1/23 Blog: When we do the sillyest things

This week I had to do a quick trip up to Michigan to do some interviewing. I lead the Univ Of Michigan recruiting team for P&G. At the Ross School of Business we recruit for three of our functions: Marketing, Marketing research and Finance. This week we were interviewing for Summer Internships this summer. I interned at P&G in 1996 and went back full-time in 1997. I know how important my relationship with the recruiting team was then and have always played a part of the team since I joined the company.

So, on Tuesday afternoon I left an all day meeting around 1pm to head to the airport. I should I have known my brain was a bit foggy when I took 75 North instead of South at one point and had to turn around. I had too many things on my mind (and was taking a call which didn't help). I still arrived on time and realized I needed to condense my purse and my suitcase, as I could only take 2 carry-ons. Off I went, only to head to what is now the "wrong location' for security. They moved the security area since I flew last and me on autopilot just headed to the old place. So, I turned around again and headed two flights up. I still don't know why Delta or the airport spent the millions to change it, given they are cutting flights left and right...it was DEAD in the airport.

I ran into a friend at the security check which was nice so we walked to the gate together. Pete Blackshaw is an old P&G colleague who now is an expert in social media and digital marketing. His wife still works at P&G with me and was in one of my baby groups, their twins are Sarah's age (and they since have had a 3rd). When we landed in Detroit he was giving me some tips on what I should do for my book...tweet, tweet, tweet was a big one.

So, off I went to get my rental car. I got to campus a bit after 5pm and met my colleagues Kevin and Tim who had done the first round of interviews. We needed to decide who they would ask back for 2nd rounds...they interviewed 14 and 6 would be asked back the next day to interview with me. After making all the calls we headed to a casual dinner. I think we got to the hotel around 9pm, I spoke to the kids and Arnie for a while and then made the mistake of turning on the TV. I was hooked on CNN between the MASS. election results and Haiti with Anderson Cooper. I finally got in the shower around 10:30 and off to bed. Our first interview as at 7:30.

We interviewed the candidates and had about 15 minutes to make our decision. We were allowed to make one offer that day and then bring 3 additional names back to Cincinnati for consideration. We made our decision and I quickly headed to the business school for a meeting, while Tim and Kevin ran to catch flights. Somehow I managed to bump into the student who we wanted to make an offer to, so I got to give her the offer in person...it was great. I then made calls to the other five candidates to provide an update on their status. It is never fun telling someone they didn't get an offer. No matter how many times you do it, it doesn't get easier. I remember the stress of trying to land a good internship as if it was yesterday.

I headed to the airport around 2:30 for a 5:50 flight. I actually got stopped by a cop in Ann Arbor, going 45 in a 35, which I had no idea. He was one of the nicest cops I ever met, and as soon as he saw my Ohio license and rental car knew I didn't know the speed limit. He let me go and congratulated me on my success that day interviewing (he asked me why I was there)...go figure. I had a 3 and 4 conference call so I wanted to get to the airport to at least take the 4 there. Even when I travel, my calendar gets booked for drive times, airport time, etc...there is never enough time. While gassing up my Prius (BTW I had never drove a Hybrid before and really loved it...I had to get instructions on how to start it...very funny), which only took a half a gallon (for about 50 miles) I covered one call. My battery was dying on my BB so I had to plug in. I found an outlet, plugged my computer in, then charged my BB from my computer...I am sure there is an easier way, but those were the cords I had :)

I made it back with no glitches and walked out with my marketing research colleagues who were interviewing. As soon as I left the terminal I had a bad feeling in my stomach...I hadn't seen my car keys during my trip. I left my purse in the car and only took my briefcase. As I dug into my bags trying to find them, I also realized I couldn't find my car. I immediately called Arnie and told him I thought I locked my keys in the car, but because I couldn't find the car, I wasn't sure. I needed him to bring me a key. He was panicked maybe someone stole the car. I did quickly find my car, and it was locked. I called him to tell him that, which was good as he was looking for insurance info and VIN number.

They arrived about 35 minutes later and sure enough I had put my keys in my purse, grabbed my wallet out of it and locked the car. So no matter how organized you try to be, and how much multi-tasking you can pull off, there are always those times when you do the silly-est things that cause you to loose all the time you saved while multi-tasking in the first place.

Enjoy your saturday night!