have to prove ourselves and where criticism is highly regarded. We still yet have to discover how powerful true appreciation is.
I feel your joy in just being you, sharing how you live Johanna, and how it’s simply just another forum to do so, no pressure; and it must be equally lovely for those who meet you in this to feel your solidness, your ease and how there is no expectation coming their way, just someone being themselves and exploring each step as they do.
I love what you are saying here Monica and what Johanna shows us is how simple life can be.
I can relate to what you share. Invited to design a course for a client, I knew instantly how to approach it and what I would bring to the subject. This made it easy to write the proposal and ideas flowed. It didn’t matter if it was accepted or rejected, only that I had stayed true to myself and presented the subject in a way that was true and supportive of participants
How beautiful it is to feel your true worth from inside out, be unaffected by outcomes and simply enter an interview or process with a view to share with others your true qualities and what you bring.
I agree Kehinde – when we live in this way it is a blessing for all, offering the opportunity for real connection.
Powerful and so true – that is exactly how it should be. In full honoring and appreciation of knowing who we are – we can then truly go into an interview and know what we offer. And indeed – if they don’t take that, it is absolutely crazy and their loss.
Lovely to hear how you claim yourself and what you bring to the classroom, your quality, your love of people and relationships, and how important, ‘the children feeling supported by how the space in the classroom feels.’
Beautiful Johanna. I have been experiencing interviews of late with the same intention as you — Present all of me.
One interview, I initially became blank to an easy question. This made me nervous compared to how confident I was before that. The interviewers picked up on that and asked me if I was nervous. I honestly replied how I should of answered that question .. I did later on too. What I claimed more than ever before was that I was all of me in that moment – real, open, nervous, sensitive .. I stayed with my body. They increased the intensity then and I did not get the job however, I felt the power within me expand as I left the interview. To me I left a massive imprint in that organisation and building how to be yourself – it was a huge success to me.
Beautiful Johanna, to be open enough to go wherever you are needed and not to have any attachment to an outcome from an interview really does free you up to just be all of who you are during an interview.
Johanna, what you bring to the classroom and the children is so needed in today’s society, and will benefit the children for the rest of their lives, ‘In the last couple of weeks I have experienced how powerful my everyday living, and the quality that I bring to the classroom consistently each day, actually is.’ Absolutely gorgeous.
That is true confidence Johanna, knowing your true worth and value and the fact that you are an asset to any workplace that chooses to employ you.
Appreciation of what we bring to every situation is what allows our Livingness to be continually expanding, and this energy is felt by others, whether they are aware of this undeniable truth or not. So the energy that we live in, even for those who are living in a way that completely numb the energy, is felt and can only be denied but the truth is we are always feeling energy.
I recently had an interview and didn’t get the job. A lot of what you have written about in this blog is very relevant to me. I can see that I was not able to speak with all of me, because that was not how I’d been living up to that point. A great lesson.
I can relate to what you share Debra. Every job interview process begins with us, how we are with ourselves, how we’ve lived, what we bring, not the job description and spec. If we walk into an interview head first, full of what we want we want to say, yet have left ourselves outside the room, it’s usually all downhill from there.
There is such a difference in the way we chose to go into situations when we start living a life that is about bringing all of us to it. We lose all worry, expectations and pictures we may have about an outcome, it becomes about what we bring, and that it is all that is needed in any situation regardless of the outcome.
This is brilliant Johanna – I love the quality and the value you bring to yourself here – I agree with you, anyone would be crazy not to hire you with so much love to offer to all.
“My interviews have been so great that I have walked out saying;
I would hire me.
If they don’t hire me, then that’s crazy!”
The most astonishing thing here is the fact you had to go to more than one interview – anyone with a sense for an absolute powerhouse of an employee you are would surely hire you on the spot! I guess they all needed an opportunity to be graced by your joyful approach and it’s clear you enjoyed the process too. An amazing blog to read on my way to an interview.
Brilliant Johanna – love all that you’ve shared here. When we are claimed in ourselves and know to the bone what it is that we bring, why diminish it? What you’ve expressed here is true confidence – something rarely experienced in this world, and a quality that holds the power to truly inspire others.
You’ve summed it up beautifully here: “Whether I get offered a job or not, the people on the panel get to experience a joyful interaction with someone who has a passion for people, children, relationships and teaching.”
Need our every experience be based purely upon a desired outcome? Or does our every experience with others offer a grand opportunity to connect – to truly connect and not hide nor apologise for our own brilliance.
Love this – our every experience with others as an offering for deeper, true connection, based on all of who we are, and nothing less.
So beautiful to read Johanna of the deep appreciation and value you hold for yourself, to carry yourself through life in this way is key to deepening all relationships especially the one with self first, making it easier to not be attached to getting the job but in being who you truly are.
I love this Johanna. I am applying for jobs at the moment and your post reminds me that this process provides a great opportunity to appreciate myself and everything I bring to the workplace. It also reminds me that any attachment to outcome will create stress and strain.
