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You, the Jury Pt. 2: The Other AJC Snub
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What a beautiful day outside. Let's spend at least part of it typing another story of career derailment and angst.
This AJC snub story pre-dates that other one by a year, and I tend to wonder if it didn't precipitate the other one. Let's go back to January of 2005 when I got an phone call inviting me to a mass job interview at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
I had applied for multiple jobs at the AJC and wasn't sure which one was responding, and couldn't get any info outside of the initial phone call telling me where and when to arrive for an "open house." So I got there in the nick of time and there were about 50-60 people in the room. Seated next to me was a young black girl who looked for all the world like a TV street reporter, and she said that's exactly what she aspired to, and people told her she looked like a reporter all the time. She had a Master's Degree and a White House internship on her resume but said that hadn't turned any heads in her native St. Louis so she had come to Atlanta hoping for smoother sailing. Needless to say I was a wellspring of encouragement. Anyhow, she also said she had applied for multiple jobs at the Journal and when we heard that this one was in Classified Ads neither of us recalled applying for that. But it would do!
We had to fill out a couple of forms and take a typing test. When that was over we went back to the main conference room, where an assistant manager flew in the door frantically looking around for somebody but I didn't hear who. A guy raised his hand and said, "A 98 on the typing test? Oh, yeah, that was me!" The whole room laughed because that guy had just been saying how he couldn't make it past the first paragraph.
It turned out they were looking for some dork named Art Howard, who turned out to be me. "You had 98% accuracy on the typing test!," the lady exclaimed. She interviewed me right away and also noticed I had done some writing for the paper. She went so far as to wonder out loud if the preliminary interview was even called for. During our highly-friendly chit-chat she mentioned the job would pay $32,000-$40,000. I didn't know if this was to be my only interview or what, so I said, "Can we shoot for $40,000?" She said she would go see, but came back and said she was told not to discuss salary tonight. Oops.
She sent me to do my second interview that very night, with another guy who I believe also brought up the $32,000-$40,000 range, to which I responded, "Can we do $40,000?" Hey, he brought it up! Plus when I worked for a single day at a radio station in Canton ol' Lynn had busted my balls, saying that I should have demanded more money right away, that I was being a ball-less wonder and needed some spine. So I was showing my spine.
There was to be a third interview that a lucky few would be selected to attend. I was one of those lucky few.
I arrived 45 minutes early for this third interview and let the guy at the desk know I was there, and he called upstairs and informed them. The desk guy said, "They said they weren't expecting you until 3:00." Right, but I'm doing something called being early that is rare for me and they're supposed to be impressed.
The effeminate black guy wo was coordinating all of this stepped off the elevator to greet me just as I realized I had left my tie in the car and needed to use my ample spare time to grab it. I told him I wanted to make a good impression on his boss and ran to get my tie, then was led in (early) to meet Mr. Big.
Mr. Big (VP of Classifed Ads) was friendly yet aloof at the same time. He asked me why I wanted to work at the paper. I said because though this wasn't a writing position, newspapers reportedly had the highest-paid and most-educated audience, and I felt that given this kind of audience you could learn from them as much as they would learn from you (isn't that a great answer? I thought it was.).
He noticed on my resume that I had written for the paper before, and he said, "Was it the Op-Ed page?" As I mulled this later...the Op-Ed page would mean a letter to the editor. Did this guy think I was stupid enough to get a one-paragraph letter to the editor published and now I'm sticking it at the top of my resume?! Give me a fucking break!
Mr. Big also asked me if I had "travelled." Uh...well it was a 30 mile drive down there, so yes, I had travelled. Oh, do you mean besides today? Well, I've been to Panama City and Daytona Beach multiple times. If that doesn't impress you, I've also been to World Showcase at Disney World, and it has all the other countries in it, so you could say I've been around the world, or a facsimile of it.
Actually I took this question to mean maybe I came across as the suburban ding-dong that I am. Hey, sorry, an expensive trip to Barcelona hasn't been part on my itenerary, buddy. I've been trying to get a career going. Anyhow, this job was taking angry customer service calls for the classified ad department so was it really neccessary that I knew what wine went with trout? (Or maybe he was saying I came across as well-travelled, even though I'm not.)
Mr. Big had never heard of Lewis Grizzard. You read right.
Aside from the questions about the Op-Ed page and if I had travelled I felt like this had gone well and generally enjoyed talking to Mr. Big. On the way out I asked the effeminate sidekick if $40,000 was doable, but he had no answer offhand. Oh, well, I just knew I had to have this in the bag. I mean, c'mon -- the lady had ran in the room looking for me, and I did my second interview that same night! Please!
Two weeks go by and I haven't heard anything. I write to the effeminate sidekick and he responds that their final candidates have been contacted already, thanks for applying.
