An Interview and A Red Flag

So I had an... Interesting interview with a company.

They were a bit odd.

I had instructions to ask the reception worker to call them to let them know I was there and... they kinda gestured to a phone across the way and said to call. No instructions on how to use the phone system. I called the wrong extension twice but fortunately hung up before I reached anyone there. After an explanation the other reception worker called for me.

The agency I work with didn't mention that there would be three people doing the interview, but that happens.

The start was very basic with introductions and such. The odd feeling would come and go depending on questions. They asked in round robin style.

After the first question I knew that I didn't have the knowledge that they were looking for.

Near the middle of their question-asking I realized they hadn't asked me anything about my resume. I only realized because I have a time gap on it that has never been missed or skipped over. Ever.

When it cam time for me to ask them about the job, most of the position questions had been answered. So I asked my little short list of questions to see if I would be able to fit in with them.

They all but refused to answer three of my questions.

I asked about the culture there, how they will measure success in the position and the difference between a good & great employee in the position.

I have never had that type of reaction before. I can't fully explain it, it was just out there.

The culture one is usually answered with a customers first type of response that quickly launches into how they treat their employees. Or company holiday parties or something. I was met by silence then one said that customer centered environment. Another that it was a very racily diverse employment. The last they enjoyed their coworkers.

When I asked how they measure success in the position there was another pause before one gave the response that was simply 'with yearly preformace evaluations'. Which ended that.

Last I asked the difference between a good & great employee in the position. This is usually greeted with comments of the question itself before a response. This was again met with silence and nothing was actually said. More importantly, one of the interviewers was leafing the position and they didn't say any good things about them.

Fortunately the interview ended shortly after that.

The last question summed up things they didn't say to me that I am taking as this is a bad corporate environment. For each of the questions I got odd, almost angry looks. And who wouldn't take an opportunity to remind a soon to be former employee that you value all their work?

I think I will be very happy if I don't fit their bill. Should I be asked for a second interview I would agree, but I can tell I am not what they are looking for.

Debt, Life and dear god! An update!

Were to start?

The debt has been slowly taken care of. If I was to trust the little blurb in the corner of my bill I will be free of it in 3 years. I did not take out a loan and that would have been a very bad idea. I did merge two credit cards onto one card. This let me set up one monthly automatic payment.

The ordeal was a pain in the butt. The first transfer had to be done one the phone with a live person. Even though two other people told me I could just do it online. Frustrating but then I just did both with the wonderful woman on that call. So it worked out.

The weirdest part was that each separate card had been a min due of $250 - $300 EACH. Or rather I was paying out $500 to $600 each month.

The new one is $225-ish.

Let that sink in a bit. Because I flipped when I got the first bill. I have been able to save so much money. The new problem seems to be I can't save past a particular amount. This is a pain because of the BRAND NEW THING!

Which is I joined a First Time Home Buyer thing. It is total crap but should help me to ACTUALLY buy a house in two years. So there is now $188 a month going to a special account so that the government will give me a grant of $7,500.

Fact: I still don't have enught for closing costs. Which is the real killer in buying a house.

On the job side of life, after five years with my current job I have finally taken steps to look for a new one. I calle dthe temp agency that got me hired here and I will be sendign them my resume to get going again. The woman that answered my call was very nice when I started fumbling to discribe why I was leaving. I wanted to say that the enviroment wasn't what it was and was moving into mor toxic then I would like.

What I said was a jumble of starting and stopping and toxic and many 'it's just'. She said don't worry about it and started looking at my file. She was wonderful.

That is were the blog stands right now. Yeay?

Longest Interview Proses Ever

"Well, long time no update. The main reason for that is I have been going through one of the longest interview proses in my live. It spanned almost two months with three interviews and one test. Everyone was so nice and everything.

And I got the job. :3

I can't tell you how happy I am about this. All the stress of looking and here it is. I have to say I did not find this job on my own. I did work with a hiring agent and she was very helpful. Two actually, both at different companies and both were very nice and helpful.

I can't believe I don't have to keep waiting to hear back on an interview anymore.

I can't tell you how badly I wanted this job. The people I met were wonderful and it just felt right. They have a wonderful training program. The are also closer to my home so I will have a shorter commute. They also have wonderful benefits.

The only problem is that my new school is near my old job. So I will probably end up dorming 1-2 nights a week and then heading strait to work. it's going to be interesting learning all my new classes and job duties at the same time.

Adding the the stress, I have to go shopping and get my new work cloths because I'm going from uniform to work casual. My sister is looking forward to it."