I am inspired. I have been preparing for an interview this week and what started as me feeling for the first time ever, uninvested in the outcome, I have felt the anxiety come in over the past couple of days – the list of internal judgements is one I’m familiar with. It’s awesome to reconnect to the purpose – that of being me and simply meeting people and having fun. No reason I can’t do this within the presentation I have been asked to do either. If I focus on connection, the rest will flow.
Such a beautiful shift from making work about what we do to making it about who we are.
True – this quality of being and movement can apply to every aspect of our lives, how we present, how we hold others, how we treat ourselves, every moment of the day, even when asleep. This is the quality of each and every one of us, and this is what creates the world in which we live.
it really does turn everything on its head when you go to an interview not in the mindset of proving yourself the one for the wished for job but instead just another opportunity to connect with others and be all of you in that moment, and whatever happens there is not a single investment in the outcome- most freeing.
What you have shared is so relevant to living life in general. For the greatest preparation for life itself comes through developing our connection to who we are, through which we appreciate the greatness we bring knowing that when we are with ourselves, our Soul, we are connected to all and as such are guided in honor of all, to know what is needed as we share the quality of our essence with whatever we are doing or whoever we are with.
Bringing all of us everywhere in life is the greatest healing for ourselves and the world.
So many people struggle to mold themselves into what any position or interview is asking of them out of a need to get the job… so it is so refreshing to read of you not being prepared to do this but rather offering all they could want plus more… and the more being of such fundamental importance when it comes to truly connecting to and supporting children in a much needed quality the education system appears to have lost in its drive for results above all else. Amazing.
I would have snapped you up on the spot Johanna!
when we did connect with ourselves, and stay connected, we have the possibility to enjoy it so much more of life… Staying conscious and present enables us to experience was truly happening… And this can be sometimes quite magical
Beautiful Johanna, knowing what you bring to a workplace and expressing yourself from the confidence of what you live every day is all that’s needed. So simple, and allows the potential employer to know more clearly whether you are in fact the person they are looking for. So much harder to discern this if you’re twisting yourself in knots trying to be everything you think they want you to be.
Wow Johanna – in this blog – you share how you have made work about the service you bring to others, and not about self. That is huge and how powerful is this! When we get self out the way we have to ask; how can I not get this job if this job isn’t actually for me but part of a much bigger picture’ – that is very cool indeed.
Thank you Johanna, this is great to read, confirming the true value that we have by simply bringing ourselves in in full.
Wonderful Johanna I would hire you immediately – how could I not as you are the best role model ever for showing everybody that loving oneself is the best thing to do in life.
I know from experience that it is self-detrimental to cater your application and interview persona to what you think the interviewers want to hear… I’m learning that just myself alone is all and everything I need to bring 🙂
Beautiful to read how much you appreciate what you bring into the classroom Johanna. Becoming detached from outcomes brings a whole new experience to interviews – and to life. We can just be our natural gorgeous selves without resorting to come over in a certain way in order to please others or to get recognition.
I’ve been finding the same with interviews over the past few years. The greater my connection to myself, the less I am invested in the outcome of the interview, so feel no need to be anything other than me. I’d even go so far as to say I really enjoy interviews as now they are just a great opportunity to go and meet some new people.
Great blog Johanna, our interview and work is a direct reflection of how we live everyday, and every choice we make also determines how our interview will be.
My last job application required me to attend 6 interviews with the one company, and in the beginning I thought it was very stressful, but by the last 2 I was enjoying the fact that I got to have an hour of quality time with some great managers at the company. They got to know me a little, and I got to know them. Its completely changed how I now look at interviews.
The livingness you take to the interview is the livingness offered to the whole school and every child and teacher. In letting go of the ‘I’ and just being ‘the all that I am’ you will know which interview will answer the call of where you will serve for the benefit of all.
I get this same feeling when it comes time to talk in front of a group of people. In the past it used to terrify me.. all I could hear was my heart pounding in my head while I furiously tried to remember the key points I was going to get across. These days my focus is on just being present so I know what is going on around me, and just being myself. What that means is that it is less a performance, but me simply expressing what I can access at that given moment – and that all depends on my livingness.
Johanna, what you have presented is truly amazing. The appreciation of who you are as a person and what you bring as a teacher. If the school has the same priority for the children, as you the teacher, then the two will meet.
Thank you Johanna, it is truly beautiful to read your appreciation of yourself, your everyday livingness and the quality you bring to the classroom everyday – how powerful when we live and claim this truth everyday.
It’s a very beautiful thing when we know exactly what we bring to the work that we do, so much so that we do not seek identification or recognition from what we do and that if we don’t get the job it doesn’t effect our sense of who we are. That is huge. Getting the job is just the bonus.
An interview is like life really… on a really big scale our life could be said to be the same length as your average interview, and as Johanna says, if we bring all of who we truly are to life, the outcome is clear and defined.
