It’s 8.55am on Monday 15th August and I’m sitting by a hospital bed waiting for a total hip replacement operation, scheduled for 10.30.

This is an unusual experience for me.  I’ve never had a hip replacement before – in fact I’ve never had an operation of any kind before, apart from dental stuff. I’m in unfamiliar surroundings, wearing unsexy clothes, meeting new people, and experiencing new things every few minutes.

I feel nervous.

In many ways it’s a bit like attending an interview, especially if you haven’t had one for while. You know you should get a full night’s sleep beforehand, but you didn’t. You know you should have researched the company a little bit better, but you ran out of time. And you know that these opportunities don’t come up every day, so you’d better make the most of them.

On that subject – I need to hurry up because two nurses have just come in to give me some morphine-based drug or other, which might make me drowsy (I hope so). So I’ll just say this: if you’re nervous about an interview, try to turn your feelings towards the positive. It’s an adventure, and if you fail this time, you have the chance to learn.

I’m off to apply this advice to myself.  See you on the other side!

Matt

Matt is one of the founding directors of Blues Point, an IT recruitment company providing technical testing and psychometric assessment services as a standard part of the hiring process.