WHAT?! How in the hell could this happen?! Well, who cares how, I was getting really, really sick of being blown off for jobs I knew I was perfectly, demonstrably qualified for. So in the guise of wanting to know "how I might improve my interviewing skills" I sent a letter to Mr. Big saying I had to admit I was mystified why I wasn't chosen and listed my credits again. I also sent scans of my AJC stories, pointing out they were NOT letters to the editor.
The effeminate sidekick called me back and said I hadn't done anything wrong in the interview, there were just "so many outstanding candidates." Yeah, right! Like the guy who couldn't type one paragraph? I didn't hear them coming in there calling anyone else's name. (Not that I said any of this on the phone.) What a load of shit.
I have a couple of theories on why this went to hell, but I'll let you draw your own conclusions first. Now I'll go walk in the summer sunshine. |
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Posted by Art | 2:12 PM EST |
12 comments
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Comments:
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Sorry it didn't work out, Art. I've had my share of those. Unparalleled qualifications, numerous interviews, then the complete blow-off.
Keep trying, man. You're a great writer and someone will be very lucky to land you.
In your case, the string of questions was interesting. The only think I can conclude is that he wanted to make sure you wanted that particular job -- in Classifieds. So he's all trying to see if you've traveled, been around. Reporters do get around. They follow the story. Maybe he was concerned about someone who seemed more like a writer, who maybe would only be happy landing classified/subscription work for the short term. There's nothing you can do with that; just present your best credentials and hope for the best.
Hard to say what he had in mind.
Never talk to a non-interview person out the door about salary. The guy or girl on your way out the door, they provide critical feedback about you because after all -- they're looking at a potential co-worker. They can add opinion or simply misconstrue something which may work against you. At your next quality-gig interview, do not mention money. Until the Interviewer asks you, actually offers you the job. Even then, it's a dance of delicate words.
It's not that you're not worth a higher salary, but to ask on your way out the door... the assistant might have said something later to the guy. Overall I think Mr. Big may have been nervous about bringing a really qualified person into classifieds. But all the final chit-chat out the door has to be under the guise that you've enjoyed the interview. Pretty much that's it.
This opinion is just from one person and maybe doesn't apply to your philosophies.
I had an interview recently...albeit for a part-time admin job while I attend college...in which I asked straight away what the salary was. The business owner essentially said "Patience, grasshopper."
He bent my ear for over an hour, telling me how great he and his business are, and at the end he finally announced the salary and it was nowhere near what I needed to earn in order to survive.
We could have saved a hell of a lot of time by cutting the foreplay. I suppose if the job is something a person's really, really interested in then salary can and should wait. But if I need a certain amount of $$$ just to sustain life, I don't see the harm in being up front about that right away.
Perhaps Art's insistence on the higher range wasn't great policy, but what the hell: If you're worth it, go for it.
Plus, if they gave me $32 I could then sit there every day knowing I had been ripped for $8,000. They should have just said, "This is what we're paying." Even $32 would seem great these days.
More of my interview theories and tips to come.
it looks bad if you negotiate $28... $40... even what the yearly vacations are... until they make a job offer. (honestly, it's unusual when a general range is even thrown out there. it's actually helpful.)
really, ask around.
don't mention money just because you happened to ace a couple prelim meetings.
the whole context is there. i know the angle about the money and how it was mentioned it. to me, it was just a range.
with the main interviewer's questions, i don't see that there was any logical moment you could have asked about salary. i wasn't there, although i did/do read what you write.
it's more or less okay to ask about salary if you can afford to walk away from something. it's just funky to go beyond a general range and ask for the high end of a specific salary when the job hasn't even been offered to you yet.
but the main man in Admin posted above and he agrees with you a little! so what do i know? plus, he works at a paper, so that's an inside view.
if an interviewer shows interest... as in, what would it take to get you to start with us, then start the old tap dance. ob la di ob la da, give me money, honey. same song and dance.
see, everything is right there. i can't connect the beginning of that sentence with the reasoning. if it's your only interview, it's not relevant because the interviewer doesn't need for you to know.
After writing this I think it may have been because I was "overqualified." The 2nd banana (a asst. mgr.) said, "The people we chose have several years of customer service experience." So they wanted someone who was used to floating around to that sort of job and never rising, no higher hopes. Plus I had a bit of a hard time arranging to be there with the scheduling department at the call center and maybe that turned the 2nd banana off, also.
i did increase a salary once by 25% by asking up. if it's union work, the agent does it for you. i've worked for independent folks who have no money but lots of passion. every job is weird. at a certain point, it just doesn't help to think about employment handbooks ... or really, much more than the basics.
being really, really good at something is nice but unfortunately, it doesn't cut down on the competition. so many people are just as good as you or me, or whoever happens to be reading this. the proof is, most jobs start with a cattle call process. so just being talented or credential-ed is a very small part of the equation. IMO