Sounds like a very sucessful way to approach the interview process, no matter what the position
I love what you are describing here Johanna, it shows how much true confidence serves everybody.
I would employ you also Johanna! Imagine a workplace filled with people who came to work each day with the sheer joy of what they could feel inside of themselves and the knowing of what they brought to their work environment. The productivity levels and inspiration each person would gain from others that would subsequently support everyone in contact with that organisation would be simply awesome.
I just loved your blog Johanna, there is so much freedom when we are not attached to the outcome, your joy and consistency in your everyday livingness brings all of you to the classroom and everyone you meet. Who wouldn’t want to hire you?
It’s a killer when we choose to invest in an outcome. Interviews are prime opportunities for us to give our power away when we have set our sights on getting the job and when we’re holding an image of what it means to us to get it. Your detachment, openness and confidence in the process are truly inspiring and show what’s possible when we choose to live in a way that brings a consistency of quality and a deep knowing and understanding of who we are to all that we do. As you say, who wouldn’t want to hire that?!
In some cultures interviews are so important that there are day long workshops on the process and how to ‘optimise’ yourself …. And yet here we have a whole treasure-house of information about this journey.
Johanna, I love how you have been able to be open about what you bring to a job, rather than coming from any need to get the job. It changes the whole process and your confidence comes from a completely different level of knowing who you are and what you bring.
I love how your every day livingness informes your confidence when going for a job, and your confidence in the classroom. Go Johanna!
This is so much more empowering than only seeing searching for a job from the bosses point of view. To have a successful time once you have a job, the contract and conditions have to be mutually acceptable so we may as well embrace the connection we can have with all these people from the start.
Thank you Johanna for this blog. It allowed me to feel how I have not chosen to feel and appreciate that how I live does reflect in how I work and now how I go to interviews. Going to an interview with little attachment (never perfect but thats not the goal) – what does that reflect to those before us? Someone who is not anxious or nervous, placing pressure on themselves or the interviewer to like and accept them – that’s HUGE! They get more of a real and steady picture of who you are rather than the first impressions that often don’t match the actual person if they do get hired. And then there is less pressure to keep up appearances if we do get the job, to meet everything we said about ourselves that was untrue in those 5, 10 or 30 minutes in the interview. How we live with ourselves makes a huge difference to then how we are with others.
Your approach to the interview process eliminates so much stress and is a blessing for the interviewer
Interesting Jane to reflect that current interview processes can feel like a barrier to truly connecting and getting to know the person being interviewed which is surely the whole point of the process? When we get lost in systems the true purpose becomes obscured and it is often about a performance which can lead to the wrong person being hired with financial and other consequences far down the line.
The beauty of bringing ‘All of Me’ to whatever I am doing means that no preparation is needed and we can focus on the present moment rather than trying to remember learnt notes or predicting what might be asked next. Truly inspirational Johanna and applicable to any situation where we get caught up in ‘performance anxiety’ and lose ourselves.
Very refreshing to read, power back to the joy of showing your true colours in an interview as opposed to squashing ourselves to fit the perceived mould.
I could really relate to this Johanna, and not from the direct current experience of job interviews, but in relation to online dating! I am experiencing that I am just being me and with no expectation of any particular outcome, simply knowing who I am and what I bring, regardless of what another may be expecting or needing from the same process. It’s such a lighter, less exhausting and less stressful and much more enjoyable process as a result!
Dating is really a life interview if you think about where a first date could lead to down the track. I totally relate Angela. I was fully me 2 years ago when I met a man who today is now my darling husband. I remember on that first date feeling glorious in myself and thinking ‘I am going to be all of me during this date today so he knows what he’s potentially signing up for’ no hiding or holding back my glory or fullness. We both felt that day as we walked toward each other that we would get married and as I walked toward him I could feel his willingness to be in a true relationship, something I also had a will for. Being less would have been pretending and then compromising all I am – who needs that? Not me!
This is inspiring Johanna. You have turned the tables for what is possible when we speak from our bodies, our livingness, our true truth and do not hold it back one bit even if things may not go the way we expect. As I am learning it does not matter the outcome as long as you give your all to everything you do, it will always be something worth doing. The interviewer will feel more of our lived experiences than our actual knowledge when we speak this way and this is actually the quality of interview most are actually after in the first place
Yes this is true Joshua. Giving our all – being all of us- to any given situation is what it is all about. Today I do relief teaching and have to say I am loving visiting and being with a plethora of children in many classrooms and schools. I bring all of me and I get to feel the support that offers and the joy of the connections I make.
The interview process is a two way thing which we can often forget in the anxiety of trying hard in the hope we get the job. I recently had an interview with a voluntary organization that I absolutely loved doing as I went with an innocent curiosity, not only around what I would be asked but also how I would respond, as I had no specific plan. It was fun and the openness that developed because I wasn’t trying to be any thing for them or wanting an outcome was just beautiful. I enjoyed myself and I could feel them begin to take the process less seriously and enjoy it too. When I was asked about certain skills that were a requirement I was surprised that I could honestly say I had them in abundance. I felt a true confidence of having expressed from my authenticity in each moment, and it has been great to reflect and feel an appreciation for the skills and qualities I have quietly but surely been building in recent years. We all know so much more than we give ourselves credit for.
