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August 16, 2006
My First Interview in More Than Six Years
Six years is just enough time to cloud the memory as to the terror, humiliation and utter pointlessness of the standard formal interview.
All I wanted was a simple but very satisfying part time job in a large bookselling chain. Yes, anyone who has been reading this blog for more than shall we say about a month, will know how happy I would have been surrounded by those graceful tomes and being paid for it, especially as the hours fitted in so well with the family, we would only have needed childcare for two hours a week. You all know that I would have been perfectly able to answer most customer enquiries with satisfaction. I would have been an asset to the company. We all know that here.
But unfortunately there are two managers at W*t*rst*n*s in Cambridge who will never know this because they didn’t really want to know what books I’ve read, what books I’ve enjoyed, what books I may have written or the fact that the only times that I’ve come close to divorce were firstly when I caught him spreading the pages of his book face down on the sofa, just because he couldn’t find his bookmark and secondly when I caught him defacing a library book with a highlighter pen.
Nope they’d rather talk about what I know about W*t*rst*n*s The Company (They sell books and let that be all I need to know) and when I’ve worked well as a team in the past, what part did I play and how did this reflect on the whole? Oh and can I think of an example of when I’ve received good customer service in the past and what was so good about it?
I mean good customer service, I ask you! Has anyone EVER received good customer service, or is it just me who seems to attract inadequate imbeciles who probably couldn’t even tell me the name of the company they work for. (To those who passed me from pillar to post all day yesterday it’s O-R-A-N-G-E in case you were wondering but that’s another blog post)
After the second question I was already longing to bang my fists on the table and declare, ‘Let’s just loose the clipboards and talk about books shall we?!’ and do you know I actually wonder if I would perhaps have stood a greater chance of getting the job if I had done so.
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Posted by purple elephant at 08:39 PM |
August 08, 2006
Our Project for the Holidays
We were going to do it in September, when Littleone was back at school and I had finished my last assignment (ever? stay tuned) but somewhere around a couple of days ago one of us had the bright idea that perhaps it would be more fulfilling to have it as our little
project for the holidays, wouldn’t it be more rewarding if she were to help me, a kind of learning process to see how it’s done.
The day before yesterday Littleone and I began clearing her room, ready to be decorated.
Well I say Littleone and I, but what I really mean is that I covered the backbreaking and mindnumbing task of sorting all the toys into boxes, while she looked on, occasionally throwing in such helpful comments as ‘No I don’t want to get rid of those bobbly plain
black tights that are at least two sizes too small for me.’ and ‘Oi I want to play with those Polly Pockets, yes that would be the small box that it has just taken you an hour to collect and sort. And whoops there it goes back over the floor again.’
Needless to say I’m already wishing I’d waited until September.
And what’s worse is that we are now coming out of the tomboy phase (which credit where credit’s due lasted about five years) and she has decided she wants the walls pink.
After the initial horror I began to get used to the idea of a nice soft pink gracing the walls of at least one room in the house but now she informs me that she would like a hideous insomnia inducing bright pink.
Help, my five year old daughter’s bedroom is going to look like the cover of a chick-lit novel. I’ve got 24 hours before we buy the paint to change her mind.
I’ll keep you updated on the progress.
Posted by purple elephant at 10:34 AM |