I wanted to fly.Not like Superman — though if it were offered for anything less than my soul, I’d probably take the ability. No, I wanted to fly airplanes, jumbo jets, mechanical birds, 747s, Sky Buses. I wanted to cruise the skies, skimming the clouds going about 500 miles per hour about 34, 675 feet in the air.Then I realized that flying an airplane puts you, well, about 34, 675 feet in the air at about 500 miles an hour. That’s horrifying.So I learned how to sit behind a keyboard and type. Carpel tunnel sure beats a fiery crash into a mountain.And here I am, a month away from leaving the sanctuary of LSU, about to venture into a world replete with things like responsibilities and taxes and bills that consist of more than Keystone Light and peanut butter (though I hope these things still exist in abundance when I leave these gilded halls).So I’ve been shopping around for a job in the incredibly lucrative field of writing while my brother gets to pack his toiletries into a bag and ship off to Vanderbilt for four years. And as I see all these freshmen heading off to orientations around our campus, I can’t help but get nostalgic for a time when everything seemed so easy, when I had the option to be an airplane pilot or a surgeon or, well, anything.Now, looking for a job as a writer is just semi-soul-crushing.The economy’s rocky, sure. And looking for a job isn’t easy, sure. I’ve actually written about that one before. But the experience only gets more terrifying as things progress.I recently flew to Washington, D.C. for a job interview. Exciting, right? No. Wrong. Horrifying. Nerve-racking. You know when you go on a first date and nothing is really clicking in your head the entire time because you are simply trying to figure out what’s going through your date’s head? No? Just me? Well, regardless. It’s like that.But, now having tackled a couple interviews, I have a few bits of advice to offer to anyone looking for a job.1) Smile. Seriously. Smile. Smile. Smile. Unless you are applying to be an executioner, you should probably have your face stretched to the point that it looks like you fell face-first into a vat of Botox — teeth out, shiny and glimmering in the fluorescent lights. If you are not fun to be around, no one will want you there. 2) Pretend it’s a date. In every way possible. Save for maybe when it’s wrapping up. That means eye contact, constantly. Ask the interviewer about themselves if the conversation allows. Making them like you is as simple as being friendly. So often, job interviews are seen as cold, faceless evaluations of potential employees. And they are, I suppose, to a point. But that doesn’t mean you have to play into it. Remember, you’re gunning for a second date here. Maybe a long-term relationship. Hell, maybe even a marriage. So act like it.3) Check your fly. Seriously. Check it 20 times. Zippers are not the greatest invention this century, because ZIPPERS DON’T ALWAYS WORK. So check yours. Gorilla Glue if necessary.4) Posture. They say body language speaks much louder than anything you say. So sit up, head held high, shoulders rolled comfortably back. Own the place without looking bored or expectant. 5) I know you’ve heard it. A hundred times. A thousand times. I know it’s cliched and boring and honestly the worst way to end a column of advice about getting people to like you enough to hire you. But I’m going to say it anyway, because it is too often thrown away as cliched and boring advice that no one really buys: Be yourself. Unless you suck. But if you got that far, hopefully you did it by putting yourself into your work, a reflection of self, rather than by distancing yourself from what you want to do. Because if you aren’t yourself, if they like some boring persona, how long before it cracks?Then again, I haven’t the slightest clue if I’ll have a job come August. So I could be totally wrong.Just remember the words of Fleetwood Mac: “Go your own way.”You’ll be fine.Travis Andrews is a 21-year-old English senior from Metairie.
 
 
 
—-Contact Travis Andrews at [email protected]