God this is from so long ago. If you ever find yourself apart of an interview proses that takes two or more months you need to think about it and see if there were any warning signs about the company that you might have missed. Don't let desperation blind you to interviewer stupidity.

And if they ALWAYS get your current job title wrong (say calling you a manager instead of a receptionist) then get the hell away from them as soon as possible.

Just saying...

Searching for a New Job While Working

This is extremely painful and hard.

Recently I have been able to interview with some wonderful companies. With winter over things have seemed to have picked up in the job hunting department. However, all the interviews I have been to have been through a hiring agent. My own searches have led to nothing so this isn't too bad.

Another bit of good news is I have finally gotten a review at work. The bad news is that they are aware of my job search. I made it clear to them that I have no intention of of up&leaving with out being able to train my replacement and that I want to help find my replacement when the time is right. They seemed to appreciate this. I am very lucky that I can actually talk to my manager and let him know what is going on in my search.

The search itself is driving me crazy.

The wait hurts the most, especially when it's for a job I would love. Aside from one day, I have made sure my job search has not interfered with my current job and the work I do. It is a very hard balance to keep. I have been considering what I am going to do with my job search for the summer because It is the bussy seasion for my company and I don't want to have trobel working and timing things.

le sigh.

Other then that, if you have been searching on your own with no luck you should really try a hiring agency. They can do wonders.

Check in with your Hiring Agents

I called my two new local hiring agents.

One is going to send me a test to do and the other hasn't mentionedany tests. Interestingly they both told me to call and check in with them every week. I find this interesting because that must be a lot of calls coming in to them and I didn't want to add to that. But I was going off old information.

Back in the day when I last used an agency, I was told not to call in more then once every two weeks and that they would call me. And they did call me. With this new economy I thought the rules would be the same. I am actually really happy to see that they are not the same.

With luck they might find me something after I have started my college classes. To add to that I hope it is close to the college. Then again I would not turn up my nose at something near my house.

Fate is such a fickle mistress.

Cranky Hiring Agents in New York City pt2

Last night I spoke with a third New York City hiring agent. She called while I was stuck in traffic but I figured what the hey?

She was very eager to actually talk with me. But I could hear her sails deflating when I explained the whole 'not living in the city right now' thing to her. She did try and wiggle out of the conversation as soon as she heard that but when pressed answered my questions.

When I ask about the possablity of jobs with out an inperson meeting she shot it right down.

She also had no intention of possably saying something that could be held over her. A clear sign to me that someone had done that to her before. She did say that an interview for a job the same week i meet with her could happen but it depended on how many opening came her way. I told her I wasn't looking for a guarantee but just to see how I might schedule my time needed to be there. She was a little startled but went with it.

 This was all I was looking for.

So, now I know that hiring agents in New York City, and possibly in general, do not read cover letters. They are just looking for people they can use to get a better turn over for their commission. Which is fine, but I am amazed that they would waste so much time talking with people they could have quickly eliminated as candidates. I also found that they have no idea were my city is and possibly never hear/read the news.

But! It gave me a very good out look of the time line needed to set interviews for a trip. It also confirmed the fact that I am a dime a dozen. A degree would give me the edge I need for the job market so I can make some headway.

Cranky Hiring Agents in New York City

I know they can be a wonderful way of finding employment, but if you are not living in the city they will not be able to do much for you. And if they did contact you then they probably did not read your cover letter that says you don't like in the area. Also you need a think skin when dealing with them.


But let me start again.

I sent out some responces to Craigslist postings. Most have resulted in scam e-mails telling me to go to a website that they linked to so you can get your credit scores or take an IQ test. Aside from the e-mail links showing a diffrent site when you hover the mouse over them, the e-mail addresses they were sent from will not accept responces. I have accepted this challenge and pass them by.

However, silly me thought that the real companies would actually take a moment to look at my cover letter. In which I state that I do not live near the city and can't meet for an interview without some planing. I figured that they would read this in consideration or that they would delete the e-mail. I had no idea they would actually call me and expect me to see them the same day for an interview for their hiring agency with out reading the cover letter.

I have had contact with two agents so far. The gentleman hemmed and hawed a little and complained that i wasn't living in the city. The conversation lasted maybe five minuets and had many little red flags waving at me. I sent him a polite e-mail saying I understand this, would understand that nothing would come my way and that at some point later in time when I will be out there I will pop him a message to see if he'd like to talk again. I knew it wasn't going to work out and gave him the best out possable.

