No longer a job seeker

It's been so very long indeed since the last post. Well, the reason for my absence is that I did not get the study abroad job that I had been dreaming about. After I received an automated reject email I just about lost it. I couldn't get over it, I sat in front of the screen whimpering, "how could this be...how could this be?" The email came in Friday evening and I had to sit with that all weekend. Why didn't I just put it to rest? Well, I felt quite strongly that I deserved an explanation, I interviewed for over 3 hours and THEY recommended me for the position. I perhaps pathetically clung onto the possibility that it was a mistake because there was some sloppiness with the automated system before and that this could just be a big egregious error on their part. But I still had to trudge through the weekend in a most miserable fashion until Monday morning, which I found highly disagreeable. But I finally made the call and basically heard what I figured I would, "we just found a candidate that was this that and the other"...yada yada. I was like ok, thanks for nothing and it's your loss. I didn't actually say that though. For the next few days I didn't have it in me to do much of anything except look into Grad school. I discovered a great program not far from me and I'm going to do it because it's my only ticket out of this mess. Once I had made the decision to go for it I at least felt better that I had something to work for, a reason to get out of bed in the morning. I have to study for the GRE, go visit the school, and get that application done. Plus Academia is my comfort zone and it's just not the same monster as apply for jobs. So I've been stoked about it.

But of course, just studying for the GRE isn't exactly a job so I had to get myself back into the job search routine, ya know, resumes, cover letters, dumb redundant online applications, and then waiting for the phone call or email to come, but the only thing that ever resembles communication is just some automated reject email. So I had expanded my horizons and basically just became less picky and went for anything that didn't involve me being a cashier at a food store, not that I'm knocking that, it's an important job and I give cashiers credit, but quite honestly, that's my personal Hell on earth. So about 2 weeks ago I applied for a data entry position with a life insurance company, the next day I got a rather odd email. The first line of which was "thank you for your interest in ...company." I thought it to be just a regular old reject but kept reading and at the bottom was "you have been scheduled for an interview." I was a little leery of it though because it didn't even have my name in it and you can't be do careful these days. I thought maybe it could be some scam or something. But I think I have the wherewithal to not give my bank account info to some salesman. SO I went and the office was in a professional building of sorts and I had to ring a doorbell to be let into the office. The guy who answers just says have a seat, then he comes back and leads to me to where the other candidates are filling out papers already. He didn't even introduce himself or ask my name. He could have been the receptionist for all I knew. So there were 4 others, we had to fill out a work history form, which was redundant, why did I bother submitting a resume? While we're filling out the paperwork he gives us this impassioned fervid speech about how his company is different because they care about everyone, even their applicants. That they want every applicant to have a fair chance because they're not one of those companies to hire people based only on connections but on merit and skill. So, sure I liked that, and I thought he did a good job. We take a series of "problem solving skills" tests, ya know basic math problems that an 8 year old should be able to do and some English stuff...it felt like an elementary school entrance exam. But I guess they need some way of setting people apart I mean seriously data-entry isn't rocket science, I did it during college breaks, even then I thought they could just train a chimp to do this. So then we just waited for our one-on-one interview. Instead of letting us go out into the waiting room he made us stay in the uncomfortable little testing room. So I finally get into the guys office and he does a complete 180 and turns into the corporate robot with his few pre-set questions that he asks everyone, nothing about my background whatsoever, not even sure if he glanced at my resume. But before we even got started he said, "I don't know if it was you but someone's parents came up here wanting to sit in the waiting room for the person they dropped off, I had to say no because I'm expecting a crowd and we just don't have the space to allow others to sit there." He knew damn well they were my parents because the only one left to interview was an old guy. So to start the interview I was apologizing for something I didn't do or had any control over. Now, trust me, I know it's not the best thing to bring parents, I had no choice, I don't have a car and can't get one until I get a job, they dropped me off and I thought they'd go somewhere else, but they came up and had to ring the doorbell where this ass told them to go somewhere else because he was expecting a crowd, there wasn't a single soul in that waiting room and I know that doorbell only rung a few times while I was there. Then after he makes me aware of that he just jumps into the first question, barely makes eye contact with me and just starts writing, 15 seconds in he said "I have to stop you right there because you're not answering the question." Wow, he barely knew my name and gives me no chance to answer the question the way I saw fit. Then he so graciously let me continue...good start, real good. I get through the next few and his last one is "if you could do anything in the world, what would it be?" and he emphasized the word anything. Well, I was honest and my answer had nothing to do with data-entry or life insurance and said I'd like to do something on an international level in which I could contribute to some cause or goal that's important to me." I was a Peace Corps volunteer for jeeper's sake, if he had glanced at the first page of my resume he would have seen that. He decided to give me an analogy to be sure he understood, he likened my answer to curing cancer and giving that cure away for free, but then went on and on explaining how it wouldn't actually be free because of all the people and processes that it would take to make that happen. It was basically a condescending diatribe of nonsense denouncing something that I didn't even say, time that he could have used to get to know me a little better. He didn't let me get a word in edge wise yet he cut me off when I tried to answer one of his mindless questions. That's when I knew things were not going to work out. So at the end, he told me it would take 5-7 days to make a decision because it also depended on the test scores. He couldn't wait to get me out of there, he bolted to the door to let me out, gives a weak handshake, doesn't make eye contact, and clearly already made a decision. Well, I barely knew what to make of that, it was bizarre really. When I reunited with my parents I was basically speechless, I needed time to formulate how to describe what just happened. They didn't seem particularly upset about being sent away by that jackass but I was angry about it, basically I just felt disrespected all around. But I was quite confident that I had done very well on those tests so there was still a chance I'd get it and he was a recruiter so I wouldn't have to work with him. Even so though, I would have taken it because I need a paycheck and it was normal business hours and pretty decent pay, plus it's only until grad school. Here's the icing on the cake and the most hilarious bit, I got a reject letter in the mail the next day. A letter, not an email, the next day! That means he immediately after printed a reject letter, and managed to get in the mail in time. I highly doubt that he graded my tests, what a bunch of BS. I wasn't surprised or disappointed.