‘I felt a true confidence of having expressed from my authenticity in each moment’ this is so beautiful to claim and appreciate Jeanette and love that your enjoyment of the process was shared by everyone in the room.
Thanks Helen, I have since begun training with this organization and I am enjoying that in the same way, going each day without expectation or pushing myself to learn and cram so I will ‘know’ everything as I have in the past. The knowing what to do will come with practice and letting go of the “what if?” and “when” has made a huge amount of space. I am not trying to be perfect and feel as though I am learning more easily without the self imposed pressure.
Wonderful Jeanette, I can imagine you lightening up the whole interview for all, ‘I enjoyed myself and I could feel them begin to take the process less seriously and enjoy it too.’
It is such a testament to the way that you live Johanna, that you can go to something that is normally so grueling as an interview, and actually enjoy yourself… This could be an inspiration for so many people… Human resources would be a very different department if this became the norm ☺
I agree Johanna you will be a blessing to whichever school you are appointed to. Your self-appreciation is wonderfully inspirational. I would love to be in your classroom.
Spot on Irena, you can feel the love and quality that Johanna lives in and how blessed the children would be to have her as their teacher.
I love the confidence you are talking about, of knowing what you can bring and not trying to be any more than that. We do this because we afraid of not measuring up, but it would be worse if the interview panel bought into a false representation of who you are, because then you have to lie for every day that you are in your job!
Wow Johanna, that is so powerful. I have never been able to prepare for interviews or plan ahead for anything. I never quite understood this about myself, sitting there totally unprepared with ‘nothing to offer’ but myself felt nerve wrecking but that is just the way I do things and I never managed to change this. I realize now that the only ingredient that used to be missing was an unwavering trust in myself like you have just inspired me to build, to let go of the need for a result and to trust that whatever the outcome it is a blessing for anyone just to meet me. Thank you.
I agree that if you’re in any way attached to the outcome of an interview, then you’re done for. Far better to remain open to what happens, be all of you, not holding back, expressing all of who you are than to pretend to be something you’re not, regurgitating your revised notes and not being your true natural self. Who do we want to take to work everyday – ourselves or our fabricated version of the ideal candidate we’ve presented at interview?
Totally awesome Johanna that you have let go of all the guards we put up to being our natural selves and you are simply bringing all of you, which is a claimed knowing in you that all of you is a true blessing for everyone. “Whether I get offered a job or not, the people on the panel get to experience a joyful interaction with someone who has a passion for people, children, relationships and teaching. ” Love it – and would love to know where your work next takes you!
Beautiful sharing Johanna and you raise some very true and valid points. Why do we turn ourselves into knots and get caught up in the stress of the ‘what if’s’ not only in interviews but for anything in life – when it is so much easier to simply enjoy being ourselves and appreciate the quality we bring to all that we do. Why would we ever not think that is enough?
The love, tenderness and presence you got yourself ready in, how unattached you were to the whole process and just allowing you to be you. This was such a joy to read, should be on every job searching website, truly amazing.
Thank you Johanna. What you talk about here is true confidence. Knowing who you are, and bringing through that presence wherever you go, and it’s not about how much practice you have had, how well you have rehearsed and prepared. Beautiful and inspiring.
This is true Fumiyo, after all life is not a dress rehearsal.
“I go in knowing the beautiful effect that I have on those I interact with and teach, … ”
Thank you for this comment about your beautiful self, Johanna, as it reminds and confirms me of the wonderful effect I have on those at my work, too. Appreciating myself is still a work in progress for me and it’s great to have such a gorgeous reflection in you to support this, thank you 🙂
This blog is great Johanna! You had me remembering past interviews where I fell apart and I can see so clearly now that I was living in a way that was completely unsupportive at the time. Every last aspect of our lives comes through when we are interviewed. It is clear you live with a great deal of joy, responsibility and integrity and you are absolutely right – anyone would be crazy not to hire you!
Thank you Johanna. What a beautiful way to approach and be in an interview. Being able to present all of you without the nervousness and pressure of needing the job and wanting the interviewers to like you, feels like a refreshing approach that actually allows the interviewers to get to know the real you. So often in the interview there is such a polish or performance to the interview that what you see at interview is not what you get when the candidate starts work. With a solid foundation based on the way you live everyday, without a rehearsed performance, there is a consistency to what you present at interview and how you are in the job.
Johanna, you have set a new marker for the way interviews can be, instead of being anxious and feeling overwhelmed. I know it is possible to have interview techniques which may give the appearance of being calm, but what you take into an interview you can’t be faked.
Awesome, Johanna. I can feel that how you choose to live has become your true support and foundation. Those interviewing you are definitely being blessed by meeting you. Truly inspiring – thank you.
