Time stands still when you are looking for a new job.
I've been in the job market for a few months and I've got to tell you... it sucks. Spending hour after hour on Monster, HotJobs, Dice, and every other job forum out there is sucking my will to live. I've calculated that for every 150 jobs I apply for I get 3-5 responses. The worst thing is that my e-mail has been inundated with e-mail about "Exciting opportunities". Let me be real clear, I need money, and that is a very immediate need. I don't need a job that I can possibly make $100 grand my first year, but won't see a penny for at least 60 days. That doesn't work for me.
So here is the tale of an interview I went on that had me on the verge of murder. I got a call back from the "HR" person, and he scheduled an interview for me. I was pretty excited, they had a nice website, even though it was pretty vague. Also the job I was interviewing for sounded like exactly my cup of tea.
I arrive about 15min early (as I always do for interviews), and introduce myself to the receptionist. She told me the before the interview she needed me to fill out a questionnaire and an application. Ok, I hate this practice. You have my resume on file, and even if your server crashes, I have a hard copy with me! Why do you feel the need to make me fill out an application? Of course being the nice guy I am I just sat down and filled out the application, returned it to the receptionist, and she hands me the survey. I understand the reason for the surveys, the are pseudo-scientific questionnaires that supposedly give the company a window into your soul.
After all is said and done I've finished the survey, and now it is the time that I was officially supposed to arrive for my interview. Of course this company was obviously not ready for my efficiency, and I proceeded to wait for another thirty minutes! I was just about ready to leave when a guy came out and introduced himself to me.
Let's get something straight, I'm a 32yr old man, I have over 7 years work experience in the IT industry, and have managed networks with over 500 nodes. My interviewer couldn't have been more that 21.
He started off with the typical rah-rah speech, and started to outline how the company works. Drawing on the board he started a diagram and low and behold, it was a pyramid. According to him the great thing about this company was that all promotion was done from within. Even the VP was once the lowest man on the totem pole.
I was pretty pissed by this point, half my day and a quarter tank of gas was now gone. So, I decided to ask some questions. What's the base? Nothing. What is the commission percentage? Uh, What? Is there re-embursment for expenses? No. Oh, and the second interview was a day long "drive-along".
So this was the IT version of Amway. I asked him how long he'd been doing this "job", and he's only been in it for a couple of months. I asked he had done before coming to this company, and he had been a waiter at Chile's.
I walked out of there feeling used. The plus side is that I came out wiser. I have turned down "interviews" since with many companies that are similar in nature. My question is how many people have been sucked in. So desperate to find a job back in the IT field that they are willing to go to work for a 21yr old without industry experience. And just wait and hope to make a dollar.
Mike
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