[Wednesday: 3.1 miles on treadmill; today 3.4 miles]
I had a quick trip to investigate a possible business proposition this week. The air travel was uneventful.
I enjoyed two, count ’em, two dinners with my friend Kevin. One with Lisa along also!
I had what I thought was a good series of meetings. I talked, tried to answer their questions. Later on I thought of more things to say, but it was too late of course.
Also, my eye was acting funny all day. In the evening I discovered that my soft contact was torn and it was irritating my eye.
So, I wasn’t at the top of my game. I’m not sure I have ever had a top of my game. But I was me and I liked what I saw. So I hope it develops.
Update Friday:
Today I received a “no thanks” email. I thought their email deserved a reply, so I replied. But that should be the end of it.
Their stated complaint was that I didn’t have the relevant experience for a “senior” position. I found that frustrating because I had applied for a junior position and they asked me to change my application to the senior position after our telephone interview. Ok, whatever.
Job searching reminds me of traffic accidents. Let us imagine that I run a red light and crash into your car. It may be that you and I both know it was my fault. The way our legal and insurance systems work, I’m supposed to ignore that and just give you my insurance information. They then will be my representatives and (we hope) fix your car and your cracked bones and make everything right. So there’s a falsity about the post-crash interaction. I can’t just say “I’m sorry!” it has to all be mediated by lawyers and specialists. I hate that.
Same with a job search, or so it seems to me. So much of it is fake. Who knows if their reason is the real reason.
We had an incident at my workplace. We were doing an interview-like situation on a potential future boss for our group. One of our group members is from another country. That person said, “Do you have children? Tell us about your family.” and the whole room got quiet. An employer can’t ask that. Later the co-worker told me that in his country being a family leader was a sign of responsibility and honor; he was giving the guy a prompt to brag about his position of responsibility at home. But in our twisted system you can’t talk about that.
So anyway, I don’t blame them for flushing my application. But it is frustrating that the benefit I could get from the experience is nearly completely mooted by the lawyer rules that surround what is mostly a social dance, nothing like the actual work I would be called on to perform.
Update #2 still Friday:
I was talking to my wife at dinner. Most of the jobs I have had, I don’t know how it was accomplished. For my current job I was newly laid off from one place and frantically searching for the next thing. An advertisement showed up in the local newspaper, which is kind of bizarre to begin with seeing as how it was a small town newspaper and didn’t have many ads of that kind. But the company at that time was required to advertise in the four owner cities. So I responded to the ad. It wasn’t a job title I had ever had before, it was slightly different. But I had some passing acquaintance with the systems they were talking about. They had me down for an interview at a restaurant and the three managers looked me over and I got the job. I don’t know if there were other applicants, or if I was particularly attractive for some reason. (Nobody ever asks, “why did you hire me?”)
4 replies on “I’m back”
Good luck – I hope it works out. I like that you fully invested in Mississippi. The book radio, infrastructure and such. You have to live where you live – fully invest, no matter where it is.
Thank you! That is really a comforting thing to hear. My week has been so topsy-turvy with the prospect of change.
Hmmm.. what if the guy said about his family: “My family is a mess. All my kids flunked out of school. One is in juvie. My spouse spends all day watching HSN and applying for credit cards then maxes them out. The dog bites me at every opportunity. The cat sprays on my shoes.”
Okay given what you wrote I think you should call if you want the position. Make your case. I’m thinking an email response in kind acknowledges their dismissiveness. And if you say something like “you guys said I should apply for the sr role…” it may read as sour grapes (emails can be read too literally or with misunderstood nuance).
Schmooze a bit. The phone is good for that. And it’s okay on the phone (vs in traceable email or text) to say stuff like “my parents are getting older and I’m looking for something closer to them.”
But who really knows the real reason for their decision? This is where a person can go crazy with speculation. Personally, many years ago I had a subpar boss so looked for things internally and never got an offer. I’m not sharp on details after all these years but one hiring manager said I didn’t have enough experience with SQL – they never filled the position and now that group is broken up and the hiring manager works on my floor(! – albeit on opposite side in different group) and has no team at all. Another opening was with a boss who had high turnover owing to management style (ergo the job opening). This I learned later. Another one I was also told later that it was a disaster working at that group and I was lucky not to be hired there (one is expected to work at least a full year in a role regardless of conditions). I get this information later via water cooler talk. I work for a larger company and it can appear bureaucratic but it really is a matter of “neighborhoods” and once you find a friend in a neighborhood who trusts you to divulge such stuff you can get the skinny.
Regardless, Mike was looking for work last fall and I would tell him that these experiences are practice exercises. Don’t take them as a measurement of abilities. Easier said than done but I believe that.
Glad you had a pleasant trip, regardless of the outcome.
Obviously, they don’t know what they’re missing by not hiring you. Of course that’s how I feel about any potential employer considering any of my three brothers or my kids for a position. Great work ethic.
May the Lord give you strength, grace and peace as you work through this process.
One last thought, have you considered checking into the area of construction? May not be a fit, but they all have programs and processes that need attention.