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| Thursday, October 11, 2007 |
| Odd man out. One of these things is not.... |
Another day.
I had a job interview today. It started out as one of those group interviews where a bunch of people are brought in, they give you the whole spiel about their company and the job and all that jazz. Then, later, they bring back some of the people for second interviews. I got the second interview. Which is good, I suppose, since there were 60 or so people originally there and they only brought back 15 or so.
Anyways, so I was looking around at the group of people in the room. It was a crowd that was a like in a lot of ways, but there were definitely a few exceptions. First of all, the group was mostly women. Don't ask me why, but I seem to have a tendency to end up in jobs where I'm surrounded by women. The bike shop being the exception. Most of the women were say, 22 to 40. A few younger a few older. Most of them were dressed in business suits. Most looked like they had sold real estate or Mary Kay at some point in their lives. So in this group, there was me. 38, pudgy, dressed well, of course. I didn't feel too out of place, I can deal with being one of the few men in a room. Hell, I grew up with three sisters and now have three daughters. So, the other guys. One clearly gay guy. One older man, probably in his 60's. A couple of doofus kids way out of their element. You know the type, the white boy with the black shirt and strange tie he would have bought at Chess King if they were still around. I'm assuming he picked the clothes up at some mall joint. A young black kid looking way to cliche, baggy pants, rugby shirt and construction boots. Then there was one guy, who, since I have grown a heart and believe in karma, I won't disparage. He wore floods, a shirt too small and was clearly a little slow.
As for the women, beyond the carbon copy business broads there were a few stand outs. One idiot lady who found it appropriate to wear an OSU cardigan sweater with her dress pants and blouse. Fucking Buckeye fans are idiots. A younger girl, hippie-like in a sundress, regardless that it was like 50 degrees and raining. A lady wearing a dress from 1978 and a huge cross around her neck.
And then there was one that caught my eye. She was probably mid-thirties. Very plain. Her hair was short, but feathered. She most likely was from an outlying area of Columbus, say Newark or Chillicothe. That means nothing to the rest of the world, I know, but if you are from this area, it tells it all. She had on plain clothes, comfortable shoes. Glasses. She had on a pleather jacket. Please, I'm not busting on her, I'm trying to give you a sense of her. She really stood out from the other women. I wondered if she realized it. The other women were so made up and flashy. She was anything but. I've been in situations where I have felt like that. Out of place, completely different. I wonder if she is thinking about it now. She didn't get asked back. I started thinking about how different her reality is so much different than those other women, or even mine. She is who she is, dresses how she dresses, lives how she lives, and she sees the world through those glasses of hers. Who's to say my reality, the hippie's, the christian's, the business broad's realities are any more correct.
See, in situations such as a group interview like that, I tend to pull myself up and make myself feel better than the others. I need to give myself more confidence and, at least in my mind, be better than those around me. I was sitting there in my self-imposed pomposity giving off my confident man vibe when seeing her shot empathy through my persona. It brought me down a notch. Or two.
After they gave us the company history, blah, blah, blah, they wanted each of us to come up and relay a work related story about ourselves. Imagine, 60 or so stories like this. Needless to say, some were just plain ridiculous. Some were funny, some were cute and positive. Others made me think, "why the fuck would you say that." Like the woman who bad mouthed her previous employer endlessly while making her self out to be the pariah.
My favorite. The christian lady. She gets up and says she really hasn't worked in management or sales much, her last job being at her church. She goes on to say that her job was like sales, in that she "sold god" to people. Her exact words. She said people would call her with concerns about the world, the church, whatever and her job was to sell god to them and how it would improve their lives. What is wrong with these people? Who thinks this is a good idea? Oh yeah, crazy right-wing christian extremists.
Thankfully, she didn't get a call back. I use 'call back' like it was a movie or something. It did have an "American Idol" feel to it. After the big session, they posted names of the people they wanted for second interviews. It felt like a call back also because I felt like I was an actor, going up there and putting on my, big happy successful funny guy face. I think I have mentioned before that in high school I was in theatre. It was a big deal for me because I was painfully shy most of my childhood. I had a few close friends and hated big groups. But with theatre and being in front of people, I just was someone else. I wasn't me. Hell, I may not have even been the character I was playing, but I was someone who could get up in front of an audience and act, sing and dance. Yeah, I said sing and dance. Kiss it!
So after being charming-swarmy-guy, I got picked for the second interview. At least the actor in me still has something left. 'Cause really, with my self-confidence being at the puddle level it has been, I wasn't sure I could go in there and do well. Hell, when I saw the group waiting for the initial part, I almost left.
I was sort of impressed by the group they picked. It was very diverse. All races, ages, men, women. They only picked a few of the business bimbos and of those they were the ones I thought were good. They picked the old guy. The hippie. A few younger people. They didn't go off looks, which is nice. They did go by professional appearance and those that were well spoken.
The second interview went well, mostly the same bullshit questions everyone else asks. I need to work on thinking of specific incidents in my career. They always want one specific time where you did this, or you did that. I winged a few, but got stumped on one. I understand the need for the question, they want to know how you put things into practice, but hell, my memory for shit isn't that good. I've dealt with thousands of customers, hundreds of coworkers and god knows how many pissed off people. I deal with them all differently, by situation, but in a good way. Everyone who has ever worked for me or with me has always said they enjoyed it. I pull my weight and I like to laugh. Hell, at one job where I was a manager, myself and another guy were voted "Best Bosses" in the local high school yearbook. I was damn proud of that.
They said it may be a week or two before anything is decided. My plan is to assume I didn't get it and then hopefully be pleasantly surprised if I do.
I'm such a glass is half empty and a little dirty kind of guy.Labels: fucked, human nature, life, Work |
posted by dusio @ 10/11/2007 07:37:00 PM   |
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Name: dusio
Home: columbus, ohio, United States
About Me: Jaded, regretful, bitter and sarcastic. But a great guy!
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