Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Unemployment
I came home last night and demanded a stiff drink from Huz. Well, okay, I asked for one, but wasn't going to take no for an answer. See, I had two interviews yesterday and it was pretty crazy. First, I had a bright and early 8 a.m. interview, so I had to get up all early (which I'm not used to any more) to get ready and to find the place. As I was pulling up to the parking lot of the place at 7:50 a.m., my cell phone rang. It was the recruiting company (an outside company that the place I was interviewing at hired to find employees) who said that there was a scheduling mistake and could I turn around and go home while she figured out when to reschedule the interview. Sigh. So, I turned around and started back home (about a 10-15 minute drive using the highway). When I was about 2 blocks from my house my cell phone rang again. It was the recruiter asking me to turn around and go back and just be ready so that she could try to reschedule the interview right away. Okaaaay. Getting a little annoyed (unbeknownst to her, of course, to whom I was being very kind and forgiving - after all, I'm at her mercy for a paycheck, right!?), I turned around and drove back. I had just parked in the visitor's parking again when she called me and said that it was now rescheduled for 1:00 p.m. My God. Working with a third party to land a job is a major pain in the ass! I went home and got out of my heels and nice clothes for about an hour and a half before putting them back on again for my interview at Vanderbilt. I was there for an hour and a half and met with three different people: the Office Manager, the Director, and the Events Planner who I would be assisting if I got the job. Well, it all went well except for the frustrating fact that the first one said I was qualified to apply for the better position of Events Planner that they had available starting next week (after all I did this for 3 years at Huz's graduate school), while the middle one said, no, I wasn't qualified for it because I'm not used to such a back-to-back event calendar, while the third one said I was over-qualified for the job I was applying for. Good Lord, people! Make up your mind! I left there not at all sure I wanted the job anymore because of all the different impressions they gave me and I was also convinced that I was in fact over-qualified to simply assist someone plan an event (but desperate for a job, people). It was the overtime required that made me email them this morning asking to rescind my resume for the position, however. They wanted this position to work evenings and weekends on an average of 96 hours every two weeks. Um, yeah. I'd like to see Huz every now and then and have a life outside of work. Thanks. (Also, this position wasn't even salary, but hourly, and health insurance wouldn't begin until 90 days AFTER I started. Bye bye.)I went to Starbucks afterwards and had an iced (soy) latte and a scone for lunch before my next interview. At this one, I was there for an unbelievable 3 1/2 hours and met with 6 (SIX!) people! I met with HR, with my potential supervisor, with the President of the division, with a Director under my potential supervisor, with an Assistant Vice President under my potential supervisor, with the person I would be replacing, and then again with my potential supervisor (it was a potential supervisor sandwich). OH.MY.GAWD. Was I exhausted at the end of that! YOU try impressing 6 different people for 3 1/2 hours - it's pretty tiring! All in all, however, I thought it went really well. All of the people were nice and comfortable to be around. The corporation has a nice feel to it and is actually community-minded, which is a rarity. The job is not glamorous, but I think I would be happy working with the batch of people I met and I think it pays pretty decently (of course, this is according to the recruiting company I went through and I've already demonstrated how dumb they are). So, I await a call back. Fingers crossed.
My unemployed motto is: Thank God for Visa and for Huz, the Stiff Drink Maker Extraordinaire. |
