Wednesday, April 4

wow, it's wednesday again?

Apparently I opened my mouth and inserted my foot! And other (un)employment updates.

Remember I told you I'd emailed the hiring manager from last week's interview? Well, I got a response from her yesterday, and my big mouth screwed me out of a job. In all fairness it was a trick question. But aren't they all? Here's what she had to say.

First I would like to say that you should be very proud of yourself for going as far as you did in the interview process. We had 80 applicants for this position and it was a very long process narrowing the applicants down to 10 for the interviews. You did a wonderful job in your interview also.

Our Human Resources Department gave us the questions to ask based on what our job description was and we had to score each candidates responses to the questions. There were three tiers on the scoring section. One section was regarding your preference in working independently or close working relationships. Your first response was that you enjoyed working independently and had great satisfaction in doing so. This position would require you to work as a team in a close-knit work group.

In my defense I did not state a preference for working independently. The question was posed as "Do you like working independently or in a group?" As with all the other questions asked, I started at the beginning and worked my way through. In order. I stated that I appreciated working independently on certain things and that working in a group also has its benefits. Notsomuch the answer they were looking for I guess. Damn!

Yesterday I went to our local WorkSource office for my randomly selected job search log review. Basically what that translates to is we want to see if you're really applying for work, or just sitting on your ass collecting unemployment. While I was there they put in a referral for me. What does that mean? It means I have to go online, complete yet another stupid application, then submit that and a resume to an unnamed company paying a measly bullshit hourly wage and then go and talk to them if they want to interview me. Oh, and this has to be done within 48 hours. And I have to report back to the dude I met with yesterday. I swear I feel like I'm in Kindergarten.

This afternoon I have an interview. I cold called this guy last Friday. He called Monday and we're meeting today. If anything comes of it I'll tell you the whole story of finding him. But for now, cross something, light candles, or work whatever mojo you think might get me a freakin' job. I'd really appreciate it!

Why is it nothing can ever just easily work?

C & D came over yesterday morning to help me install the new to me dishwasher I picked up a couple weeks ago. All was going smoothly -- read as, we didn't have water flooding the kitchen after detaching the pipes, and no one got electrocuted while taking the wiring apart. We lugged the old machine out to the garage, brought the new one in, and... where the hell is the water "out" connector? After digging around online, we finally found where the hose would connect. But will the hose I already have work? Of course not! The one requires some special jiggy to attach to the dishwasher, and not only do I not have the special jiggy, I don't know whether the hose I currently have will be able to attach to it because I have no idea wth the special jiggy looks like. Ugh!

C put a call in to the dishwasher's original owners. Far as I know, she hasn't heard back from them yet. D told me to check with Lowe's for parts. I did. They don't have them. So, this morning I'll be calling around town to see if anyone has what I need, assuming they even know what I need and that I've gotten the correct part numbers jotted down from the skematics online. In the meantime, dishes are once again piling up in my sink. Anyone want to come wash them for me?

No, really. Safety at school isn't a concern. Not at all.

An email started circulating yesterday, along with a lot of gossip. What was all the hubbub? Oh, nothing much. Just that there was a threat made by a 9 year old child to shoot two of his classmates. In mid-January. Um, hello!?!?! WTF? And we are just now hearing about this???

The kid was sent home that day, and was not allowed back to school the following day. That was it. No extensive suspension. No expulsion. No mention of this to anyone other than the parents of the kid who made the threat. Not even the parents of the girls who were threatened were told until one of the girls just happened to mention it. Two days later! Again. WTF?? The principal "lawyered up". The girls' parents went to the police. They boy's parents refused to let them talk to him. The board said it would be discussed at the next meeting. In February. It wasn't. And not again in March.

There's a ton of people who're hoppin' mad about this one. Pissed even. Then there's people who seem to think the school acted accordingly and dealt with the issue. I know there are always two sides to a story. But come on. How is sweeping this under the carpet and not even following through with what you say you're going to do appropriate? It's not. I was telling Groove about this last night, and suffice it to say, we agreed to disagree. He asked me what I really wanted out of this, and I paused to think. Accountability. That's what I want. Is that so wrong?

Have you ever been in this situation? What happened? How did your school handle things?

Ending on a good note!!

Only two more weeks till party time! YEE-FREAKIN-HAW!!!!

7 comments:

Lesley said...

OMG! That is such a trick question! How unfair!!! Every job in the world requires a mix of both teamwork and independent work -- wouldn't they want someone who is good at both? Why on earth would they think that you can only do one or the other? I do hope you find something very soon. Sending you good luck interviewing vibes!

Nicki said...

Good grief I'm glad I'm happy at my company and don't have to look for a job.

I'll cross everything for you, but I'm warning you, the first hot guy that comes along... my legs aren't part of the crossing deal.

Jay said...

That really blows about the interview - sounds like you actually answered it perfectly and they were just looking for an excuse.

My mother is an educator. She helps developmentally challenged kids in class. She's not a teacher, so she falls under a different union and doesn't get paid in the summer, so every single summer she goes through the whole unemployment thing, forced to apply for dumb jobs and such, when obviously no one is going to hire her for 2 months. Such a waste of time.

Anonymous said...

First of all, I am impressed that they told you why cause usually no one does.

If you are still interviewing and want to know how to get around trick questions like that and the others without being too committed in one direction, email me...I am a recruiter and know all of the tricks!

Creative-Type Dad said...

Dude, that question was loaded. They should have just asked you to choose a number between 1 and 100.

As for the school deal- honestly, I don't know. I guess I would have to take into account the kids' history and/or the whole situation. I can't imagine any school taking things lightly these days.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry about the job! And that question was (like most interview questions) totally loaded. There are no right answers except for whatever very specific thing is in that particular interviewer's mind. And who wants to work for a group that's that inflexible about their pre-set ideas? (Even though, I know you'll put up with it just to get your foot in the door.)

The next one will be better!

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