Getting to a job interview can be stressful, but it shouldn’t be dangerous. I was prepared to describe my strengths and weaknesses; instead I was responding to quizzical looks at every stop in a hospital triage route.

“Yes, I hit the back of my head on the corner of a metal tampon dispenser,” I explained. “No, I don’t feel dizzy and I don’t remember the date of my last Tetanus shot.”

My attempt to leave work without notice was derailed when I saw stars and then blood in the employee locker room of the Grand Hyatt New York, where I was Director of Human Resources. As I stood in front of a full-length mirror, it took me a minute to realize that the stain spreading down my scarf, suit and legs and onto my shoes was coming from my scalp.

Somewhere under my thick, curly hair was a head wound. Since I hadn’t lost consciousness, I made my way up a flight of stairs to seek assistance. There I sat in the center of a glass booth, just inside the employee entrance through a not-so-secret door in Grand Central Station, while it seemed as if each of the 1,200 workers paused in disbelief or stopped to stare.

“Isn’t that the HR Director?” “Oh my God, what happened to her?” The Red Cross certified team reacted as if they too were outside the glass wall: “It’s Rebecca and she’s hurt. Should we call someone?”

They managed to gain enough composure to apply pressure to the wound, stop the bleeding and make the correct conclusion that I needed to see a doctor.Two security officers escorted me to the hotel front entrance on 42nd Street and promptly forgot any safety training they had ever received.They put me in a taxi, by myself and told the driver: “New York Hospital.”

As they walked away, the cabbie mum bled something and pulled out a map. Thankfully, I didn’t pass out.

While we wove through traffic I wondered whether the incident was an omen. I enjoyed my role—it came with regional responsibilities, a great staff, respect and an easy commute from Larchmont.Yet here I was considering a bold career move to a startup company.

I had already stalled the process by postponing the first and second appointments: I was stuck in a meeting or solving a labor-management crisis.

“This one you’re not going to believe,” I told the headhunter when I called from the emergency room. He sounded torn between amusement and concern that he was being scammed.

A few hours later, I walked out of the hospital with a butterfly bandage hidden by my curls and the Tetanus shot working to combat serious illness. It should have been a snap to hail a cab in the middle of the afternoon.

Some taxis slowed down, but most steered clear of the 5-foot-9, 31-yearold woman with dried blood caked on her business attire. The driver who finally stopped didn’t seem to notice anything amiss and took me to the hotel—without consulting directions.

In-house dry cleaning was one of the perks of my position, so I had a clean suit to change into. I stuffed the soiled outfit into a hotel valet bag and brought it to laundry on lower level two. The next day the Department Manager personally made the delivery and paused at the door to inquire, “Was that blood?" When I told him yes, he asked, “Was it yours?”

I snuck out of work for two more interviews without incident, rose above the competition and was offered and accepted the new position.The accident turned out to be just one of many unusual challenges I faced in moving from a corporation to an entrepreneurial adventure where my arrival swelled the staff to 12. During the few months before my departure from Hyatt, weekly meetings were never complete without the Director of Engineering providing a status report on the tampon dispenser relocation project.

The seven men in the room were always amused. I was looking forward to a new group of peers with a broader range of interests and different sense of humor.

For 10 years I managed growth, downsizing and new owners with breaks for my wedding, honeymoon and two maternity leaves.When it all became a bit too comfortable, I jumped ship. I left with experience, confidence and a terrific tale to ease the tension whenever I meet a really nervous candidate, “Once on my way to an interview, I dropped my lipstick and…”

Rebecca Mazin, a New York-based human resources consultant, co-authored The HR Answer Book and is now writing The Employee Benefits Answer Book.

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