Like they say it is not easy to pen your thoughts, and it becomes even more difficult when you have an experienced person supervising your writing. However, young writer Carol Goyal did not face any such problem as the person looking at her work was her father, adman Sandeep Goyal. And the father and daughter duo easily bridged the generation gap to co-author You’re Hired; a book that walks its readers through the rights and wrongs of an interview.
“This book is a get ahead primer for all first jobbers. The book has been written keeping in mind that most youngsters find it difficult to appear for an interview. The idea is to provide interesting and engaging templates which can come in handy,” says Sandeep.
The adman, who wrote “The Dum Dum Bullet” in 2005, says the idea for this one germinated from home. “Young Carol was appearing for her first interview. She was nervous and apprehensive. She was everything but confident. There was no real reference material of quality available either on the net or at bookstores. Even coaching classes did not meet necessary requirements. Carol and I worked on a lot of material. Went through lots of data and perspectives. When Carol sailed through her interview and was going to get rid of the accumulated material, we thought it could be put to good use for kids like Carol. Hence, was born the idea for this book,” says Sandeep.
And then it was not too difficult for the two to work together. “This book has been co-authored bridging a generation gap, combining the maturity and sagacity of the practitioner and the quest for solutions of someone younger. And this generational difference actually worked to our advantage. My dad provided experience and maturity from his three decades in corporate life. He had seen from up close hundreds of interviews, both good and bad. He knew what worked, and what didn’t. I represented the receiving end of the subject matter. The content needed to relate to me. I represented not just the interviewee, but also the hopes, aspirations and ambitions of the interviewee. I see this book as a product of generational collaboration, not generational differences,” shares Carol.
Merging their ideas and writing styles became easy with clear understanding. “We agreed at the very onset that we would keep the book very easy to read and comprehend. So the vocabulary is friendly. Whenever dad would use a word or sentence that I did not understand or like, we would immediately look for a more contemporary way of stating the same. I also played my role as the teenage recipient of the message to its fullest,” says Carol.
It was certainly fun working with family, agree both. Carol says, “Working with family means you can disagree, yet not harm the relationship. It also means that other family members, especially my mom, contributed almost as much to the book without authoring it, as she would be both cook and critic!”
Sandeep shares, “For me it has been a very enjoyable experience. My daughter and I are the best of friends, and this book has just helped us bond together even better. Working with her has given me a peep into her world. And I have really enjoyed our collaboration.”