So there was a third opportunity to go somewhere, or nowhere, depending on what happened, recently. At work they sent around an e-mail saying they were going to hire three Leadership Interns. This would mean that for six months you would work as a gofer/understudy to the team managers and then eventually you might get your own team.

So I applied. We had to take a math and personality test and the call center Number Two (who's white, by the way, the same person who hooked me up with the marketing lady) said I did "very, very well." They had a orientation session for those of us who had applied so we could find out what we might be getting into, if chosen. I knew right away they were probably surveying the room to see who stood out as a leader and who didn't, so when they broke us into groups to write out a chart of what we thought we might do as leaders I made sure to take control of the magic marker right away. When they said, "So who would like to present for this group?" I said, "ME!" and was up out of my chair and on the way to the front of the room before anyone else's mouth was open. Very leader-like, don't you think?

"We have to show them why it's in their interest to do a good job for us. For instance a friend of mine's dad ran a office supply factory, and they got word that the factory would be closed in six months and everybody would be out of a job. Now, how do you persuade people to keep working when they know they're out of a job? He told them they could take the spreadsheets from their machines to their next job interview as proof of their work record. And we'll have to be thinking of things like this all the time. Also important, we have to give verbal feedback. The frisbees and keychains are alright but, more important than material things, people want verbal confirmation that they're not operating in a vacuum, that we see what they're doing and that they're doing a good job." Along the way I made an aside to the woman who asks me to help with training (also a honky) that I was flattered she asked me to do that, which made the audience groan a little. But I was being sincere!

So I got the e-mail to come interview; this would be a meeting with Number Two and a team manager (a black lady, if you're keeping score). When they asked me to talk about my career I asked them where to begin and Number Two joked, "Just keep in mind we've only got an hour," and I said, "Ah, you must have heard about my speech in the orientation!" This provoked the black team leader to say, "I just wanted to say I was blown away by that, by the way, to stand up and be able to just begin speaking like that." I told her, honestly, that when I sat down I thought I could've done better when I saw how she did it; that was really how I wanted to do it. She made you feel like you were at a motivational seminar. (And I was being sincere!)

I told them about working at the radio station in Cartersville and how I had to do three video news stories a day as well as read the news on the morning radio, and that multi-tasking had prepared me for the team leader role. I unwittingly hit a big home run when I talked about putting together my blues block party and raising money for the Boys & Girls Club; I had done something for "the children." And then I brought up the stories of discovering an IT flaw that was giving customers service without contracts (Number Two said she remembered that), and how I inadvertently discovered some reps were giving away services for free (wary of sounding like I was "downing" anyone per my previous interview, I made it clear it hadn't been my intention to start any controversies or get anyone in trouble). The only part that felt awkward again was when they started with the, "So when have you really fucked up big-time?" questions, to which I still didn't have any answers but tried to offer feeble examples to keep the interview flowing. Shortly afterward they received my standard thank-you notes with B.S. about "it's an honor to be considered among such a fine field of candidates."

Though I felt I had come at them guns a-blazin' my hopes weren't too high, and in the end my low expectations were justified. They picked three other people. I guess they must have done radio shows in bigger towns, put on bigger fundraisers and gave better impromptu speeches when my head was turned. Though I was steeled to get blown off again I was still irritated as hell when it happened. To be considered for this you had to have your attendance record in line and all your call stats in line. You have to work there to understand how this is virtually impossible; they've got as many "gotchas" for the employees as their contracts do for the customers. So if you finally got all your ducks in a row, came in and hosed them down with credentials and they still don't have anything for you, then maybe they just don't have anything for you.

Per my modus operandi I sent e-mails to Number Two and the team manager and asked them how I might expand my credentials so as to be better prepared for this opportunity the next time it came around (it's only a six-month assignment, anyhow). That was about three weeks ago and I still haven't heard anything, although Number Two did say she planned to pull me aside at some point. I'm getting pulled...around in circles by my cock, it seems.

So there. What do ya think o' that?

2 Comments:

 Anonymous said...

I wasn't keeping score, but since you mention it, what were the races and genders of the three (3) people selected?
Does it suck to wonder whether your race or gender might be working against you? Sure it does.
Major League Baseball, like the NFL, has a requirement that any team seeking to fill a head coach or manager's position MUST interview at least one black. Now, how would you like to be sitting on a transcontinental flight, maybe missing your anniversary or your kid's ball game, wondering whether you're seriously being considered for the job or if you're wasting your time so some jerkoff can meet his quota imposed by Big Brother?
Could any of this be happening to you? It could. I don't know if it is, but it could.
It would be far easier to be turned down if you were interviewed for the right reasons in the first place.
However, there is never enough talent at the top. Keep it up, and they won't be able to deny you, whether you're black, white or purple.
By the way, I think that is a trick question. The right answer probably is "I really can't think of anything I've ever screwed up, ecxept for once I spilled all the toner." Then laugh self-effacingly.

10:08 PM, November 02, 2006  

 Art said...

If I was on a transcontinental flight I would say, "Wow, I must be kicking ass! I'm flying transcontinental for job interviews!" I would be guaranteed to be making around $250,000 at least, now matter what happened.

Yes, all three people who they picked were black, two ladies and one man. Given our ethnic makeup in the center it was a statistical likelihood. However, the one guy they picked I talk to pretty often, and this is the seventh interview he's done in the time he's been there, so I guess it can just take awhile. This was only the second time I've even gotten to be the "token white interview."

The hex concept has crossed my mind also, but there's a Vietnamese guy there with a bachelor's in business management, and he didn't even get asked to participate, and he's been there longer than I have! And other black employees who are quite on-the-stick and have been around also got blown off. My dad always said the biggest companies had the biggest opportunities, but I think when hundreds or thousands are applying for a smattering of jobs it's quite easy to get overlooked.

11:46 AM, November 03, 2006  

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