It was conceived on a surprisingly warm evening of October 22, 2009 at 1:22 AM. Steve and I bowled all night long until midnight when the alley closed down. We were kicked out to the curb so we used the opportunity to catch up with each other and to vent about the recent close call we had with a job.
Yankee Candle, the famous candle making factory that we all enjoy (ahh, the Clean Sheets scent), were looking to hire seasonal workers to help with their increased production for the upcoming holidays. I found the job posting on Craigslist.com and I called immediately to inquire of the position. They were still looking for people to hire so I quickly set myself up with an interview. I e-mailed Steve the link to the ad. He called later in the day and got himself an interview the day after mine. Hopes were high. We had been looking for any kind of a job for 2 months.
I was to interview with United Personnel, a staffing consultant firm that does all the hiring for Yankee Candle. Since the job is rather blue collar, I showed up to the interview with blue jeans and a polo shirt. Brimming with confidence, I walked into a simple office with 4 desks and a lady stationed at each. I went up to the one on the far right and introduced myself. "Hi, I'm Alexander B. I have an interview this morning at 10:30." I was immediately handed a form to fill out. Name, address, driver's license number, job history, referrals, such and such. The form was rather interesting as it had me do several math problems. There were multiplication problems (82x35), division problems (3578/14) and word problems (Tom is interested in a $150 stereo system. It was on sale for 10% off and if sales tax was 6.5%, what is the amount Tom would pay?). No calculators were to be used. After it was done, the woman beckoned me out to the back of the room and handed me a cup for the drug test.
"What do I do with this after I'm done?"
"Leave it out on the file cabinet."
With that done, I finally got my interview. It was with a pleasant woman whose name I already forget. It went as well as it could have. She asked me about my job history and I said nothing of my previous engineering internships because why would you embarrass yourself when they call your previous employers of your credentials? For instance, I worked at a very prestigious civil engineering firm in Los Angeles for 6 months. I worked directly under my supervisor who is kind of a big deal in the region. I can't imagine if this conversation could ever take place.
My real reference: "Hello?"
Lady from UP: "Hello, is this Greg? My name is ________ and I am from United Personnel in Easthampton, Massachusetts. I'm calling to check if Alexander B would be a good fit with the Yankee Candle company."
My real reference: "Alex? Oh he's a great kid, we loved him here. He was a fine worker with us but I don't think I've ever heard of Yankee Candle. Is it some kind of an engineering company out east?"
Lady from UP: "No it's a company that makes candles. Alex is very interested in working here."
Look, I graduated from a 5 year college with a degree in environmental engineering. I worked at 3 different internships. I still have my dignity and I'm not going to dole out my references like candy. They're for my real jobs.
I talked to the lady of my experiences as a counselor at the summer camp and how I learned a lot about teamwork (no, really!). I mostly discussed my duties as a mailman at Northeastern University. She seemed to be satisfied with my answers. After a few more questions, she had me fill out additional paperwork except they were direct deposit information, agreements and my preferences for positions within the company. Did I get the job already? She even gave me a paper that listed the orientation start time and location.
Excited, I texted Steve and told him that we might be working together for the next 2 1/2 months. He went through the whole process the next day and ended up with the same orientation time and location.
We attended orientation at the Yankee Candle factory with 12 others and watched 2 safety videos. Jennifer from United Personnel gave each one of us a packet that described the company's policies and discussed the length of breaks and how long our lunch hours were going to be. WE GOT THE JOB RIGHT?? At the end of the session, she went around the room and asked us which shift and position we were interested in. Steve and I quietly collaborated together and decided to do order processing/stocking during the 2nd shift. It's a great way to pass the time working side by side right? We ended orientation with a tour of the facility we were to work at. At the end of it all, Jennifer said she would give us a call the following Monday or Tuesday to let us know of a start time.
You can guess where this is going now. We never got the call. I called them and they said all shifts currently closed and that they would call us when one opens up. Um, I peed in a cup!!!
Now back to the bowling alley scene last night. We talked about our job hunt as a whole and how miserable it is. We came to some conclusions.
1. The world doesn't really need us.
2. We need to market ourselves better.
3. Launch a website.
So this is the beginning. I am writing this from my own mother's basement and I am sure Steve is over in his mother's basement watching NESN and reading ESPN.com at the same time. Quite frankly, we need a life and that begins with a job. Journey with us as we step out of the darkness of the basement and into the daylight.
I'm not sure what we hope to get out of this blog. Maybe this would help you to realize how fortunate you are to be in a nice job situation you may be in right now. Maybe you'll laugh at us in our failings. Maybe you can drop some advice and tips. Maybe you can lead us to the right places. Maybe you are in a similar boat and want to vent your frustrations.
To do today:
-Call United Personnel and receive my doom
-Follow up on my engineering job inquiries
-Prepare resume for career fair in Washington DC on Nov. 13th
No comments:
Post a Comment