The key points that stood out for me were first going in with all of you, a knowing of what you bring and how amazing it is. And so, not focusing on the ‘what ifs’ and nor being attached to the outcome. Awesome.
Awesome claiming of who you are and all that you know you bring, not only to the classroom but to everyone. When we connect to our knowing of who we truly are, it is powerful to feel and we inspire others to consider that we are more than what our thoughts permit us to believe, that there is another way to be and live. Inspirational Johanna – thank you.
Wow Johanna, if you were applying for a job to teach my children I would hire you in an instant. Who wouldn’t want a teacher who is willing to connect with there pupils and knows the importance of the children feeling loved and supported. I agree they would be crazy not to hire you.
Wow this is an amazing blog to read Johanna. The way you honour yourself and appreciate all the qualities you bring is beautiful and if you don’t get accepted for the job you don’t take it personally because your not attached to the outcome – very inspiring thank you.
This is an amazing turn around Johanna. I can confirm that the way I live my life on a daily basis has a great impact on how I feel when in an interview or similar situation, where I used to get, what I call performance pressure, trying to match someone’s expectations. The more I honour myself in my day to day chores, the more I can feel my self-worth when in those situations.
Yes Judith ‘performance pressure’ is relieved when we have a solid foundation of daily choices that support us to feel our true worth.
Hi Johanna. As I was reading your blog I could feel the difference between your approaches to the interview. The stress, exhaustion, fear and powerlessness of getting right according to what the interviewer might want, being a chameleon, and when you made the choice to be you, sharing who you truly are and how living that would unfold with the class and school. The lightness at the end was so joyful and celebratatory. It has been very insightful and confirming of the power of the quality of energy that is felt by all around us and how it can influence the way things play out. What a gift you are and will be in the position you claim. Speaking from and re-affirming the amazing and beautiful person you are no matter what you bring yourself to carries an offering to the world just by ‘Being’. Loved your blog and the powerful message about being you.
You have exposed so beautifully that there is much more power in speaking from our lived wisdom in our bodies than concepts, memories or theories in our minds which some choose to go into as a form of protection in the interview process.
Its such a simple difference – to speak from all the years of experience we have of being ourselves, compared to trying to remember some facts we thought up and may have practised once or twice. Pretty simple to figure out which is going to feel more real…
An inspirational blog Johanna. I love the way you have truly claimed yourself, and have been able to draw on the solid foundation of your Everyday Livingness to enjoy the interview process.
Johanna your approach to an interview is awesome! I agree, they would be crazy not to hire someone like you!
Powerhouse Johanna I would offer you a job. It is impossible that you cannot fit in the team and that you enrich it. The commitment I could feel in your claimed blog leaves no doubt that you are perfect for this job because you walk what you talk – more is not needed.
To be able to actually enjoy the interview process, to stay in one’s body, and feel at the end… Well I would employ me… ☺… Is 180° of most people’s experience, and as a testimony to what is possible when we do reconnect with ourselves and understand that it is our experience of our everyday life that is laying the foundation for our connection with ourselves in all situations
I just loved your blog Johanna, what an inspiration, claiming and sharing who you are and what you bring to the world. Joyfully express you with no attachments with the outcome.
Your claiming in this blog is superb! Whilst reading I thought: it is already a blessing for them, you talking with them, even if you don´t get the job and at the end you claimed that as well yourself 🙂 Well done! I know you know what 😉
Johanna, the way you have claimed how wonderful you are and that you would be an amazing addition to any school is beautiful to read and so very inspiring.
Johanna, what you present here is so refreshing as you bring you to the interview. What more could an employer want. I would want you on my team!!
Just beautiful, Johanna, I am looking for a new job, and I am inspired.
I love this Johanna. Staying with what is and not giving your power away to what could be, might be etc. The power of appreciation is an awesome thing!
I loved reading this Johanna – you could run a course on how to do interviews with confidence! Of particular note was that you felt the power of your everyday living when presenting yourself and this is the greatest part of any of our resumes. There is no trying to fit into a mould, we bring everything that we are to a role, including our temporal qualifications, and if the hirers feel what is truly on offer, chances are they will take the opportunity. Like you said they’d be crazy if they didn’t.
I like what you are sharing here Johanna, taking all the pressure, the anxiety and stress out of interviews. This is huge and we need this in so many areas of life, especially in schools, as the school systems, how we teach and with the focus on achieving and achieving more, basically teaches our children to be under pressure all the time and that stress is normal, which brings a constant anxiety to our lives. So what a blessing to have a teacher who lives the complete opposite and thus can bring this to our children.
Johanna, the joy you will bring to a classroom will be palpable – and I am sure this will be picked up in the interview processes! A class run by a teacher that has conscious presence and a deep sense of herself will be a blessing for every child. This is the beginning of revolutionising education – one hugely important part of this change is the people in front of the class, what you can bring is enormous.
