happydalek (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
happydalek) wrote2008-12-01 01:28 pm
happydalek) wrote2008-12-01 01:28 pm
Entry tags:
Attack of the Job 5
So here I was, just back from a whirlwind trip to VA to visit some new friends, chillaxing with some Doctor Who DVDs and still feeling rather woolly-headed from the 9 hours of sleep I've had in the past two days (Virginia was fun), when my phone rings. It's an unfamiliar number with an unfamiliar area code, so I hesitate, wondering first if it's a friend whose number I forgot to put in my address book, or (more likely), just a wrong number. I answer it: "Hello?"
A man answers in a brisk, almost breathless manner which means that I completely miss who he says he is and who he's calling on behalf of, though I register enough of his words to know that this is a business call. I finally catch up to his verbal motoring to hear him ask to speak to "[my name]."
I feel slightly disappointed, thinking he's probably a telemarketer conducting a phone survey or something. But I answer, "This is she."
"Hello, I'm calling because I received your resume last week and we have some work in New Jersey right now and I was wondering if you're still in the job market?" he motors.
Apparently, part of my brain took his gobbledygook opening sentence and was quietely deciphering it all this time, because suddenly I recall what company he said he was with, and realize that this telemarketing call is actually an interview-by-phone for one of the archaeology positions I pessimistically applied for last week. When that bell finally goes off in my fuzzy brain, I immediately answer with "Hell YES I'm still avaiable!!" (paraphrasing slightly).
From here, though, the interview got a lot more difficult. First he asked me about my prior experience in the field. I think to myself, Dude, you have my RESUME. READ IT. But after some mental reorganization, I regurgitate everything on my CV faithfully.
Then he says, "I'm going to ask you some personal questions. What race are you?"
Thrown, I wonder, Is this company being openly racist in the interview?? and answer with, "Are you asking out of, like, curiosity or something?"
I can only imagine what his face must have looked like as he rushed to explain that he was asking so that he could start filling out some of my new-hire paperwork. As soon as he says it, that delayed-circuit-deciphering program I've got in my head informs me that he mentioned it was for the paperwork before he asked. D'oh on us both, then.
Once that gets ironed out and I finish giving all of my stats and personal identification numbers over the phone to this dude I don't know, he asks me the toughest question of all: "When can you start?"
Now, it being the holiday season, and me having been all over the place lately, I know I probably have various plans made for this week. But he sounds really rushed, so it's making me feel really rushed, so naturally, my mind goes completely blank. The way he's talking, it sounds like he wanted me on the job site YESTERDAY, and actually asks if I could hop in my car TODAY to be starting work TOMORROW. Given that it's contract archaeology, these kinds of short-notice situations are fairly common, but I talk him into letting me start on Wednesday. Which means leaving tomorrow for New Jersey. Which means not being able to help my aunt decorate her church for Christmas as I had originally planned, but seeing as I'm bailing for employment reasons, I know she'll understand.
So, I've got myself another job, the fifth for this tax season. And hopefully this one will last me through the end of the year, and possibly beyond.
In conclusion, the gods must be crazy.
I already know I am.
A man answers in a brisk, almost breathless manner which means that I completely miss who he says he is and who he's calling on behalf of, though I register enough of his words to know that this is a business call. I finally catch up to his verbal motoring to hear him ask to speak to "[my name]."
I feel slightly disappointed, thinking he's probably a telemarketer conducting a phone survey or something. But I answer, "This is she."
"Hello, I'm calling because I received your resume last week and we have some work in New Jersey right now and I was wondering if you're still in the job market?" he motors.
Apparently, part of my brain took his gobbledygook opening sentence and was quietely deciphering it all this time, because suddenly I recall what company he said he was with, and realize that this telemarketing call is actually an interview-by-phone for one of the archaeology positions I pessimistically applied for last week. When that bell finally goes off in my fuzzy brain, I immediately answer with "Hell YES I'm still avaiable!!" (paraphrasing slightly).
From here, though, the interview got a lot more difficult. First he asked me about my prior experience in the field. I think to myself, Dude, you have my RESUME. READ IT. But after some mental reorganization, I regurgitate everything on my CV faithfully.
Then he says, "I'm going to ask you some personal questions. What race are you?"
Thrown, I wonder, Is this company being openly racist in the interview?? and answer with, "Are you asking out of, like, curiosity or something?"
I can only imagine what his face must have looked like as he rushed to explain that he was asking so that he could start filling out some of my new-hire paperwork. As soon as he says it, that delayed-circuit-deciphering program I've got in my head informs me that he mentioned it was for the paperwork before he asked. D'oh on us both, then.
Once that gets ironed out and I finish giving all of my stats and personal identification numbers over the phone to this dude I don't know, he asks me the toughest question of all: "When can you start?"
Now, it being the holiday season, and me having been all over the place lately, I know I probably have various plans made for this week. But he sounds really rushed, so it's making me feel really rushed, so naturally, my mind goes completely blank. The way he's talking, it sounds like he wanted me on the job site YESTERDAY, and actually asks if I could hop in my car TODAY to be starting work TOMORROW. Given that it's contract archaeology, these kinds of short-notice situations are fairly common, but I talk him into letting me start on Wednesday. Which means leaving tomorrow for New Jersey. Which means not being able to help my aunt decorate her church for Christmas as I had originally planned, but seeing as I'm bailing for employment reasons, I know she'll understand.
So, I've got myself another job, the fifth for this tax season. And hopefully this one will last me through the end of the year, and possibly beyond.
In conclusion, the gods must be crazy.
I already know I am.
no subject
Also, LOL at your fifth job for the tax season. I had a year like that last year, and will have it again this year, only not quite as bad. The forms are so fun when you have so many incomes to keep track of, aren't they? ;D
no subject