Customer Service?

Dear Evil HR Lady,

I went on a job interview recently and the HR person said, "Give me an example of how you went 'above and beyond' in customer service. This was not a grocery store clerk job. This was a director level finance position. What gives?


Signed
NOT in customer service

Dear NOT hired,

Ooops, I meant, Dear NOT in customer service. Did you answer the question like this:

Once, this lady asked me to get a cart for her and I did.

Because someone answered that question that way for me. Of course, he was a grocery store clerk at the time, so it was understandable. He was applying to be an intern, reporting directly to me. Come to think of it, that was a bad year for intern applicants. Another candidate commented on my obviously pregnant state by saying how hormonal and impossible her sisters had been when they were pregnant, but I digress.

All jobs are customer service jobs. You just have to define your customer. Who was your customer in your previous job? Your boss? The company? The CEO? The stock holders? How about this:

I identified gaps in the relationship between HR and Finance during our budgeting cycle. In order to keep headcount accurate and aligned with dollars, I involved HR in the budgeting process. Blah, blah blah.

Of course, the real secret is to involve HR in everything. We think we should be anyway.

Sincerely,

Evil HR Lady