Great! A perfect reminder that when we know what we bring, and we live with integrity, then we can just present the simplicity of what we live. That has a lot of power. I’m glad I read this, I’ve just started applying for jobs!
This has exposed much of the anxiety around getting a new job for me Johanna. I am in the process of writing a cover letter and resume so this is perfect timing to read and claim myself as the capable woman I am.
I am the blessing that walks through the door and would make any business shine bright. Thank you for sharing your stunning confidence and humble work ethic.
A beautiful expression of presence without any boastfulness. A truly powerful testament to the power of ‘Everyday Livingness’.
Wow Johanna – I would hire your too! What an inspiration you are to the kids and teachers alike. The education system is blessed to have you.
Johanna, it’s not only the interview panels that received the gift of your glory; each person that reads your blog also receives the blessing of your self claiming and light. Thank you!
How powerful it is to be detached from outcomes, to just bring you to the interview – actually any meeting – and just enjoy the moment with yourself and the others. When I read your blog, I could feel how liberating that was and still is.
Agree Caroline. We are so focused on outcomes that we often leave ourselves behind and pretend to be someone based on what we think the employer wants us to be. I have fallen for this often and always felt awful afterwards, like selling yourself, empty, not good enough and absolutely exhausted.
By bringing ourselves to the interview we challenge this way of treating people as vessels of knowledge and skills and bring it all back to our true expression. Great sharing Johanna.
Your confidence is palpable Johanna, and not in a ‘look at me, I’m so good’ kind of way, but in the way that turns people’s heads because they know you have something they want. It’s the non-imposing strength of knowing the woman you are – position filled!
I love how you have exposed the vast difference in parading arrogance to walking in claimed confidence – great to feel Giselle.
It feels as if you know who you truly are Johanna and therefore there is no neediness or investment in what others think of you. That feels very liberating.
This is huge what you are sharing Karenmuntelwit. To know who we are and to appreciate our expression and everything we bring leaves no room for neediness or investment. Truly liberating indeed. Thank you for sharing this simple, profound truth.
Great point Johanna, that being all of you and trusting how you live your days will support you in your interviews. It takes so much pressure off and brings about a calmness. Thank you for sharing. Especially the part about not being attached to the outcome but open to all the possibilities, there is room to move in that and no constrictions.
That’s a great way to do things… sounds like your bringing a purpose to being there for the interview which is that, they get to meet you and all of your qualities so getting the job is irrelevant, that’s just a bonus, and if it happens because they are actually hiring YOU and not a practised version of you.
True arieljoymuntelwit. In this approach to an interview, the interviewers get to see the true you not a performance or practiced version which will not be sustained in the job.
Its so true Johanna, we have all been ‘owned’ by the interview process and through not knowing who we truly are we, allows us to be feeling powerless through the whole process. It is amazing how different it all is when we come with the quality of being ‘claimed’ in our true glory as a Son of God and with the non-attachment to an expected outcome, we then get to feel how healing the experience is for all involved.
What an absolutely wonderful way to be Johanna. Accepting and acknowledging your own worth is gorgeous and to be able to share that with everyone you come across is a true blessing. Thank you.
Awesome! I can totally relate to that feeling of being able to just go in and be who you are once you give up the attachment to a certain outcome. It’s not always easy, but when it happens, it’s a great feeling, and even if you don’t get the job you know it has nothing to do with who you are, and you’re left with yourself, who you think is pretty great anyway, so there is only a win win situation.
I love this Elodie. A true win-win situation. If you go into an interview and are your full self in each moment without the attachment and need then you are presenting a clear choice for the interviewers. You walk in as yourself and leave as yourself. Whether or not you get the job seems inconsequential.
Next time I am going or an interview I will certainly reading your blog again. Having a stronger understanding of what you bring to the work place and deeper sense of knowing of who you are is definitely noticed. Thank you Johanna.
Johanna I doubt that there is a situation that you could find yourself in where you did not grace whoever you were with. Extraordinary isn’t it that just by being our real selves it gives us the confidence to be in any situation because there is no situation that our real self can’t handle.
So awesome Johanna.
Our everyday livingness is with us wherever we go and sharing our true selves in an interview without fear of rejection, or holding back in any way, is a healing for all.
You Johanna, lead through inspiration. 🙂
Johanna, any school or workplace would be blessed to you have you working for them. It is so powerfull and inspiring to read about your commitment and love to yourself and your everyday living.
You nailed it here “knowing without a doubt that any school would be lucky to have my presence in their environment.”. We all know how to play the game of sounding good to be hired. In that game, we reveal some, we hide or disguise some. That is where the nerves come up. But focusing in what we bring for real in the knowing of how amazing is that changes the game altogether. It is not about pretending. It is about conveying truth.
‘It is not about pretending. It is about conveying truth.’ Absolutely emfeldman and in that there can be no anxiety.
Whatever job you will have in life Johanna will always be in addition to your role as a full-time angel. A role you perform awesomely, if you ask me.