So after that I seemed to have no other prospects, I was sending out resumes still and even decided to apply to PetSmart as a Pet Care Associate. I do not want to work in retail of any sort so that just goes to show my level of desperation. My mother a few months ago got a job as a cashier at Wal-Mart and my parents had been hinting that I get a job there because my mother was on the inside and she could "get me in." Like I said in the first paragraph, that would be my nightmare come true for a whole host of obvious reasons. But it was this past weekend that my dad started pushing it big time, declaring that I have to at least try and I have to do this and that and it would be for the best, don't loose out on the opportunity...yada yada. With every word that he said pertaining to me working at Wal-Mart my stomach just knotted up even tighter. I can't stand it, I don't want to hear it or talk about it. I know it sounds spoiled and rotten, but that's just the one thing I can't do, I worked in a grocery store years ago, and don't ever want to do it again. I hated every last second of it. After his speech I crashed on my bed and just laid there in agony at the thought of me getting up in the morning and going to work...at Wal-Mart with my mother and a bunch of people she complains about all of the time. Then my dad comes back out from the bedroom and tells me to do the application tonight, imagine that, I'm 27 years old and he's telling where to apply for jobs like he has the final say, I know he was well-intentioned, but yikes, can't deal with it. All I could do was let out a whimper of a "no...I...I'll look into other stores, I can't do that one...no." So I came out of my room and sat and did the PetSmart application so he could see me doing it to placate him for a while. It was like 3,000 survey questions ranging from desired hours to "do you consider yourself a reckless person who mostly does things without thinking?" Of course I answered yes to that... :~P I thought that at least this is a big bright store with cute animals in it. Oh and my mother doesn't work at regular wal-mart, it's just little grungy wal-mart grocery store.

This past Monday, 2 days ago is when it all changed and is the reason for the title of this post. My recruiter from the employment agency sent me a description of a job, United Blood Services is looking for 8 new people to join their call center, to get people in the database to come and donate again, which is a far more nobler mission than selling credit cards or vacuum cleaners. I thought fine, hours aren't too bad, pay is also not too bad. But was dismayed when I saw the "call center/customer experience required" sentence. But I decided to tell the recruiter that I do have relevant and applicable skills, just packaged differently and I'd still like a chance at it. Not even sure why she sent that to me, I don't have anything like that on my resume, but she did anyway. So we talked on the phone about it and said that she'd be happy to set me up with an interview. That personal touch just really helps...imagine if I didn't try, it would have been another lost opportunity. So I go for the interview and it was actually pleasant, mostly because it resulted in a job, but the interviewer and I got along very well, she was so real and down-to-earth, I felt like I was talking to a human being rather than a company robot. After about an hour she said the most shocking thing I've heard in a long time..."I'm going to let the agency know...nah, you know what I'm just giving you the job now, yes!" And she actually wrote the word yes on the paper...I was like "Wow...what?" There are 8 spots, but I know that 10 people interviewed on the day I went alone. In any event, I got one of those spots, and I don't know how often someone from an agency gets an offer on the spot, it was pretty cool to just click with someone and have them see you're a right fit and also just tell it like it is, immediately. It hasn't sunk in yet that I don't have to do any more searching, no more resumes, no more cover letters..not for a long time anyway. Here's the thing though...I'm also still interviewing for a child care center that's much closer to me and more hours, I have to see how it pans out, tomorrow is the final interview, a working interview where I'll be with kids and teachers for 3 hours to see how I do, I have a lot of experience with kids so I know it'll be fine. I don't know if I'll know tomorrow right after where I stand but I can't even fathom having two job offers at basically the same time...after 8 months of none and god only knows how many applications. These are far from my dream job but they don't involve me being a cashier in a grocery store or Wal-Mart.