I'd just like to say that Andrew Maloney of Cybercoders is a liar. He advertises jobs that aren't in the cities he says they are. In the ad he says the job is in a much more desirable city, when in fact it is in a shitty city about 60 miles away.
People like Andrew are the reason why people have a bad impression of recruiters. He is the reason many decent recruiters can't get the best candidates, because those people don't trust recruiters.
I just wanted to get that off my chest. Now that it is out there in teh internetz I feel better.
So this past Monday I got the official, "Thanks, but no thanks" email. I was bummed, but not surprised. I figured those personality tests were going to be my downfall. My personality is somewhat different at work than it is outside of work - while I prefer to be a face in the crowd outside of work, in the office I don't mind at all speaking in front of groups or making calls to strangers to ask them for something - so when I take those tests and it asks me what I'd do in a party situation and then in a conference situation, they aren't going to jibe.
Then this week we had 2 open houses at the office to get more candidates in - personally, I felt it was a clusterfuck and no one is looking at what is going to happen AFTER the open houses because now we have to get most of those people to come back in a second time, which, good luck. Of course, if this isn't a big success, my customer will blame me, just like they blamed me when we went to a job fair and we got a load of pre-applications filled out, and when I tried to call people to come into the office to fill out a full application over half of the phone numbers given to me were either disconnected or the person who answered didn't speak English, and then when I finally got people to make appointments to come in, only 2 managed to make it in, and then only 1 came to the facility tour and was hired.
Yesterday I was part of a conference call with my manager, regional manager, and people in corporate. Starting Monday, we have to completely change the way we do business with our customer - it is basically like starting a whole new job, just with the same old employees. It made me upset because I felt like I was the only one who was looking weeks and months out and could see that things weren't going to work, and I was bitter that a customer could come in and change the work procedures that our company has in place for every office around the country. So as I'm fighting back tears of frustration my regional manager finished up the meeting but asked me and my manager to stay on the line. At this point I thought I was going to be told how my customer hates me and what I needed to do to get back into their good graces. I really did. My stomach started turning and I felt like I was going to throw up.
Regional manager then starts off with "I don't know what [manager] has said to you about this, and I think he knows what I'm about to say." And my manager said, "There are a few things I think you may be saying right now..." which made me just sink into my chair, ready for the 1-2 punch to my gut. Then regional manager says, "We think you are doing a fantastic job, and when we hired you last year we had every intention of putting you on full time, but then the economy got all messed up, which I think you know all about, and things got put on hold, but I have finally been able to get my manager to approve your hiring full time, and she is going to corporate now to get them to hire you on full time. I'm hoping that this will get approved in the next week or two." and then my manager chimed in with, "And until that happens, we've given you a $2 an hour raise."
!!!!!!!!!!
Oh my god, what a wonderful way to end such a craptastic week! Seriously, this had to have been one the worst weeks I've had at work, where I've actually had to take sleeping pills because my mind couldn't stop racing, thinking about all the shit going on in the office. Such a weight has been lifted off my shoulders! I stopped off at the store on my way home and bought some sparkling wine to celebrate. I left work early, like I usually do on Fridays, and was home by 4:30, when I got a call on my cell phone from my manager. He wanted to start off my weekend with even better news - corporate just approved my full time hiring! I should be getting all the hiring paperwork early next week!
Everything worked out! Now I feel like I can do all this stupid stuff my customer wants me to do with a better attitude, since I now know that I'm not just going to be dumped with no notice.
And tomorrow is my 12th anniversary - what a nice way to celebrate!
Well, I had my phone interview this past Monday. I was then asked to do some online personality evaluations, and I thought I would hear back later in the week about whether they will move on to the next step with me or not.
I'm not getting my hopes up. I mean, I thought the phone interview went really well, but I have no idea what the evaluations showed about me. Personally, I think those personality tests don't tell whether someone will do a good job or not. Someone may not like being the center of attention, but it doesn't mean he/she couldn't be a good salesperson if she believes in what is being sold, you know what I mean? So, as soon as I took the evaluations I figured I probably don't have a chance because I don't have that "make money/make sales/business business business!" mentality. My life doesn't revolve around my work.
So after I did the evaluations work got a little crazy, and Clint and Daisy each had to go to the vet, so I put the interview in the back of my mind. It wasn't until I was home last night that I realized that I never heard back from the agency this week. I would at least like to know that they're not interested in me - I'll probably send out an email sometime on Monday just to see what is up.
Okay, so I have been having these big highs and lows at work. One moment things are going great, the next moment my customer is making me want to tear my hair out with outrageous demands and false accusations. I'm doing everything everyone wants me to do, and I'm still getting the runaround from my corporate office about getting hired on full-time with benefits.
Monday night I was in a bad mood about work, so I updated my resume and searched for jobs. I found one job as a recruiter working from home. It paid well, and, you know, I could work from home! So I decided to apply and send of my resume. Since the job posting was a few weeks old I thought to myself, "I'm sure these people have gotten hundreds of resumes from people who have been in this industry much longer than I have, I doubt I'd even get a call." Well, I didn't get a call, I got an email this afternoon from a woman who wanted to schedule a phone interview!
Red flag #1 - I got the email around 1:30 this afternoon. She asked me to choose 4 appointments from a list of days and times for the interview. Two of the appointments I chose were for tomorrow morning. I emailed her back about an hour later and gave her the times that were good for me. It is now 7:30, and I still haven't heard back. If I have to lie to my coworkers about needing to leave the office tomorrow, I really needed to know about this soon. I made a preemptive lie around 3pm and told my coworker I may need to run to the doctor's in the morning, but the appointment wasn't confirmed yet. So I've got an out if I need it. But I shouldn't have to be wondering at 7:30pm if I'm going to have an interview at 9:30 in the morning though. I'm finding this a little unprofessional.
I would like to have a job that pays better and has benefits. But I like the job I have now and I love my coworkers - the support system I have in them I've never had before and I don't know if I ever will again. And I don't have to learn how to do a new job. And I honestly believe that I will get a raise and benefits, I just don't know when. And I don't know if I would make as much even with the raise I would get by going full-time as I would with this new job.
You know, I shouldn't even be worrying about this now. I don't even have a phone interview scheduled yet!
I'm sending out an early Happy Easter because I suck.
This past weekend I went to Rockville, MD to go to a Beijo Spring Line Launch party. I could not believe that the company planned this big launch, with a webcast and sponsored parties across the country, and then DIDN'T SHOW ONE NEW BAG. They were all old designs, but now they come in a crocodile pattern! I couldn't believe it. WTF???
But I got to meet a bunch of other reps, which was nice. I met one woman who has been around since this company was in it's infancy, about 5 years ago. She said most reps here have only been around for 2 years or so, and I'm beginning to see why. I'm getting really frustrated and am giving myself one more year to make things happen or else I'm getting out. There are so many things I feel are hindering my ability to make sales, but I'm afraid to say anything online because they have people that scour the internet to make sure no one is selling the bags online and I don't know if they would get mad at me if I don't do anything but praise the company.
Okay, I've had a few glasses of wine and I feel I've said too much already. Don't want the Beijo police after me. Later, taters.