Hi Johanna, your article was fantastic. I loved how you articulated the process of trusting yourself and the situation and being detached from the outcome. You stand solid in the knowing of all you bring to the children and the work. It’s beautiful and amazing. With thanks.
Hi Johanna, you shine a whole different light on job interviews putting the people who apply for jobs in their power!
I am currently going through interviewing for a new job, so this has been absolutely such a joy to read. thank you.
What an awesome way to bring your livingness to people everyday, and in a usually formal and confronting situation such as a job interview!
Hi Johanna, from reading the blog I feel that you must have a strong, supportive foundation. This has enabled you to take all of you to an interview and to express your truth, rather than feeling the need to say what you think those on the interview panel would like to hear. This feels so empowering for you.
So beautiful to share in your claiming of your self. It enabled me to see how far I have come too when sometimes during times of intensity I can so easily forget. Thank you, it is such a joy to celebrate you, me, us.
Johanna you turn the interview process completely on its head and make it a joy rather than a dread. As a recruiter/interviewer myself, I’d hire you! Because of you and the truth you offer as it is perhaps the greatest asset or skill to have – in any job.
It’s great Johanna, to read of your self worth and the knowing and valuing of the qualities you bring. I believe the more that we do this, the more room there is for great things to happen. It is to easy to put ourselves down or try and squash ourselves to fit in, but this can never bring the joy that I am sure you will show in your teaching from living and exuding the whole you!
Such an inspiring blog Johanna. It reinforces the fact we must ‘be’, and bring all of ourselves to every situation in life, don’t hold back, bring all of you. Such a refreshing way to approach not only interviews but life.
Johanna, reading your blog makes me smile. I have over the last few years really enjoyed the interview process for the same reasons in that I am just me and absolutely know the dedication and enthusiasm I bring to any place and this always shines through in the interview. It’s always an enjoyable experience for the interviewee this way and makes it a much more interesting experience for the interviewers when someone presents what they are about rather than regurgitating standard answers.
Very True Doug – inspiring to read.
It is a blessing to read this Johanna… I loved the simple truth that when you know all that you bring to the interview process, or to every day, and to anything in fact, that this quiet, yet subtle confidence, positively impacts all our interactions with others.
You have mastered the art of ‘Just be yourself’ and that self is how you live every day.
Johanna I love that you could write this whilst you were going through the interview process. You clearly know who you are and that’s why when you are with children in the classroom or at an interview you can just be yourself, as that’s how you are all of the time – no script to learn or revise.
I love interviews. It’s a fun way to experiment with presenting yourself to a bunch of people that I’ve never met and blast them with my love and can-do attitude.
Wow! I would hire you 😃
Your true confidence that can not be knocked by the outside is inspiring and refreshing.
Your article presents such a fresh and a truly natural approach with the interview process, it is indeed an inspiring read, gorgeous content Johanna, thank you
What a joy to read Johanna, I love reading your blogs about teaching. You really turn the tables on the interview process as many times we can feel beholden to it and a sense of needing to please the interviewers and say the right thing. It is refreshing to read that you no longer feel the need to ‘rehearse’ and because you know who you are, this is the real qualifications you bring with you to any interview or workplace. I would certainly hire you!
Thanks Johanna, I have an interview tomorrow, this has helped me a lot!
Thank you Johanna, what a great advertisement for how the power of our everyday living can take away the stress of events like interviews, because there is no need to do lots of preparation just go and share yourself and your livingness. The lack of attachment to the outcome and your openness to go wherever you are needed is an inspiration.
What a refreshing take on the typically stressful interview process. I have just gone through a very similar experience before recently getting a new job, and like you mentioned Johanna, it was very different from the past because I was not nervous or attached to an outcome or whether I “got it right”. It’s as if once we realize we are enough just being ourselves, there is nothing to prove, but everything to share with people about how we live focusing on love and people first. This can be quite healing for people to see as an inspiration.
A very uplifting blog Johanna. A ‘must read’ for all interviewees!
Still loving this blog…I love the way that you can totally let go of the information drowning that can happen with nervous tension preparation before a meeting of this kind. Letting your whole being speak is such a more relaxing and enjoyable experience for everyone.
Johanna great post, I love how you approched these interviews – turns everything we know or are traditionally taught on its head.
This is a great blog Johanna Fredericks and I love how you talk about ‘everyday living’.
Yes those employers would be crazy if they did not employ you!
Your sharing here is deeply inspiring.
I agree that we can just be ourself and how we live everyday comes with us to the interview and as long as you are detached in other words not worried or concerned about the outcome of the interview then you really have won.
I was recently given some wise words — “you cannot un-hear what you have heard and you cannot un-feel what you have felt”. So it really does not matter if they hire you or not because you delivered the real you and they got to hear and feel that.
Last month I was interviewed by a CEO and I told him at the end of the interview that if he hired me we would need to sort our his glasses and haircut. He laughed, I got the job and yes without me saying anymore the haircut and glasses happened!