For some odd reasion he responded. This is his entire e-mail:

And though it is not easy you are not unique to us

I will do my best

I have more of an obstacle with the time of year versus your location

I have mixed feeling about this. I am boggled by the lack of grammar skills and that he bothered to send a separate e-mail response, possibly by blackberry. I am pissed because it seems like an slap in the face but most of all I just can't grasp that he would waist the time to send this pointless e-mail to state what we spoke about.

The woman... I have changed my oppinion of her.

She used one - two word sentences in e-mails from her black berry. Red Flag one.
When she requested I call her, then tell me on the line 'e-mail' then quickly rattled off that she was on the line with three other calls and to e-mail her when to meet. Red Flag two.

I took this all as a sign that I should look elsewhere.


I sent the same e-mail to her as the other gentlemen (actually, i e-mailed her first and then used it for him.) thinking that was it and that she would probably be relived. Imagine my shock when I find an e-mail from her asking me to let her know when I'm in the city next.


Now, I'm probably looking into this with rose colored glasses, yet it's still a nicer response then the other guy. I will be dropping her a line when I get a chance to be in the city.

Interpretation has a lot to do with it. Both side of a conversation could be hearing different things. The guy could be telling me not to waste my time contacting him again or he could be trying to  explain why it could take a long time to get back to me. Like wise the woman could be trying to keep connected or she could just be sending it to be polite. In the digital age I just can't be sure.


So... I'm going to hope for the best.

Giving a Hiring Agency a Try

In my job hunt I have been attempting to avoid a hiring agency, but as of late it seems every opening for my area of choice is going through an agency of some kind.

So upon finding out that a position I applied for was using one I decided to meet the agent. I could only meet her on my lunch which she said was fine. Then that day I had to call and push it back, I was so worried, but she said it was fine as well.

I have never met someone so helpful before. She was very adamant about helping me out and finding me something. She e-mailed me the tests to take on the weekend. When we talked about them, she was completely understanding at how I am used to a newer version then the one she sent for the test she said my results were good but she wanted me to take it again with a newer version.

She also had a lot to say about my resume. She wanted to make a lot of changes to it and she went over why she wanted to in great detail. I agreed totally with her changes and she said she would be sending me a revised copy. Which is good because it has not been revised for some years.

Prior to leaving she told me to check her companies website and to e-mail her any positions i might be interested in. I just can not explain how helpful she has been.

So I am changing my stance on hiring agencies, people should give them a chance. But ask questions! The woman I met with gave me a great deal of information and was extremely understanding of my situation. Most of the questions I could not remember she volunteered information on. This is the type of person you will want to work with. I would only say that if they are not actively trying to help you out they might not be the company for you.

The Trials of a Hiring Agency.

And they can certainly be a trial to work with if you find the wrong one.

I have worked through two in the past. The second one was a delight that landed me a full time job. The first was something else.

The closest office had bitter women working there. I had not known this when I started, people that I met on jobs even told me their own stories of that office. They had even gone so far as to flat out lied to me twice about a job.

A friend at a potential job told me that there were openings and that they only hired through this one company. This is how I originally started there. I signed up and then they told me after that the position had been filled. I was ok with that and they set me up with something else.

They would call me with little 2-3 day jobs or once a job that I didn't feel safe accepting. But they had something almost every time I spoke with them.

Skip to almost two years later and my friend again says that they are looking for people. At the time a temp job had just finished so I stopped by the office and asked. They said no flat out. I left but it felt fishy so I went back in. This time my mom followed me in (big no no!) and she insisted they call and check. this time I also said that my friend that works for the company just told me about it.

Their story? It's being filled from a different office. I asked which one and finally got them to call the office and it was set up. This royally pissed off the two women at my local office.

So, one year of bliss later that contract was up and I let my local office know. I call in every few days and they say they have nothing for me. Eventually they tell me that they will call me if something is available. A big change from what I was used to.

Almost eight months later I get a call from the local office. It was a new woman introducing herself. She helped me get a new position right away. Later that day I was telling a friend about it and asking him if he thought they had black listed me and his eyes lit up.

He had a story for me.

It seems that a week before as he was delivering the mail to their office, he came in to find all new people there. He schmoozed a little and found out that the main woman there had been upsetting everyone and had gotten fired. Apparently she made some kind of small scene as she left. Then he was told that the other woman that she worked with just got up and walked out on her job either that day or the following day.

Ouch.

I honestly feel bad for the two women. Now that is, back then I was thrilled that they got what they had coming to them. I was very bitter about my treatment then. Now I realize that there is potential for that to happen no matter were I go or who I talk to.

I know that recommendations are now one of the better ways to go when dealing with a temp or hiring agency. My dad recommended a woman to me a few months ago. I need to sit down and call her to see if she can help me. Hopefully it's not too late.