The Employment Masochist
Nothing humbles you (or aggrivates you) more than a new job venture. I was recently exposed to two types of unfairness while seeking new employment.
The first bit of aggrivation came from a local website developer called Digital Mediums. After submitting my resume, I got a phone call from the Human Resources Peon telling me the Art Director was “very impressed with my work” and they wanted to meet with me immediately. I scheduled an appointment for the very next day and spent the next eight hours polishing off my digital portfolio for their scrutinizing eyes. The morning of the interview day, I received a call from the HR peon explaining that our interview needed to be postponed until she can meet with the Art Director to deal with the increase in interest for the position. She said she’d get back to me.
One week later, I get a crappy cut-n-paste letter cordially thanking me for my interest in the position. How shitty is that? It was an entirely unfair treatment in the sense that, professionally, you should give at least 24 hours notice for cancelling appointments and the followup should always come as a phone call, not as a generico letter.
The next level of aggrivation came from a small Advertising Agency called Mana Means Advertising. After the interview, I was instilled with false hope from the owner. She assured me I would hear back from hear regardless of if I got the position or not.
The day of her decision came and she called me to say she needed more time to decide because she just got a couple more applicants, an unfair attitude seeing as how the initial applicants should get their due attention first. I complied and waited an entire week. Throughout the week, I called her once and emailed her relevant examples of my print design work — all of which were in vain. Finally, I called her and got to hear her say she had chosen someone else. She apologized for not calling me back and said she’d keep my resume on file.
Whatever, Janet Schiffer. Your lack of professionalism makes me glad I was not hired by someone as disorganized as you are. I know that hiring someone with as much experience as I have would have cost more, so I hope you enjoy the couple dollars you saved by hiring a design maggot with a high learning curve.
It’s humbling in the sense that I am now aware of what I need to improve on. It’s also an eye-opener for someone who hasn’t really been searching for a career-change for so long. This won’t be my last exposure to jerks who are the judge and jury of hiring, but at least now I can adjust my expectations of the entire job search circle of strife.
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Yeah, I’m in the graphic field too, and frankly, I want out! Not real sure what else to do tho…
I strongly feel that good graphic designers are born, not made. So, if you hate the graphic design field, maybe you should consider another career. Or maybe you should just jump ship and find another company.
What happened to the job at Kinko’s?
Anyways, finding a job in Hawaii is tough. I wish you luck and admire your determination and tenaciousness.
hey cheyne, check the spelling of aggravate, its driving me nuts….good luck on the job search.
Maybe I didn’t get the job because I had rampant spelling errors in my resume…
lol.
okay. Aggravate it is.
It’s sort of a cliche that “no one owes you a job.” Even so you probably shouldn’t expect anything from those you apply with. Be grateful for whatever comes and try to brush aside anything else; i.e. don’t take it personally. Even if they come across as rude or inconsiderate, take it with a grain of salt. Finding a person to fill a post is a hard and risky venture and they have a lot of things on their mind. That being said, never give up as luck is as much a part of the game as experience and qualifications.