I just did not compromise on my style and my quality in which I express.
I love the message you’re offering here about not investing in outcomes or giving your power away to something outside of yourself, be it a job application, an interviewer, whatever. That true knowing of what you have to offer the world and who you are shines through your article and your inner confidence is palpable. Inspiring for anyone putting themselves forward for any sort of assessment or judgement by others.
Awesome Johanna to hear about your interview experience. A great confirmation of the effect that the loving daily choices within our daily living have on our day. Thank you for sharing with us.
Johanna this is such a great confirmation of how the daily choices build a foundation that then supports you in the normal day to day stressors and the more spiked stress of an interview. Which shows you don’t have to be stressed if you live your day to day in a loving way! Awesome.
How refreshing to bring no anxiety and need to the interview process, just presenting the quality of you Johanna, and as Rowena and Sue expressed, a real blessing for the children you teach. I would love to hear more from all the teachers who bring this quality, presented by Universal Medicine to the classroom, and how this impacts on the children as our education system is crying out for a new approach to teaching that puts the child at the centre of the experience. I am sure there are many miracles happening each day that we could all benefit from hearing about.
I love what’s been shared here Johanna and I agree, it does feel great to have an interview without the list of ‘what ifs…’ hanging over. I was recently offered a job in a local school, after being a volunteer there for a few weeks, which I accepted. However, as part of the procedure, I still had to have an ‘interview’. This was an awesome experience as I already had the job so I felt no need ‘to perform’ as just me being there was enough. It was a great marker in how to be for interviews in the future.
Totally true Johanna, and Cheryl your comment too. I ended up being asked to an interview last week and I went in full of love and commitment to self. For sure I am the forever student but I held on to my heart and enjoyed the ride. It was truly lovely, and I too am ok with whatever the result.
It’s a totally different experience if you don’t go in with pre-set-up ideas of how it should go. That way if it doesn’t meet up to those expectations (which are usually quite high and unachievable), you can’t feel miserable!
I enjoyed reading this blog because as someone who has both attended a lot of interviews as the candidate AND the interviewer, it rings a lot of truths. After too being inspired by the work of Universal Medicine, I started to notice in myself how I would attach to what people would think or whether I’d get the job or not.
I came to the understanding that everything happens for a reason – and even if I don’t know the exact details of why I didn’t get a job, I wouldn’t hold it against myself as me being a failure. And let me tell you – the possibilities are endless when you don’t attach to the outcome! Cheryl, 23, London
Absolutely loved your blog Johanna! I found myself laughing out loud at the end especially when you said you would hire yourself! Love it! Also some great everyday tips for us all, thank you.
Isn’t it such a switch to acknowledge and appreciate your own value – and then everyone receives that message and confirms it doubly. I would hire you Johanna, and I would certainly want my child to be in your classroom.
Thank you Johanna for your inspirational blog. I felt your full beauty and power – an amazing blessing for all of us and in particular the children that you will teach.
Beautiful Johanna, I can feel the solidity of your love so strongly. What a true gift it will be for the children you teach, to hold them in such strong and simple Love. Thank you for such an inspiring post.
I agree Rowena, solidity was the word that came to me as well. When we build loving foundations with ourselves it brings a sense of natural, innate confidence that steadily shines through.
This is so refreshing Johanna in how you have broken through the interview barriers by simple being and sharing your loving self, without any concern for an outcome. Now if I had a school, I’d hire you… no need for an interview after reading this blog!
Thank you Johanna for sharing your beautiful interview experience. It lights the way for all of us to take the ‘nerve wracking’ interview experience and turn it into a joyful way of sharing ourselves. Your foundation of self-love is showing. 😉
When one knows themselves, they have complete confidence in what they bring. It is such a joy that you know yourself Johanna, and that others get to see and feel the possibility of this for themselves. You’re right… any school would be crazy not to hire you, you are exactly what the education system requires.
This is really gorgeous and so true, ‘when one knows themselves, they have complete confidence in what they bring’, this is a great thing, it is really lovely to read about how you know yourself Johanna, I feel this too with my work as a carer, I know that I truly care about people and that I bring a gentleness and tenderness to those I work with and that they are blessed to have me working with them. I can now feel how this is no way big headed to say – it is simply a truth and one that many of us don’t allow ourselves to feel or express as we think it is being boastful or ‘full of ourselves’. From my experience, when I’m ‘full of myself’ and I bring all of me to my work in my fullness then others get to benefit from this because I’m then focused on the work that needs to be done; I feel vital, I’m playful, and loving with the people I work with.
Thank you for writing this Johanna, your commitment to living with love and the quality you bring in your role as teacher was deeply felt. The school that employs you will be very blessed to have a teacher who has “the solidness of my ‘everyday living’” and brings connection to the classroom thus “considers all of the students – their whole being”. Very inspiring.
Awesome Johanna, refreshing to read and feel how just staying with your own self/body you can detach from outcomes and expectation, and enjoy the process of meeting more people.