They say “Tell us about yourself.”
Then ask “Who is Noma?”
At first I think, ‘I hate that question.”
Instead I smile and take a deep breath
I pause. Then I ask myself,
‘Who are these people?’
‘What do they want to know?’
Then most importantly ‘Why?’

It’s a job interview
A standard question
They want to know what makes me unique
Why the job suits me
Why I think I’m suited to the job
It’s a trick question
Too much information will put them off
Too little won’t tell them what they really need to know

‘Is she the right candidate?’
‘Does she have what it takes’
‘What makes her different?’
‘What makes her special?’
‘Can she do this job better than the others?’
‘How can we be sure hiring HER isn’t a mistake?’
A million versions of the same question
‘Could she the one?’

Maybe I am
Maybe I’m not
I could make this work
Or die trying.
I carefully think the question through
Making sure I properly package my answer?

The safe is to start by saying what to my role is In the lives of the people closest to me.
A wife, a mother, the eldest daughter.
I tell them what I like, what I’m great at
How I’m conscientious and disciplined,
Yet creative and wildly original.
But what I’m really trying to say is
I am the one you need,
The one you’ve been waiting for.

© Noma Dzinotyiwei 2020