Face of Fox Toledo Final Interview!

Since everyone has been so supportive, I figure I should let you know how my final interview for the job of the Face of Fox Toledo went this morning- in a word- amazing! My reaction is the complete opposite of the apprehension I came out of the second round with.

I was the first of the three finalists, with a 10 a.m. interview. My good friends know I’m perpetually ten minutes late, but my determination for this job had me there early and actually, a few of the judges were the tardy ones. As I waited I had a nice chat with the receptionist who shared that last year was quite a fiasco with the misinterpretation that a vote affected the outcome (which it did not). She had to field calls from people who did not own computers, but still wanted to vote. As a result, this year there was far less advertising. I’ve been watching Fox religiously to see what snippet of my first round interview they used in the promos. Frustratingly, in a week and a half of watching, I didn’t see myself! The promos include not only the Top 11, but also non finalist auditionees who were witty, or just plain strange, thus the odds of catching a certain person were decreased. Finally, this morning as I got ready, I saw myself on one of the promos! I heard the commercial start, and I was the first person on it, so as I rushed to the TV I didn’t actually hear what I said, but at least I could finally say I saw myself, and I felt like that was a really good sign!

Back to the interview… it felt a great deal like a pageant interview, which was obviously good for me! It was held in the news studio and I sat on a stool in front of the green screen. In front of me on the right was the main news anchors desk, on the left was a secondary desk/set piece and directly in front of me was a large teleprompter camera. The “judges” sitting at the desks were Leah D’Emilio (the first Face of Fox) , lead news anchor Laura Emerson, Fox reporter Tiffany Tarpley and three other executive types who I don’t recall being introduced. Three more people were behind the camera and did not ask questions. Much like a pageant interview, there were lots of people in a big room, waiting to be impressed by little ole me! We joked about which judge at each desk was going to be the mean one like Simon Cowell!

Many pageant women before me have said this, and I will agree wholeheartedly that my experience in the pageant interview room made this so much easier! I honestly don’t know where non pageant people receive the interview practice and skill set required to be successful in that situation!?! For the first fifteen to twenty minutes the judges took turns asking me a variety of questions, from job specific topics like “What research have you done on Fox Toledo?” “What do you expect out of this position?” and “What is your availability?” To more general, and dare I say pageantesq questions like “Tell us about a defining moment in your life,” “What is your worst quality” and “How do you spend your free time?”

After that I was asked to improv some situations that I would find myself in at public appearances as the Face of Fox. First I had act as if I were at the entertainment pavilion of the Toledo Zoo and “warm up” the crowd for a Hootie and the Blowfish concert. Then I had to pretend to be at the downtown Rib-off fest, benefiting the MS society and I had to sell this bright pink glittering ink pen with feather on the top (proceeds benefiting the charity).Finally, I had to practice a live one minute cut in, on location with an advertiser. Here’s the funny part… Fox Toledo is sponsored by Jim White Honda… my boyfriend Loren is a manager at Brown Honda… One of the Fox staff stepped in to role play with me, as if he were the manager at the dealership. I was to quickly interview him and then “go live.” Of course, he knew nothing about the cars and couldn’t really answer any of my questions; I proceeded to spout of specifications about the Ridgeline, Odyssey and other Honda automobiles being sold at this pretend auto clearance. Everyone rolled with laughter at my car sales abilities.

To conclude we had a bit more of a question and answer session and they were rather curious about my Honda knowledge. My first round audition actually took place at Jim White Honda, so I explained that the sales manager there actually used to work for my boyfriend at Brown Honda and that gossip among car dealerships is worse than that in a beauty salon! At my first audition everyone at Jim White knew “Loren’s girlfriend” would be there and everyone at Brown razzed me about being at the “wrong dealership!” In the end, I told the judges it’s a good thing my boyfriends dealership isn’t the sponsor; if they were I wouldn’t be able to apply for the job.

I don’t know if it’s that their questions were amazing, or if I have simply honed the ability to fit in what I think is important no matter what questions, but by the time they asked me to give a final statement of why I should get the job, I felt like a broken record. I have no doubt I left them knowing I am capable, confident and committed. There’s nothing I would have said or done differently and having that kind of personal solace is all you can ask for no matter what the interview or competition. Now all I can do is wait… and unfortunately I forgot to ask when they’d be announcing the results… so I’m more nervous now than I was this morning!

I’m also very tired, I couldn’t sleep last night, so I apologize if this entry is less clear or less professional than I usually try to make them. I’m going to go try to relax and probably fall asleep staring at the phone! :)