Job hunting, pt. 3.14
I had a bizarre series of interviews with a certain company.
On Wednesday, I met with some of the company’s top people about job X. You are a very strong candidate, they told me. We will certainly consider you for this job. But would you mind also being considered for jobs Y and Z?
All right, I said.
On Thursday, I got a call. My résumé had been passed on to the director of job Y. Would I come in for an interview on Friday morning?
All right.
(It was good that Mary had helped me to choose two sets of interviewing clothes.)
During the interview for job Y, I was told I was overqualified. Something like job Z would be more suitable, and it would pay better. Would I like to go to the highest floor to meet the very top person in the company? He’d seen my résumé and asked to be introduced to me.
OK.
The very top person was in a meeting with other top people. I was ushered into their presence. The very top person leaped up. What sort of work would you REALLY like to do?, he asked.
I told him.
The very top person turned to one of the other top people. Do we have any jobs like that available?
Yes. Z-1 or Z-2.
Would you like to go down to Human Resources to start the paperwork?, the very top person asked me.
Yes.
(This last interview took less than a minute.)
The director of job Y took me downstairs to the human resources department, congratulated me, and went away to continue interviewing candidates for job Y. After a while, two human resources workers appeared.
Yes?, they said.
I’m here about either job Z-1 or job Z-2.
Those jobs are not available.
But this person, that person, and the other person said they were.
Well, they aren’t. Perhaps you would be interested in [other job]?
I’d have to think about it, I said. I left the building. I felt like I’d just passed a series of complicated video game levels only to come back out in level 1.
That afternoon, I had a phone interview with a different company located out of town. It lasted fifteen minutes and was much more straightforward. It was about whether I could do specific tasks, not what would satisfy my innermost longings.
I hope to find out early next week whether I’ve made the first cut.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
I wish to thank Karin for going online and figuring out how to tie a Windsor knot for me. In five minutes, she accomplished what I’d been trying to do for about an hour.
That isn’t all she’s figured out how to do. Some fruit flies have infested our kitchen. Karin went online and learned how to build a trap for them. She used a jar with an old banana peel in it.
As you can see, the flies have been trapped in the jar, but they’re doing better than ever. Karin, out of tenderness, has refused to put immobilizing dish soap in the jar. Now the flies are enjoying their fruit and each other, and they’re making children. In effect, as Karin’s friend Nora put it, Karin has built a fruit fly love nest. From time to time, a fly escapes the jar.
On Wednesday, I met with some of the company’s top people about job X. You are a very strong candidate, they told me. We will certainly consider you for this job. But would you mind also being considered for jobs Y and Z?
All right, I said.
On Thursday, I got a call. My résumé had been passed on to the director of job Y. Would I come in for an interview on Friday morning?
All right.
(It was good that Mary had helped me to choose two sets of interviewing clothes.)
During the interview for job Y, I was told I was overqualified. Something like job Z would be more suitable, and it would pay better. Would I like to go to the highest floor to meet the very top person in the company? He’d seen my résumé and asked to be introduced to me.
OK.
The very top person was in a meeting with other top people. I was ushered into their presence. The very top person leaped up. What sort of work would you REALLY like to do?, he asked.
I told him.
The very top person turned to one of the other top people. Do we have any jobs like that available?
Yes. Z-1 or Z-2.
Would you like to go down to Human Resources to start the paperwork?, the very top person asked me.
Yes.
(This last interview took less than a minute.)
The director of job Y took me downstairs to the human resources department, congratulated me, and went away to continue interviewing candidates for job Y. After a while, two human resources workers appeared.
Yes?, they said.
I’m here about either job Z-1 or job Z-2.
Those jobs are not available.
But this person, that person, and the other person said they were.
Well, they aren’t. Perhaps you would be interested in [other job]?
I’d have to think about it, I said. I left the building. I felt like I’d just passed a series of complicated video game levels only to come back out in level 1.
That afternoon, I had a phone interview with a different company located out of town. It lasted fifteen minutes and was much more straightforward. It was about whether I could do specific tasks, not what would satisfy my innermost longings.
I hope to find out early next week whether I’ve made the first cut.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
I wish to thank Karin for going online and figuring out how to tie a Windsor knot for me. In five minutes, she accomplished what I’d been trying to do for about an hour.
That isn’t all she’s figured out how to do. Some fruit flies have infested our kitchen. Karin went online and learned how to build a trap for them. She used a jar with an old banana peel in it.
As you can see, the flies have been trapped in the jar, but they’re doing better than ever. Karin, out of tenderness, has refused to put immobilizing dish soap in the jar. Now the flies are enjoying their fruit and each other, and they’re making children. In effect, as Karin’s friend Nora put it, Karin has built a fruit fly love nest. From time to time, a fly escapes the jar.
